Community relations

Each of our operations is part of a local community, including both Aboriginal and non Aboriginal populations.  Our communities include employees and contractors, local businesses who provide goods and services to our operations, as well as near neighbours who live close to our operations and are most likely to be impacted by them.

Approach

We set out to build enduring relationships with all of our communities that are characterised by mutual respect, active partnership and long term commitment.  In practice this means:

• Having robust relationships with our communities of interest - this requires understanding the issues and needs of different stakeholders as well as active engagement
• Effectively contributing to communities - this requires understanding the socio-economic environment and communities' vision for the future and providing contributions that are sustainable and build long term community capacity.

This also includes Aboriginal communities, where our objective is to obtain and maintain cost effective legal access to land through building constructive relationships.

Results

The Rio Tinto Communities Standard sets out a framework for implementing the communities policy. 

Rio Tinto Coal Australia has a target to carry out audits against the Standard at each operation before the end of 2009. In 2008 we carried out audits for the Kestrel Mine in Queensland. The community is best placed to provide input as to how well we are implementing our standards, and the audit team interviewed various members of the community.  We will aim to seek local community input in the remaining audits which will be carried out in 2009.

Effectively contributing to communities requires a good understanding of the socio economic environment in which we operate, as well as the communities' vision for the future. For example in 2008:

• Our target to develop a socio-economic baseline of the Bowen Basin, with particular focus on better understanding Rio Tinto Coal Australia's contribution to the region, was achieved. The work was carried out by Sinclair, Knight, Mertz (SKM) and covered the towns of Emerald, Capella, Clermont, Moranbah, Nebo and Mackay. It involved development of a population profile using census data and an assessment of the contribution of the Rio Tinto Coal Australia operations to the Bowen Basin economy. Findings of the work will be used to inform future community relations programmes.

• Rio Tinto Coal Australia partnered with Isaac Regional Council to implement the "Preferred Future Strategy" for Clermont. This strategy was put together with the community to guide the future development of the town. In 2008, Rio Tinto Coal Australia contributed $50,000 towards funding a Preferred Futures Implementation officer at Isaac Regional Council who is working with council and the community to implement the plan.