Communities
More than $8 million invested in the community
Our approach
Our operations are part of local communities which include Aboriginal communities, employees and contractors, near neighbours who live close to our sites, as well as local businesses who provide goods and services to our operations.
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 by understanding the socio-economic environment and communities' vision for the future, and providing contributions that are sustainable and build long term community capacity.
The Rio Tinto Communities Standard provides a framework for implementing our communities' policy.
Each year we complete a rolling community plan to manage community actions and priorities. Baseline community assessments also inform the development of long-term plans and strategies for community engagement.
2009 activity
During 2009 we completed a socio-economic baseline study of the Bowen Basin. The study findings focused on local employment availability, housing and accommodation, infrastructure, the level of dependency on the resources sector, fly-in/fly-out workforces, population mobility and cumulative impacts.
We also developed a socio-economic baseline study of the Aboriginal community in the Bowen Basin in Queensland. The study findings focused on historical legacies resulting from dispossession and geographical relocation and pathways from education to employment. It is intended that these priority areas be reflected in the types of programmes supported by the Rio Tinto Coal Australia Aboriginal Community Development Funds in Queensland going forward.
A new Rio Tinto communities five year target was introduced during 2009. The new target requires operations to have locally appropriate, publicly reported social performance indicators that demonstrate a positive contribution to the economic development of the communities and regions where we work, consistent with the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. We will establish relevant performance indicators during 2010 and track our performance against them in our sustainable development reports going forward.
During 2009 we carried out assessments against the Rio Tinto Communities Standard at Hunter Valley Operations, Hail Creek Mine and Mount Thorley Warkworth. The assessments are carried out at each site every three years. Members of the community are invited to participate in a review of our performance as part of the assessment process. Outcomes of the Hail Creek Mine assessment are focused on increasing collaboration and identifying regional opportunities for community investment. The outcomes of the Hunter Valley Operations and Mount Thorley Warkworth assessments focused on our engagement programmes, improvements to our baseline communities' assessment process, and integrating our community plans with our site operating plans.
Read more about our community activities by selecting from the right hand navigation menu.
