Who owns Hard Yakka?
Hard Yakka is owned by Wesfarmers (Australia, ASX: WES).[1]
This ownership is reported in official statements but has not yet been matched to a regulatory filing.
Evidence: Wesfarmers 2026 Annual Report, Wesfarmers Limited. Last checked .
Key facts
- Current owner
- Wesfarmers Limited reported
- Owner HQ
- 🇦🇺 Australia, Perth
- Origin
- 🇦🇺 Australia, Brunswick, Victoria
- Category
- Apparel, footwear & accessories › Fashion apparel › Workwear
- Parent ticker
- ASX: WES
- Last verified
- · 2 sources
About Hard Yakka
Hard Yakka began in the 1930s, when David K. Laidlaw started a small clothing company in his parents' house in Brunswick, Victoria. He took the name from yakka, which the brand's own history says comes from the Aboriginal word for work. It narrowed to workwear early on and is now one of the two industrial workwear brands of Wesfarmers' Workwear Group, alongside KingGee.
Ownership timeline of Hard Yakka
- Current owner Wesfarmers [1] reported
Where Hard Yakka sits in Wesfarmers
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
Open the full Wesfarmers ownership tree →
See the full Wesfarmers brand portfolio (11) →
Other brands owned by Wesfarmers
Wesfarmers controls 11 brands on Brandtree, 2 of them in apparel, footwear & accessories.
Also in apparel, footwear & accessories
- KingGee (1926)
Other brands in workwear, and who owns them
The 26 brands in workwear on Brandtree belong to 11 owners. The largest is Lakeland, with 5; Wesfarmers has 2.
| Brand | Owner | Owner based in |
|---|---|---|
| EripioWear | Hultafors Group | 🇸🇪 Sweden |
| ChemMax | Lakeland | 🇺🇸 United States |
| BAMKO | Superior Group | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Duluth Trading | Duluth Holdings | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Bofilon | Groupe Eram | 🇫🇷 France |
| Bates | Wolverine Worldwide | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Carhartt | Carhartt | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Pega Forte | Grendene | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
About the owner: Wesfarmers
Wesfarmers is a publicly listed company headquartered in Perth, Australia, founded in 1914. Brandtree records 11 brands under its control, and it is listed as ASX: WES.
Wesfarmers began in 1914 as a Western Australian farmers' co-operative and is now one of Australia's largest listed companies, based in Perth, with revenue of $47.3 billion in the year to June 2026. It owns Bunnings, Kmart, Target, Officeworks and the Priceline Pharmacy network, as well as chemicals, fertiliser and gas businesses and half of the Covalent Lithium joint venture. It demerged Coles in 2018 but still owns half of Flybuys, the loyalty programme it shares with Coles.
🇦🇺 Hard Yakka and other Australian brands
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 228 brands that began in Australia. 72 of them (32%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country; Hard Yakka is not one of them.
- Berlei (Australia, New Zealand and South Africa) — Gildan 🇨🇦
- Glue Store — Accent Group 🇦🇺
- MAXTRAX — Clarus 🇺🇸
- Rip Curl — KMD Brands 🇳🇿
- UGG — Deckers Brands 🇺🇸
- 19 Crimes — Treasury Wine Estates 🇦🇺
Frequently asked questions
Who is the parent company of Hard Yakka?
The parent company of Hard Yakka is Wesfarmers, a publicly listed company headquartered in Australia.
Is Hard Yakka Australian?
Yes. Hard Yakka originated in Australia and its owner, Wesfarmers, is also headquartered in Australia.
Is Hard Yakka still owned by Wesfarmers?
Yes. As of 16 September 2026, Hard Yakka is still owned by Wesfarmers. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Sources (2) & corrections
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
- [1] Wesfarmers 2026 Annual Report — Wesfarmers Limited, Annual report; retrieved 16 September 2026.
- [2] Hard Yakka — The legend at work: a brief historical timeline — Workwear Group, Official document; retrieved 16 September 2026.
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