Rio Tinto pledges better cultural awareness following Juukan Gorge disaster

ERM identified subtle differences between geographies and business units such as aluminium, copper, exploration, iron ore and minerals that reflected local regulatory frameworks and stakeholder expectations, as well as the type and function of the asset.

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“Overall, while examples of good practice, and in some instances leading cultural heritage management practices were found, further work is required across the business to align with Rio Tinto’s internal standards,” it found.

Rio’s Australia chief executive, Kellie Parker, said the company had been working to strengthen and improve its approach to cultural heritage and community relations.

“Our immediate focus was in Australia following Juukan Gorge before steadily expanding across our global operations. We know we have more work to do and the report gives us areas for further improvement across our global operations, and we will adopt all of its recommendations.”

Rio updated its business-wide standards for how it manages communities and social performance last year to include enhanced safeguards for cultural heritage, and has set an 18-month transition period ending in 2024 for all its assets to close any gaps in those standards and become compliant.

The audit found it was evident a number of assets had progressed towards achieving the requirements outlined in the 2022 standard.

“While examples of good cultural heritage practice were found, there are further improvements that are required to meet their internal standards and ensure all assets have appropriate foundations,” Stefani Eagle, ERM’s consulting director [cultural heritage], said.

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