Heritage and culture

In the Pilbara region of Western Australia, the Aboriginal Heritage Programme meets our obligations for identification, assessment, protection and management of Aboriginal heritage sites. As part of the programme, our heritage team works closely with heritage consultants and Aboriginal consultants to best manage activities around cultural heritage sites.

The RTIO Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Team is one of the largest and most experienced of its kind in the resources industry. It comprises over 20 professionals including qualified archaeologists, specialists in cultural heritage management, Geographical Information Systems (GIS), and community liaison.  The team's role is to facilitate the management of Aboriginal cultural heritage across all of RTIO's tenements and mining leases in Western Australia.

A comprehensive Cultural Heritage Management System (CHMS) is in place to ensure appropriate protection and management of Aboriginal heritage.  In addition, RTIO has in place an Approvals Coordination System which regulates ground disturbance activities and ensures that we do not disturb significant Aboriginal or environmental sites without authorisation.

Culturally appropriate programmes for the research and analysis of significant sites are also sponsored by the heritage programme.

The participation of members of local Indigenous communities in the management of the cultural heritage in the Pilbara is essential and the business offers an Archaeological Assistants' Training Course to equip participants with the necessary skills going forward.

Rio Tinto also offers an Aboriginal Cadetship programme coordinated across Australia.

Cross-cultural development

Through our relationships with a number of Indigenous communities, we are able to facilitate cross-cultural training programmes for our employees.

These programmes range from leadership experiences for senior managers, hosted by Aboriginal Elders through to inductions for all employees on the significance of the country on which we operate.

Experiences of this kind enable employees to gain a better understanding of indigenous culture and the communities in which we operate.