Pay it Forward

Eather Group is a family business which operates in the greater Sydney area and since 2010 has been providing sustainable solutions to traditional construction functions such as transport and haulage, earthmoving, bulk material management and land rehabilitation for Tier 1 clients on major infrastructure projects.

Established by Peter and Sally-ann Eather the company now also employs their daughter Divinia and has grown to include an extensive suite of earthmoving machinery and more than 20 trucks, many of which are Kenworth PBS tipper and dog combinations.

Eather Group offers holistic solutions for major infrastructure projects by selectively excavating materials, and utilising its own trucks to transport the removed material with a minimum going into landfill, and as much, as practicable, going through a recycling process and being converted into reusable products through the use of crushers and screens.

In addition to moving millions of tonnes of material from one Sydney project location to another, Eather Group was the head contractor for transport across six South Coast regions following the devastating 2019 bushfires.

The original Eather Group tipper was an ex-Readymix Mack which initially retained the pink paint job of its original owner.

“No one wanted to drive it so Dad had it painted white which devastated the eight-year-old me,” says Divinia. “It’s still sitting out the back and we’ll get her nice again.”

Several of the newer trucks have been named after people important to the Eather family.

HOSS1 is named after Peter’s father Albert Eather who introduced his son to the industry in the 1990s. Known as ‘Hoss’, Albert passed away in 2005.

Other trucks include B1OCKA named after Sally-ann’s stepfather, and MAURI1 named after good friend and local football coaching legend Maurice Hyde.

The company has a plan over the next decade to achieve net zero emissions and a step toward this has been the acquisition of a Euro VI Mercedes-Benz Actros, with the custom registration plates SALLYN.

“It definitely wasn’t cheaper than the others but we made the investment for a couple of reasons,” says Divinia.

“Sustainability is important to us and key to everything we do right across the business and the Actros is the first step in rolling out our Green Transport Plan. Our trucks are ‘Metro-specced’ which means they’ve got all the modern safety features, all the telematics and tracking, mirrors, blind spot cameras, and side underrun protections. The Actros is next level again with all the tech that’s already built in.”

The Eather family members make a point of attending conferences and forums dealing with the visions for the industry, and the evolving standards government projects are requiring.

“We’re trying to get in early because trucks are such as huge investment,” says Divinia. “If we’re buying new trucks we may as well get ones that fit into the future.”

The addition of the European truck didn’t create any resistance among the drivers.

“Rob, the Actros driver, has been with us for a while and when he started was a Kenworth diehard but now, we can’t get him out of it.”

The Eather Group has become recognised as an employer and now with more than 40 employees, Divinia keeps track of some important metrics.

Currently, locals account for 100 per cent, women make up 36 per cent, Indigenous Peoples represent 26 per cent, and 28 per cent of the total are involved in on-job learning and upskilling.

Thirteen per cent are under 25 years of age including an apprentice diesel mechanic.

“I remember a conversation about us wanting to be an employer of choice for all people,” says Divinia.

“Our team has always been diverse because we give people a go. The industry average is 13 per cent female, with just two per cent actually on the tools. Currently ours’ is 36 per cent including four female drivers and three female machine operators.”

Eather Group took a creative approach to human resources by investing in four Isuzu 8-wheeler tippers equipped with automatic transmissions which only required the operator to hold a Heavy Rigid licence, forming the basis of their Women in Trucking program.

This meant that they could advertise for less- experienced drivers who could be trained to higher levels, and this included women who were attracted by factors such as flexible shifts and a safe working environment where men are allies for women.

“There’s not a lot of opportunities for beginner drivers,” says Divinia.

“There’s no shortage of women who want to get into the industry. We’ve had a few ladies come through, get their HR licence to start driving, get experience in tipping and when they become comfortable, they can go for their HC. People can continue to progress and one young lady has just upgraded to her manual [RoadRanger] licence.”

Compliance is a key factor particularly when working on government projects such as the metro tunnels and Eather Group, in addition to Chain of Responsibility requirements and NHVR Mass Management accreditation, has ISO certifications in the areas of quality, safety, and environmental management.

“When there’s a shortage of work people cut corners,” says Peter Eather.

“It’s a dollar driver and they start squeezing the margin, and then the next guys down the chain are trying to achieve the unachievable. CoR, speed limits, cutting in and out of traffic are things they don’t take into consideration. I’ll never stop being loud about it because it’s very important. You want decent people doing decent jobs, doing the right thing.”

Sally-ann being named the 2023 Road Freight NSW Woman of the Year received a 2022 Transport Women Australia Limited (TWAL) ‘Driving the Difference’ scholarship which provided for her to complete a course on Planning Succession for Family Business.

The company itself has also earned numerous awards and recognition for many of its activities, one of the most notable being the national Telstra 2024 Best of Business Award for the Indigenous Excellence category.

“The Telstra award was really meaningful to us because they are very thorough, and we went through five or six rounds of judging. They look at everything including our financials,” says Divinia.

“It was a full year of work but off the back of that we got a call from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), and they put us forward as Australia’s sole representative for the Small Medium Enterprise category of the Bio-Circular-Green awards through the Asia Pacific Economic Corporation (APEC). It’s a great honour to represent Australia in an international sustainability award which takes nominees from across different industries. We’re a construction company which is able to compete at that level and that speaks a lot about what we are achieving in terms of sustainability.”

Eather Group proves that commercial success can be achieved while still adhering to strict safety compliance and environmental standards and that community involvement is a worthwhile investment rather than an expense.

Providing people with opportunities they may not otherwise have access to and seeing them set on pathways to fulfilment away from the workplace, delivers a worthwhile sense of pride to the Eather family.

“What keeps us going are the individual stories of success,” says Divinia.

“Some of our people are getting their first proper start in life, which maybe their parents or even their grandparents never really had. They can now become a positive influence on all the young people in their families.”