Indigenous engagement

MinRes acknowledges and respects the Indigenous Peoples’ lands and waters on which we operate and recognises that our Australian operations are located on or near lands that are significant to Indigenous Australians.

With our operations spanning regional and remote areas of Western Australia and the Northern Territory, our ability to build strong and trusting relationships with our communities is critical to our success.

In addition to the social investment framework, MinRes focuses on contributing to Indigenous communities by supporting social and cultural health, economic empowerment and community-driven projects.

Our Heritage, Native Title and Indigenous Engagement teams work closely with Indigenous communities to increase Indigenous engagement and participation in the regions where we operate.

Through proactive consultation and engagement, we have identified business support, cultural awareness training and community investment initiatives as some of the primary areas of interest for Traditional Owners.

Our key focus is to:

• continue to implement MinRes Indigenous Small Business Grants which provide targeted support for Indigenous businesses.
• increase awareness of cultural awareness training across our operations, which has resulted in increased attendance and completion of the training by our people.
• continue to work with Traditional Owners to identify programs and initiatives that can be funded through our community investment program.

Indigenous business development

We are driving economic participation of Indigenous Australians in our business through business development, community investment, partnerships and cultural awareness training.

Our Indigenous Procurement Strategy also commits MinRes and its contracting business partners to promote, support and employ local Indigenous Australians.

MinRes has worked with Traditional Owners to identify Indigenous businesses that would benefit from an Indigenous Small Business Grant. The funding supports the set-up costs associated with a new business, including registration, business advice, legal structure and basic training.

In FY23, MinRes increased Indigenous business spend by 140% compared to the prior year and currently contracts with more than 30 Indigenous businesses. This number is projected to grow significantly in the coming years.