b'RRA SYDNEY (MCRS) and the MCRS team visited over 7,400 residential addresses, assisting residents to correctly dispose of over RRA MIDCOAST RRAs Mobile Community Recycling Service220 tonnes of problem and electrical waste. Tuncurry on Worimi Country is the birthplace(MCRS) operates on the lands of the DharugUnfazed by working with waste, Anthena discovered that of RRA- a regional township surrounded bypeople throughout Cumberland, Parramatta it made me feel proud that as a community we were all beautiful oceans, lakes and bushland. and Blacktown in Western Sydney.doing our part in protecting the environment. Anthena Huynh grew up in Western Sydneya culturalEncouraged by her dad and GM Matt Curtis, she was Working with country, on country, supporting country ismelting pot. Her parents had fled Vietnam in the 1970s.offered and accepted the opportunity to get a Dangerous the key to the ongoing success of RRA. They worked hard to create a new life, learn a newGoods Truck licence.Since we began in 1991 in the MidCoast NSW region, ourlanguage, and raise their six children to embrace everyI can actually drive a truck! she says, still incredulous. organisation has grown to embrace Biripi Country andopportunity. After school, Anthena attended university,Despite the challenging conditions of COVID and La Nia Taree in the North, to Tea Gardens and Worimi Country working in retail to pay her way.rains, Anthena soon secured a full-time role, working in the South. Today we operate with the support and hardIn early 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic hit, jobs usingalongside her very proud dad. work of deadly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander teamAnthenas qualifications became scarce, so she did asThe MCRS operates under contract to Cumberland City, members in several states who all bring a rich connectionher parents had taught her and began managing a retailCity of Parramatta and Blacktown City Councils.to country and culture to their roles.store. In 2021, lockdowns saw the store close for several months and she was out of work and isolated at home. Liam Simon is a proud Aboriginal man from WorimiThe lockdown had a profound effect on Sydney asIt makes me Country. After searching for work for three years, Liamresidents took to cleaning out their homes. With a criticalfeel proud discovered RRA and immediately started work as a Depotriver system just kilometres away, much of the waste Hand in the Return and Earn Automated Depot.Findingthat as a here that his Aboriginal culture is respected, and his skillsaround Parramatta River was potentially harmful to thecommunity we recognised, Liam has gone from strength to strength. Inenvironment: paint, gas bottles, batteries, motor oil and electrical. But with limited transport options, disposal wasare all doing early 2022, he was offered a sought-after new position,difficult.our part in completing maintenance across RRAs MidCoast operations. One day, Anthena was offered a chance to help herprotecting the father, John Huynh, the Operations Manager of theenvironment.I felt honoured to get the new role, Liam admits. SinceMobile Community Recycling Service. It took just one shift then, Ive been exploring all the sites and seeing howon the MCRS truck to change Anthenas destiny. ANTHENA HUYNHthey operate which has taught me how each one works I didnt know if she could do it, her father recalls, butRRA SYDNEYa little bit differently. she wasnt afraid to try. Liams team leader, Lyndon Stewart is a Yuin man from theAs demand for the service grew, councils added NSW South Coast. After over a decade of work as a chef,additional collection days, and eventually John, Anthena Lyndon started with RRA in Oct 2020 as a Depot Hand. After just ten months, Lyndon was promoted to Team Leader and is now working across Tuncurry and TareeRRA DUNMORE A little over a year later, an out-of-the-blue phone Waste Management Centres. call from former colleague, Jarrod Roskell, changed Lyndon believes that working in waste diversion is whatNathan Schimmel had struggled for years toeverything, with an opportunity to work at Reviva his culture is all about. find work when he was finally given a chanceDunmore.at RRA. He had the will to work but couldntNathan, who was in a new relationship with four The land is our mother. Its what weve always cared for.prove it.Its what we are here to do, he says.children to support, finally had an opportunity to He got his first big break at Soft Landing in Smithfield,get ahead. The staff culture at RRA was also a mind Having been mentored in his previous job, he says itrecycling mattresses and Nathan flourished, but theopener.feels good to be in this role and hopefully showing commute to Sydney, with its 4am starts, became aWorking here you get to meet a lot of people from others the right way to do things.problem. all over the place, some people probably dont get to He also feels its important to see Aboriginal peopletalk to a lot of people, so we have a chat. climbing the ladder.Helping outSince joining RRA a year ago, the team became like Until RRA Id never had the opportunity to work withfamilies in needa family and Nathan flourished. He got the chance to other Indigenous people. It makes me proud to seeacquire new skills including customer service, waste people who justmanagement, and even merchandising skills. And he people like Liam stepping up and enjoying the work.cant afford tohas discovered a passion for the curiosities that come The MidCoast regions Operations Manager, Russell Pingbuy new furniturethrough every Reviva shop, and even the regular is a Worimi/Biripi man. Hes a hands-on leader who alwayscustomers.works from a place of cultural sensitivity and fairness. thats the best part of the job. I was a bit of a shy fellow before, he admits. But Having a boss whos an Indigenous person has madegetting to know the customers helped me to speak up. a big difference, says Lyndon. It makes it a lot easierNATHAN SCHIMMEL Im proud of the way Ive learned to communicate.for me to approach him with any issues or problems. IveRRA DUNMORE And Nathan hasnt forgotten the years he and his come across racism and discrimination in the past. Thatspartner struggled to support their family.why I love this job and the people we work with, becauseHelping out families in needpeople who just cant theyre all about anti-discrimination and a fair go. afford to buy new furniturethats the best part of the Resource Recovery Australia operates under sub- job.contract to JR Richards & Sons for MidCoast Council. Reviva Dunmore operates under contract with Shellharbour City Council. Liam Simon,RRA MidCoast'