For over a decade, the Western Plains town of Goodooga had no local store and no food security, with the closest grocery store being a 150km round trip to Lightning Ridge. 

It wasn’t until this month when the Outback Stores project came to head, the first of its kind in NSW, that Goodooga saw the opening of its first store in 10 years. 

Funded by a $1.7 million grant in 2019, the new general store will be owned and operated by the Goodooga community, solving a major issue in access to food.

Outback Stores business development manager Andrew Johanson has spent the last month in Goodooga, setting up shop and working to understand the community. 

“Food security is a real issue here. People here were struggling with the trip, especially those without licenses or cars. They were relying on other people to buy them food or the post office would pick up food at a cost. It was getting quite expensive,” Mr Johanson said. 

While the new store is getting ready, the business has set up shop in the town hall. Upon it’s opening, the store will employ staff from the community, along with a seasoned store manager who will arrive in Goodooga to supervise the operation. 

In a town of 240, providing five new jobs in town is no small feat. 

Despite having the support of an established organisation like Outback Stores – which has opened over 40 community stores in remote centres across the Northern Territory, Western Australia and South Australia – the remoteness of the town still leaves logistical issue for Goodooga to face. 

“We’ve had problems getting transport here but we’re working around that and looking for solutions. (Transport companies) hear Goodooga and say ‘we don’t go there’, so we just keep looking until we find some. 

Not every community store in rural and remote towns are privileged with the same level of support to deal with issues of isolation. Businesses that single-handedly uphold the grocery capacity in small towns have faced mice plagues that destroyed stock and a pandemic while concurrently dealing with the challenges of supply and demand that accompany a pandemic. 

With each hit to a community store, the town’s food security is threatened. 

Under the Strengthening Remote Communities Grant, community stores can apply for up to $500,000 to address food security risks. 

Member for Parkes Mark Coulton says that the grant could provide immense benefit for the smaller localities in the Parkes electorate. 

“While these stores provide a vital community service, they often face significant barriers such as poor road access, supply issues and inflated freight costs, which has been particularly highlighted during the Covid-19 pandemic,” Mr Coulton said. 

“These grants will help fund projects to improve supply chain and distribution infrastructure, secure storage options and shop equipment reliability and performance,” said Mr Coulton. 

As the Goodooga community store finds its feet, the goal is to support economic independence for the community, where it will eventually become commercially viable in its own right. 

A store committee will be set up to run the store, handing over the reins to the community.

“We don’t own this store. The community does,” said Mr Johanson said.