Australia Day: celebrating a nation, its achievements and its people

Australia Day is all about reflecting Australia's history; celebrating the nation, its achievements, and most of all, its people.

Here is our tribute to the team in Australia. We look at how Chemring's Lara site has changed over the past ten years and the team's recent efforts to support the local community and reduce Chemring's environmental impact.

From a 'collection of concrete' to state-of-the-art facility

Chemring has a state-of-the-art manufacturing plant in Lara, Victoria. The 60-hectare (148 acres) site is recognised as one of the world's most advanced countermeasures manufacturing facility. The almost 100-strong team based at Lara is involved in developing, producing, and testing countermeasure flares. 

Kirk Berenger, Operations Director at the site, told us how much the facility has changed since he joined ten years ago.

"When I joined the team, the facility was basically a collection of concrete slabs. Today, we have a unique facility that progresses raw materials to complete, packaged product, all under one roof.  

"We are now a key supplier to the F-35 programme and the only facility able to build the MJU-68/B Infrared Countermeasure Flare in the manner we do. The investment and support from the US Department of Defense, local government, and Chemring Group have taken us from a local supplier to a global exporter."

Kirk continued: "The energy and enthusiasm in the organisation today is like nothing I've seen before. The team are genuinely proud of what we've built and delivered together. At the same time, we are not satisfied, and there's a real hunger and drive to get better."

A great deal of this focus has been on making sure Chemring increases its positive impact in the community and reduces the negative impact on the local environment.  Here are some examples of their achievements during the past year:  

Pledging to 'cause zero harm'

As the Lara team gathered in support of the 2020 Safety Week, they pledged to cause no harm and marked their commitment with clay tiles, painted handprints and signatures.

Giving back to the community

The Lara Country Fire Authority (CFA) is an important partner in keeping the Lara facility safe. The team in Australia felt it was time to give something back, proudly donating $25,000 to enable the purchase of an Ultra-Light Tanker, improving their ability to respond to difficult access areas. 

Lara livestock programme

With acres of grass around the Lara site, the team in Australia have turned to local livestock to help manage the grounds. The grazing animals eliminate the need for contract ground services such as ride-on lawnmowers, which has led to a reduction in both noise and air emissions.

Zero to Landfill program

In every production process, there is an inherent degree of waste. A zero to landfill objective helps the team understand and reduce waste streams, then develop new ways to reuse, recycle, and repurpose waste. See some examples of how they did this here: Sheep, scouts and craft supplies: taking the path less travelled on our journey towards zero harm

Harnessing the rain

Chemring Australia, due to its rural location, is not connected to mains water. Rainwater is now collected and used onsite in preference to trucking water in. Able to hold circa 400,000 litres of water in 20 onsite tanks, the rain collection program has proven to have significant environmental and health and safety benefits.