Austral Plywoods celebrates 100 years

Humble beginnings in 1920s Brisbane

The story starts in 1925, on the outskirts of a rapidly growing Brisbane. The city was home to around 210,000 people, its streets lined with Victorian architecture and criss-crossed by electric trams. In this subtropical colonial outpost, Austral Plywoods was established with a modest purpose: producing butter boxes.

The raw material was Araucaria — commonly known as Hoop Pine — a locally abundant plantation species prized for its clean, even grain and excellent workability. It was a timber already in high demand, and it would become the foundation of everything the company has done since.

Growth, floods, and resilience

By the mid-twentieth century, Austral Plywoods had expanded significantly across its Tennyson site. The post-war decades brought a surge in demand as Australians embraced plywood as a reliable building material through the 1950s and 60s, valued for both its practical performance and its visual warmth.

The journey was not without its challenges. The devastating 1974 Brisbane flood — one of the city's worst natural disasters — put the company squarely in harm's way. Fortunately, Austral Plywoods came through unscathed, a testament to both good fortune and the resilience that has defined the business across generations.

A new era under family ownership

In 1986, the Matthews and Clark families took the reins, ushering in a new chapter and positioning Austral Plywoods at the forefront of the premium plywood sector. Under their stewardship, the company has balanced tradition with ambition — maintaining the deep craftsmanship that Hoop Pine demands while investing in modern manufacturing capability.

Trusted on Australia's biggest stages

Over recent decades, Austral Plywoods has contributed to an impressive portfolio of landmark Australian projects, chosen time and again for product excellence, reliability, and locally sourced materials.

The Sydney 2000 Olympics showcased the company's capabilities, with Austral plywood used across multiple venues including The Dome. The Melbourne Recital Centre was another standout, demonstrating not just the superior workability of the plywood but also the remarkable acoustic properties of the Araucaria species. At Perth Arena, whose innovative design is shaped like an Eternity puzzle, appearance-grade plywood from Austral featured extensively. And the Brisbane Law Courts saw Austral supply acoustic panelling and furniture joinery throughout the complex.

These are not niche projects. They are some of the most architecturally significant buildings in the country — and they all called on Austral Plywoods.

Innovation for the next century

Austral Plywoods hasn't rested on its heritage. The company has embraced change through products like Ariaply and iHoop — factory-prefinished plywood panels designed for maximum quality and streamlined installation. These products represent a new chapter in what Austral can offer architects, designers, and builders: a complete, ready-to-install panel finished in-house at the Tennyson facility.

Equally important is the company's commitment to ethical sourcing. Austral Plywoods selects only plantation-grown, sustainably managed Hoop Pine, with full environmental traceability from forest to finished product. In a market where provenance matters more than ever, this is a genuine point of difference.

The people behind the plywood

A hundred years doesn't happen without people. Austral Plywoods' dedicated staff — many of whom have spent decades with the company — are the driving force behind its success. Their passion for the product, their deep knowledge of the species, and their pride in Australian manufacturing are what give the company its character.

As the company looks ahead, the commitment is clear: to keep developing innovative products, refining processes, and investing in Australian manufacturing for years to come.

Here's to the next 100

From a butter box factory on the edge of Brisbane to one of Australia's most respected plywood manufacturers — Austral Plywoods' century is a story worth celebrating. Honouring the past. Embracing the present. Building the future.

Learn more about our story on the Celebrating 100 Years page.