Our people our culture and our land are our greatest resources.
Our people our culture and our land are our greatest resources.
Wortkoorl Workwear is an Aboriginal majority and LGBTIQ owned company run entirely by women. This is celebrated by the use of the five pink buttons on all our workwear.
Our products are designed to benefit everyone, from the people who grow and farm the hemp, the people who design and create our clothes, as well as the people who wear them. Most importantly, our production methods benefit the planet, and the traditional owners and guardians of the country we walk on. Ethical, sustainable, renewable and comfortable.
We stand by our values of creating employment opportunities for Aboriginal Australians with value, diversity and inclusion. Effective communication with our team, suppliers and consumers. Working towards a green future, while working ethically and environmentally sustainable.
director
I am a Co-founder of WANFA Western Australia Nuclear Free Alliance and take a big part in caring for country.
I was introduced to Jennie by my partner Charley, who wanted to go into the CBD Oil and Flower Essences healing industry, we discovered that the red tape around this was somewhat of a challenge.
Over the years we discussed a few different options which our business could go, we thought “hemp”, what an amazing plant and all the qualities it offers. My motivation for hemp workwear was the fact that hemp is carbon negative, environmentally sustainable and grows fast in the Australian climate, just to name a few great qualities that the plant can provide.
This is our family business and the journey which includes my niece Sophia, my partner Charley, my sister cousin Michelle and our friend Jennie and amazing General Manager Robyn, it has been a long but exciting haul with its ups and hiccups, But I am very passionate and motivated to see us succeed and to see my community eventually benefit also.
I think about the potential that this industry can bring to my family and community and the amount of employment it will produce in the future, I want my people to be successful and not live in poverty anymore. And to leave a legacy to my children and my family so that they can have an amazing abundant life.
Director
My name is Sophia Narrier I am a noongar/yamitji from Perth & Geraldton.
My journey with Wortkool started back in 2014 when my Aunty’s Della & Charley met up with Jennie to discuss ideas about a woman’s hemp business plan.
I was some what interested but after the first meeting I had full interest in being apart of a wonderful company that has great ideas about giving back to community & being environmentally friendly, we have come along way since our first meeting and I look forward to what the future holds for us.
GENERAL MANAGER
Robyn Galbin is the General Manager or Wortkoorl. It is an Aboriginal majority owned, women’s owned and run LGBTIQA+ business, which specialises in hemp workwear and has a major focus on high visibility Australian standards compliant garments.
Robyn’s professional experience has been in leading and growing sales and marketing teams for nearly 20 years. During this time Robyn’s main focus has been on strong, steady and profitable growth. Robyn’s time in start-up businesses has seen her develop end to end processes and relationships while maintaining a positive culture. In her capacity as GM at Wortkoorl, her aim is to ensure the company maintains its Aboriginal heritage, while growing the business to become a preferred supplier and niche market leader for companies requiring workwear.
Robyn has a personal focus on sustainability and community. As part of that core belief, for many years Robyn has regularly donated her time and energy as a volunteer to organisations like The Salvation Army.
director
Jennie has over 20 years of experience in the Mining and Infrastructure industries in WA. Starting her own business in mining recruitment and building it to be a multimillion-dollar company, Jennie has extensive experience in business management and scaling business.
Particularly focused now on educating industries on Ethical and Sustainable Procurement and encouraging our big players in WA to Buy with the Purpose to benefit WA’s future.
Director
My name is Charley Caruso, I have always been passionate about caring for country, trees and sustainability which I credit to living in the bush areas down south as a kid, where nature was my playground and my world. Therefore I want to leave this Earth better than when I found it, for our kids and for a better future.
I am a singer, songwriter and producer. I taught singing in the Aboriginal Theatre Course at WAAPA until the 2020 pandemic hit. Many lecturers lost their jobs at this time due to the pandemic, so my partner Della and I asked two of my WAAPA colleagues to form a Not For Profit with us called Boss Arts Creative. We teach Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of all ages, Singing, songwriting, acting, and contemporary Aboriginal dance. I enjoy giving my time to this and creating pathways in the arts for mob who otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity to get this kind of education or opportunity in the arts.
Prior to branching out into an academic lecturer role at WAAPA, I actually had been a part of a solar installation team, which I was very passionate about, because it represented being a part of the solution for a greener future. I support green alternatives to Nuclear energy because the damage Nuclear does to the environment and to Aboriginal people, communities and country, far outweighs any benefit Nuclear power could give. So for me, being a part of an alternative was very important, to steer things in a positive way. In my time as a Solar Installer, I discovered many peoples panels were so dirty, they couldn’t possibly be working to full capacity. Customers were asking us to come out and add more panels to their system, which really wasn’t the problem, the panels being dirty was the problem. So I branched off to form a Solar Cleaning business which after being cleaned, gains at least 25% more energy from solar panels. We had many satisfied customers and it felt good running an all female business in line with my ethos and working with my partner and Niece.
In this time we heard more and more about destruction of trees, in fact trees that were supposed to be protected, some 400 years old or more were being cut down. Hundreds and thousands of animals were being displaced and the lungs of the south west were being depleted rapidly.
My partner is an Aboriginal healer using bush flower essences and we were aware of the healing benefits of CBD oil. During this process we discovered the power hemp has to heal the land simply by growing in its natural environment. Hemp absorbs carbon and nitrogen out of the air and puts it back into the soil regenerating and adding nutrients to the soil. In fact Hemp can grow to full capacity 60 times faster than trees and eliminate four times more carbon dioxide than trees and only takes up to 120 days to grow to full capacity.
We attended a women’s business lunch where we met an inspiring visionary Jennie, who shared our same passion for female empowerment, healing the land, CBD, Aboriginal employment and futures. We decided to form a company together. So my partner, Niece and I combined forces with Jennie to form “Wortkoorl” which means Moving (forward) in Nyoongar language. The language of the land on which we stand, work and play. The land of the Whadjuk Bibbulmun people. Initially we wanted to produce CDB oil in conjunction with my partners Bush flower essences. However due to the difficulties in becoming registered to grow etc, we decided to concentrate on creating hemp workwear with a vision to grow, mill and manufacture in the south west. Saving trees, creating Aboriginal Employment and healing the land.