National Reconciliation Week 2020

To mark the start of National Reconciliation Week 2020, our Australian sites have acknowledged and paid their respects to the Traditional Owners of the lands on which we operate.

Our vision for reconciliation is to continue to develop meaningful and sustainable relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and businesses – relationships that will provide real opportunities. Here’s how we’re supporting reconciliation at South32:

Worsley Alumina Indigenous School Program

In 2019, our Worsley Alumina operation in the South West of Western Australia signed a three-year community investment agreement to fund an Indigenous Student Engagement and Achievement Strategy for Boddington District High School.

This is designed to help improve attendance rate amongst Indigenous students and support their performance in all NAPLAN areas.

We are also in the third year of a community investment agreement with Collie Senior High School for the delivery of the Mila Foundation’s Indigenous youth leadership program. This program promotes cultural understanding and student leadership with the aim of increasing attendance and improving student cohesion.

Cannington Traineeship Program

Every career starts with an opportunity and we’re proud of our traineeship program at Cannington in Queensland, which opens doors for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees.

We work with a local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander labour hire organisation to promote the program and attract applicants.

Trainees are assigned to a function for a year, ensuring they develop a working knowledge of the employment opportunities available to them at Cannington. Established in 2017, three participants from the program have secured full-time positions with us.

An important part of the program is increasing the cultural awareness of non-Indigenous employees and developing the mentoring skills of our people.

Art at GEMCO

The Legacy Team at our GEMCO operation on Groote Eylandt in the Northern Territory have been learning new creative skills to help them pass on their rich Indigenous histories and to share culture.

The team members have been honing their artistic skills with the support of Legacy Team Supervisor and accomplished artist, Russell Brown.

Learn more about our commitment to reconciliation in our Reconciliation Action Plan