A revised agreement between Rio Tinto and Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation (YAC) has been inked to fortify links and improve social and economic results for the Yindjibarndi people for future generations.
In a statement, Rio Tinto said the new agreement was signed yesterday in Yindjibarndi Country at Jirndawirrinha (Millstream), a spot that is significant to the Yindjibarndi people’s identity and spiritual beliefs and holds an essential story of Barrimirndi, the Dreamtime serpent who walked from the sea to the desert.
Rio Tinto’s rail network runs across Yindjibarndi Country, connecting its Pilbara mines to ports in Western Australia at Cape Lambert and Dampier. YAC is the representative organisation for the Yindjibarndi people, with whom Rio Tinto has had a Participation Agreement and Indigenous Land Use Agreement since 2013.
The agreement expands on this cooperation and demonstrates a greater commitment to collaborate to provide additional chances for Yindjibarndi people to participate in Rio Tinto’s operations, including direct and indirect employment prospects, and to establish long-term community benefits.
Part of the agreement includes assistance for YAC in delivering the outcomes of its 3C Strategy, which focuses on building Community, Commercial, and Cultural projects and programmes to help YAC achieve its self-determination goals. These projects support the ambitions of the Yindjibarndi people to increase capacity and capability, as well as activities to protect, sustain, and celebrate culture.
Rio Tinto is continuing to collaborate with YAC to build a new model to educate Nation co-management and decision-making in connection to Rio Tinto’s activities in Yindjibarndi country, with plans to implement it in 2023.
YAC Chief Executive Officer Michael Woodley said the new agreement symbolises a true collaboration based on mutual trust and commitment, in which we both employ our best resources to engage, prepare, and produce outcomes that can better Yindjibarndi members’ lives.
“The partnership will help build resilient and prosperous communities, strengthen our spiritual and cultural heritage, and through strategic business partnerships, create a successful economic model for self-determination for the Yindjibarndi Nation that can endure for generations to come,” Woodley stated.
According to Rio Tinto Iron Ore Chief Executive Simon Trott, Rio Tinto is working hard to re-engage Traditional Owners and reform its business model,
“This agreement with the Yindjibarndi people is the first delivered as part of our commitment to modernise our relationship with Traditional Owners on whose land we operate. It is a demonstration of our commitment to working differently and truly partnering with Traditional Owners to support the achievement of their goals and aspirations. I look forward to seeing what we can achieve with the Yindjibarndi people over the years to come,” Trott said.
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