The MCA and Federal Government Memorandum of Understanding

Members of the MCA are committed to sustainable development, and particularly to sharing the socio-economic benefits of mining with communities affected by its operations.  This commitment is made more acute by the fact that more than 60 per cent of minerals operations in Australia have Indigenous neighbours, who continue to experience severe socio-economic disadvantage compared with other Australians.  

The minerals industry is the largest private sector employer of Indigenous people, with five per cent of its direct workforce identifying as Indigenous.  However, whilst there have been successes in recruiting and retaining local Indigenous employees, the minerals industry realises that there are barriers for many Indigenous people that prevent them taking up employment, and which industry cannot tackle alone.   

To address this, the MCA identified the need for a strategic platform with the Federal Government to work in partnership with Indigenous people to build strong and sustainable communities in which individuals can take up the social, employment and business opportunities in mining regions.  Through this partnership, Government programs could be better tailored to reduce the structural impediments and increase the capacity of Indigenous people to benefit from opportunities available through the minerals industry.

Discussions with the Federal Government led to the MCA and Federal Government Memorandum of Understanding on Indigenous Employment and Enterprise Facilitation (MoU) (pdf:956kb), launched in June 2005.  
 


The MoU provides a new approach and establishes new working arrangements between Government, industry and Indigenous communities, through:

• a commitment from industry and Government to resource this work over five years to enable the development of longer term relationships;
  
  
• a commitment by the Federal Government to a “whole-of-Government” approach including across all levels of government;
   
• a “pilot phase” of two years, focused on the establishment of a model to facilitate partnerships that can be replicated to other mining regions;
  
  
• a collaborative and localised approach between Government, industry and Indigenous people, including:

• an emphasis on developing local partnerships that are resourced and empowered to develop local solutions and build upon successful programs; and 

• recognition that direct engagement with Indigenous people and building community responses are critical to the success of the partnerships;

• increased collaboration within the minerals industry, rather than competition, in finding solutions with local Indigenous people and Government;
  
  
• development of overarching Regional Partnerships Agreements (RPAs) between industry, all levels of Government and Indigenous communities, to achieve high-level alignment between the parties before consideration of project details;
  
  
• development of an evaluation framework to assess the performance of the partnerships and the achievement of desired outcomes as identified by the regional partnerships;
  
  
• a commitment to the effective communication of successes and learnings across Government, the minerals industry and within Indigenous communities.

It is hoped that the MoU will deliver enhanced Government service delivery to Indigenous people, through improved access to:
 
>    literacy and numeracy education;

>    work readiness initiatives;

>    drug and alcohol services;

>    financial services;

>    family support, child care and counselling; and

>    human and financial capital to facilitate enterprise development.



The parties to the MoU agreed to eight pilot project areas to model regional partnerships under the MoU in the following regions:

>    Western Cape York (Queensland) – involving Comalco 
>    Tanami (Northern Territory) – involving Newmont
>    East Kimberley (Western Australia) – involving Argyle Diamond Mine and Roche
>    Port Hedland (Western Australia) - involving BHP Billiton
>    Newman (Western Australia) – involving BHP Billiton and Newcrest Mining
>    Karratha and Roebourne (Western Australia) – involving Pilbara Iron
>    South West Perth – Boddington (Western Australia) – involving Newmont; and
>    Wiluna (Western Australia) – involving Newmont.


A National Steering Committee has been established to oversee the implementation of the MoU.  It includes representation from the Office of Indigenous Policy Coordination (OIPC), the Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources (DITR), the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR), the MCA Secretariat and MCA member companies, namely Newmont, BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Roche.

The first twelve months of the MoU have focussed on the establishment of pilot sites and the engagement of regional stakeholders. 


Regional Partnerships Newsletter

This publication provides regular updates on the implementation of the MoU. 

> Regional Partnerships Newsletter (pdf:192kb) - Issue 1, April 2006

> Regional Partnerships Newsletter (pdf: 208kb) - Issue 2, June 2006

> Regional Partnerships Newsletter (pdf: 506kb) - Issue 3, November 2006

> Regional Partnerships Newsletter (pdf: 295kb) - Issue 4, May 2007

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For more information, please contact:

Email: info@minerals.org.au