A major aid agency says Australia’s resources companies are not being open enough about how they gain the consent of Indigenous land owners at their overseas mining projects.

A study by Oxfam Australia found that only one of the 53 biggest miners on the Australian stock exchange had a public commitment to the United Nation’s principles of informed consent for Indigenous people.

Oxfam Australia chief executive, Helen Szoke, says Australian mining companies need to do better.

“We looked at the policies of companies specifically within the context of how they dealt with the issue of consent of Indigenous peoples to use their land,” she said.

“Disturbingly what we found is that the majority of companies don’t have any transparent policies about how they gain that consent and how they go about negotiating with local Indigenous communities.”

Oxfam Australia says Rio Tinto was the only company that had a public commitment to the United Nation’s principles on gaining consent from Indigenous people.

Dr Szoke says local communities can be badly affected if there are no clear policies on getting consent.

“It’s a significant problem because, first of all, much of the world’s mining deposits are located in areas where there are Indigenous communities that actually are the landowners,” she observed.

“The second problem is when the negotiation process isn’t sorted out there is an enormously adverse impact on local communities.”

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Only one Aust mining company meets UN indigenous standards

http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/radio/program/pacific-bea...

17 May 2013

Oxfam Australia says Australian mining companies operating overseas often fail to obtain permission from the indigenous land owners before commencing projects on their land.
Only one Aust mining company meets UN indigenous standards (Credit: ABC)

An Oxfam study found of the 53 biggest miners on the Australian stock exchange only Rio Tinto has a public commitment to United Nation’s principles on gaining consent from traditional owners.

The study warns projects risk being delayed or shut down if communities directly affected are not involved in decision-making, or do not benefit directly from the projects.

Presenter: Campbell Cooney

Speaker: Dr Helen Szoke, chief executive, Oxfam Australia,