Extending cultural connections globally

I’m deeply passionate about Indigenous rights. I firmly believe that as Indigenous Peoples, we can achieve anything. My family were personally involved in struggles in the Northern Territory in Australia to reclaim our homelands and recognition as people – and now, many Indigenous People and groups have reclaimed their traditional lands and returned to Country, protecting our heritage and ensuring better futures for our children. With a will, a desire and a bit of hard work, we can make really great things happen.  

I’m excited to be stepping into this role just as Rio Tinto unifies and elevates its Indigenous relations approach globally. Although there are differences in Indigenous experiences and customs, many of our communities around the world share much in common, primarily in the deep spiritual connection we have to Country, ancestors and our future generations. Unfortunately, most of us also share a recent history of disempowerment. But we also share experience of resistance and resilience. We're still here. We’ve struggled against oppression, pushed for progress and return of our rights, and we have endured. And I’m hopeful that our way forward will also be a shared experience – a positive one, which will draw on the vast resources of partners like Rio Tinto to empower Indigenous communities, all around the world. 

Rio Tinto has done some great work in recent years to improve engagement with communities, especially since the tragic events at Juukan Gorge in 2020. But there's still a lot of work to be done, even with some of the most fundamental elements, like reconciliation and truth telling. And empowering Indigenous communities – through employment, but also for self-determination through economic development and co-management of Country on lands where we operate. 

There are many practical ways we can achieve this. We need to establish and monitor operating standards in true partnership with Indigenous communities. Strengthening and refreshing agreements with Indigenous Peoples will help us to uphold our commitments and support long-term relationships. We’re already working toward this at some of our mine sites and assets with a collaborative co-management of Country model, but I’m looking forward to the day when these standards are simply second nature in everything we do.   

We should also aspire to higher levels of Indigenous employment, not in a pigeon-holing way but employees and managers that are also Indigenous, across all levels of the company. Indigenous People bring unique skills, resilience, knowledge and perseverance that equip us to lead and excel in leadership positions. Ben Wyatt, a Yamatji man, joined Rio Tinto’s Board of Directors in 2021. And we’ve seen change since the company implemented dedicated programs to recruit Indigenous people and leaders. But we have a long way to go. We need to lift participation. One way is by offering upskilling opportunities for Indigenous employees and work experience for young people. But we should also be looking to adjacent industries to bring in some of the growing pool of Indigenous professionals – accountants, lawyers, financial advisors, strategists – to add their voices to our organisation. I’ve seen firsthand how this can work well in Australia, so I’m looking forward to the challenge of adapting this approach to other nations and contexts.  

Hiring Indigenous employees is just the start of the journey, though. We also need to create culturally safe environments within our company to support, retain and value Indigenous Peoples in our workforce. That will rely heavily on building cultural competency among our non-Indigenous employees and continuing to evolve our company culture to one of deeper respect and support of Indigenous Peoples and cultures.   

We need to get this right. While it looks good on the page, translating it into reality isn’t just aspirational – it's necessary for progress. That progress will open opportunities to access more projects, help us attract the best talent, and reinforce our social licence to operate with communities around the world.  

I'm optimistic that someday in the future, strong and empowered Indigenous communities will be the new normal. And I’m excited to have joined a company that’s driven to making that a reality.