Transparency

Transparency encourages accountability – ours as well as others’ – and allows us to have fact-based conversations about the issues at hand.

Being open about our tax payments, mineral development contracts, beneficial ownership and our stance on a range of other sustainability issues – like climate change – allows us to enter into open, fact-based conversations with our stakeholders, and provides a better understanding of everyone's roles and responsibilities.

We are recognised as a leader in transparent tax reporting: we were the first in our industry to disclose our payments to governments, and we have been reporting on our taxes and royalties paid, and our economic contribution, in increasing detail since 2010. 

We are a founding member of the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) and have actively supported EITI’s principles and global transparency and accountability standards since 2003. In 2018, we became a signatory to the B Team Responsible Tax Principles. In 2021, we reinforced our commitment to transparency over tax reporting by being one of the first companies to fully implement the disclosure requirements under the Global Reporting Initiative Tax standard GRI 207.

We engage in public policy on issues that affect or could affect our business, including by contributing relevant information and sharing experiences that help create viable outcomes. 

Transparent tax reporting

We are recognised as a leader in transparent tax reporting: we were the first in our industry to disclose our payments to governments, and we have been reporting on our taxes and royalties paid, and our economic contribution, in increasing detail since 2010.

We are working closely with governments and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on new tax reporting codes and policies to ensure consistency in our reporting procedures. We also endorse The B Team Responsible Tax Principles, which aim to drive fairer, more sustainable tax systems and global standards of responsible tax practice.

Political engagement and participation in industry associations

We do not favour any political party, group or individual, or involve ourselves in party political matters. We prohibit the use of funds to support political candidates or parties. Our business integrity procedure includes strict guidelines for dealing with current and former government officials and politicians, and they cannot be appointed to senior employee positions or engaged as consultants, in certain circumstances, without the approval of executive management and our Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer.

We regularly engage with governments and share information and our experiences on issues that affect our operations and our industry. 

We join industry associations where membership provides value to our business, investors and other stakeholders. As part of our Industry association disclosure, we outline the principles that guide our participation and the way we engage, as well as a list of the top 5 associations by membership fees paid. We also track and disclose how we engage on climate policy issues, disclosing when the policies and advocacy positions adopted by industry associations differ materially from ours.

In the United States, in accordance with the United States Federal Election Campaign Act, we provide administrative support for the Rio Tinto America Political Action Committee (PAC), which was created in 1990 and encourages voluntary employee participation in the political process. All Rio Tinto America PAC employee contributions are reviewed for compliance with federal and state law and are publicly reported in accordance with US election laws.

We do not offer, pay or accept bribes, no matter where we operate, no matter what the situation is, and no matter who is involved. Nor do we allow our agents or intermediaries to do so. We also have strict guidelines on giving and receiving benefits. 

Data privacy

Being open about the “what, why, where and who it is shared with” around personal data and raising stakeholders’ awareness of this issue helps build trust in our business – and in how we handle people’s data.

We take people’s right to data privacy very seriously. We have strict privacy statements in place across our business globally, and raise awareness about data privacy rights as part of our Ethics and Compliance training. Our global data privacy program reflects the EU General Data Protection Regulation and reforms in Australia and Canada.

Integrity and our value chain

We conduct due diligence in our value chain to examine integrity and modern slavery performance. We are working to improve this process and to exercise positive influence in our value chain – from our suppliers all the way to our customers. We also understand that people want to know how we are managing risks and publish an annual modern slavery statement in line with reporting requirements in the UK and Australia.