The Coloplast story is one of passion and commitment

It all started back in 1954. Nurse Elise Sørensen was concerned by the dramatic change in her sister’s lifestyle following an ostomy operation. Thora no longer dared to go out, fearing that her stoma would leak in public. Elise was determined to help her sister out of her isolation.

She came up with the idea of an ostomy bag with an adhesive ring, which would make it fit tightly to the skin. This would prevent leakage and give her sister – and thousands of people like her – the chance to return to their normal life.

A simple solution with great significance.

Coloplast was introduced into Australia in the late 1970's through a distributor, Edwards Medical in NSW. In 1981, as the business was growing, Edwards Medical transferred the distribution to another Australian family company, A.E. Stansens, who were based in Melbourne.

Only the Ostomy range was being sold at this time and the K FLEX (Karaya Gum) Ostomy bags were the major part of the business. In 1981 Stansens employed two stomal therapy nurses (one full time in Sydney and one part time in Melbourne) to promote the Coloplast range.

In 1982 the Conveen continence care range was launched and the first Australian continence conference was held in Melbourne for approximately 100 people. Mr. Don Moss, Urologist was the conference facilitator. There were no official Australian continence advisors in 1982.

Comfeel Wound Care range was launched in July 1982 and in 1988 Comfeel Ulcus was launched.

Coloplast became a separate division within Stansens/Phoenix with sales, marketing and customer service staff dedicated solely to Coloplast products in 1986.

The Breast Care products - Discrene range were launched in October 1991 and the merger with the Amoena distributors (Jenyns family) occurred in October 1995.

On March 6th, 1992, Coloplast set up its own subsidiary in Australia with 17 employees and the subsidiary head office was based in Burwood. The subsidiary expanded rapidly and moved to the current purpose built office/warehouse in Mount Waverley in June 1998. There are now more than 50 employees Australia wide.

Today, our business includes ostomy care, urology, continence care and wound and skin care. In all these areas, we are guided by Elise's passion and commitment. Like her, we work closely with people who have intimate healthcare needs. We listen to their needs and respond with products and services that make their lives easier.