The establishment of the Consumer Products business area within Orica Australia in 1998 brought together more than 80 years of technical and commercial experience within Australia and New Zealand in the manufacture and supply of paint and specialised paint preparation products.

In parallel with its technical achievements, the company has developed and re-vitalised its business methods and products to meet the demands of an increasingly discerning customer base.

The 1950s saw rapid growth in home decoration by the DIY householder, encouraged by the convenience of high quality water-thinned paints, extensive retailers, and a simplified product range was developed, incorporating a colour intermix system using coloured paint bases in combination with tinters in sachets.

In 1959, the company released its first of the new type of water-based Decorative paints entering the market. This was a flat wall paint based on a polyvinyl acetate (pva) latex and sold under the trade name SUPER LATEX.

Further impetus to local research was provided by the building at Clayton in 1959 of a Central Research Laboratory and in 1960 a Technical Service Centre, where new products or processes could be demonstrated to customers on industrial sized equipment.

The 1960s were a time of rapid technological upgrading worldwide in the paint industry. The company, with its new research facilities, was well placed to meet the needs of the marketplace for such new products.

In the Decorative market, the highly successful SPRING interior flat latex finish was released in 1963 as was LO GLOSS, a durable, flat acrylic latex finish for use on exterior timber and a ‘first’ on the Australian market. This was followed in 1965 by another ‘first’, the acrylic latex exterior gloss paint SPRUCE. Further products in this series included the WEATHERSHIELD and WASH-n-WEAR ranges of latex paints, which soon became industry bywords for high performance household paints.

In 1971, the company aligned its name with that of its flagship brand and became Dulux Australia Limited.

New technical developments in 1975 included WASH-n-WEAR (later Wash & Wear) FLAT, the first flat latex paint with high scrub resistance and based on the use of SPINDRIFT beads. In 1977, ACRAN two-pack acrylic enamel was released.

Difficult trading conditions in the early 90s were countered by the release of new and upgraded products, including DULUX Weathershield Gloss and DUETTE Decorative finish. The world release of MASTER PALLETTE, a joint DULUX and ICI Glidden (USA) joint development was made in August 1992. This unique system had the most extensive colour range in the world, with more than 6,000 colours, and was highly acclaimed by architects and specifiers.

In 1996, the Dulux businesses, comprising Dulux, British, Berger, Walpamur and Cabot brands of surface coatings and specialised coatings for the automotive, packaging, appliances and sheet metals technical markets, were brought together with the Selleys range of handyman to form the Consumer Products Division of ICI Australia.

In July 1997, ICI PLC in the UK sold off its remaining share holding in ICI Australia, leaving ICI Australia with a majority Australian shareholding. This was a milestone in the history of the Australian company, breaking close commercial and technical ties with the UK parent stretching back almost 70 years. The Australian company maintained its ownership of the key trademarks such as Dulux, British, Berger and Walpamur in the Pacific region, but was committed to phase out its use of the ICI name and roundel.

On February 2, 1998, the Company began trading under the new name of Orica Limited. The trading name adopted by the Consumer Products Division for overseas markets became Orica Coatings.

In the run-up to the new millennium, all sections of Orica Consumer Products had demonstrated an ability and intention to maintain a vigorous and successful business, supported by an innovative technical team.

Work carried out in the new Technology Centre led to the development of world-class processes and products for the application of powder coatings to heat-sensitive substrates, such as medium density fibre board, particle-board, plywood and plastics sheeting. These coatings have the environmental advantage of containing no volatile organic compounds (VOCs) or water and cure at temperatures lower than conventional materials, resulting in up to 40 per cent less energy demand and emissions of greenhouse gases.

The decorative product AQUANAMEL GLOSS, a newly developed water-borne gloss latex paint with excellent flow and film hardness, was released in New Zealand and Australia. The theme of the environment was again the focus of a new product for the trade market, with the release of Dulux EnvirO₂. Both AQUANAMEL and Dulux EnvirO₂ have been approved by the Australian Greenhouse Office.

In 2007 to date, a major activity has been the design and building of a new OCP Corporate Office building on the corner of McNaughton Road and Dandenong Road, Clayton, Victoria. The building is around 6,000m² over six levels. The building has been designed to be environmentally sustainable and is to be assessed by the Green Building Council of Australia for a 6 star Green Star rating.

Architecture & Design Team

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