Juukan Gorge

Lessons learned

In 2021, the Board conducted a joint exercise with the Executive Committee to learn the lessons from the destruction of the rock shelters at Juukan Gorge, and the Group’s response to the tragic events. In addition to strengthening crisis management and communications, the key learnings which the Board and Executive team are committed to addressing are:

• Promoting an inclusive, open and transparent culture that empowers people to raise and escalate concerns on operational and ethical issues
• Applying a more values-driven approach to guide decision making. Our new values of care, courage and curiosity, support these desired behaviours

Our commitments

As part of our efforts to improve transparency, we provide updates on the work we are undertaking to enhance our communities and social performance (CSP) practices.

An update on our progress is provided within our Annual Report.

Our relationship with the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura People

We are working together with the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura People to co-manage mining activities and remediate Country.

Throughout our journey with the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura People, they have graciously shared their knowledge to ensure our remediation efforts deliver the best possible outcomes. During this time, we have been reminded of the importance of trusted relationships and valued partnerships through listening and continuously demonstrating mutual respect.

Working together with Indigenous Peoples

We have been changing the way we work and engage with communities and Indigenous Peoples in every part of our business. We are moving to a co-management model so we can better protect cultural heritage. Our approach aims to enhance our understanding and appreciation of Indigenous cultural heritage and ensure that Indigenous voices inform our planning and decision making.

While we have made progress, some relationships with Indigenous communities remain challenged. We are committed to working together to achieve positive, long-term outcomes for the communities where we operate.

Our Communities and Social Performance teams

Our Communities and Social Performance teams work across our entire business. They provide technical expertise to continually evolve and improve our approach to engaging with communities where we operate. A global Communities and Social Performance Area of Expertise supports and complements our asset-based teams by monitoring and sharing external societal trends, developing standards, systems and risk and assurance processes, building capability, and providing strategic and technical subject matter advice.

We have also increased the technical capability and resourcing of our Cultural Heritage teams to build understanding and delivery of cultural heritage management.

Independent Cultural Heritage Management Audit

In March 2023, we published an independent report (produced by ERM, a global sustainability consultancy) on a global audit of our cultural heritage management performance. The audit was completed throughout 2021 and 2022 across 20 assets in Australia and 17 assets in other countries where we operate, including Canada, South Africa, the US and Mongolia. The audit identified areas where we are achieving leading cultural heritage practices but also areas where we need to improve our performance. Based on the report recommendations, we are implementing a cultural heritage maturity model to monitor progress across the business.

Indigenous leadership and cultural competency

Our Indigenous Leadership Program in Australia focuses on accelerating and empowering Indigenous leaders. To help grow Indigenous leadership, we are improving pathways to employment, increasing the number of employment opportunities and providing positive experiences for current and future employees so they can actively grow their career.

We are seeking to create an inclusive, culturally safe and respectful environment for Indigenous People. Our Cultural Connection Program ensures our leaders have an informed understanding of Indigenous culture, and know how to build strong, trusted relationships with the Indigenous community and Indigenous employees.

Improving cultural heritage management standards

Our Integrated Heritage Management Process (IHMP) embeds heritage considerations throughout the mine development process, from early resource planning and studies through to closure. The process clarifies leadership accountability to inform field teams about heritage sites and management controls.

Australian Advisory Group

We established the Australian Advisory Group (AAG) in 2022 to provide independent expert advice to our executives on matters impacting our relationship with Indigenous Peoples and communities in Australia.

Engagement

We are challenging ourselves to be more transparent, sharing not only the good news stories but the ones that identify areas for improvement. We have focused on keeping stakeholders updated on our progress to improve cultural heritage management and protections, including the modernisation of agreements.

Our Sustainability Committee

The Sustainability Committee supports the Board to ensure we deliver a sustainable and strong business performance that builds trust with our people, partners, stakeholders and society.

The Sustainability Committee is accountable for the implementation of the recommendations set out in the Board Review and Parliamentary Inquiry, and with ensuring that these lessons are applied to our operations across Australia and the globe.

The background – a series of failures

Internal and external reviews of the events leading up to the destruction of the rock shelters at Juukan Gorge have highlighted deficiencies in how our partnerships with Traditional Owner groups were managed, a lack of integration of our heritage management with our front-line operational teams, and a work culture that was too focused on business performance and not enough on building and maintaining relationships with Traditional Owners.

The archaeological and ethnographic reports received in 2013-14 should have triggered an internal review of the implications of this material new information for the mine development plans. Such a review did not take place. Following the completion of the archaeological surveys and other mitigation measures agreed with the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura People in 2014, the site was reclassified as “cleared” for mining and removed from relevant risk registers. Consequently, knowledge and awareness of the location and significance of the site was lost. Further opportunities to revise the mine plan were missed in 2018, when the final archaeological report was received, and again during 2019-20.

A review published by the Rio Tinto Board of Directors in August 2020 identified a series of systemic failures of our communities and heritage management processes at Brockman 4 over an extended period. The full review can be found below.

Both the Board Review and the Inquiry of the Joint Standing Committee on Northern Australia (the Parliamentary Inquiry) made it clear that the events at Juukan Gorge represented a breach of our partners’ trust and a failure to uphold our values as a company.

Statements and submissions