EX. SUMMARY Brief background of company and current situation Maximum one paragraph.

EX. SUMMARY Brief outline of purpose of report. Maximum one paragraph

EX. SUMMARY Brief outline of key problem, theory used to analyse it and explanation of why it must be solved. Maximum one paragraph

MAKE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY MAXIMUM OF 300 WRDS

THE PROBLEM STATEMENT IS : One Major problem this report assess is how the Australian Mining industry and companies lack attention to how their external environment is negatively affecting the indigenous people both psychically and mentally.

Case study :

The threat or opportunity of resource development often prompts a movement for the recognition of indigenous ownership and control of land. However, a number of serious implications arise from the late recognition of indigenous rights in Australia law, not just as regards loss of land, but in the culture of land administration and resource development that seeks to reduce the rights of indigenous peoples and secure

access for development. The relationship between indigenous peoples and mining is defined by struggles

over access to land.

The Mirrar, represented by the Gundjehmi Aboriginal Corporation, are the traditional owners and custodians of the area of Australia that now contains the Ranger and Jabiluka mineral leases. Uranium was discovered in the area in the 1950s. The Jabiluka and Ranger mineral leases cut across country containing the dreaming tracks of the Mirrar. Some sacred sites within the mineral leases close to the proposed uranium mine, have not been given "protection" by the mining company or by the government despite having been publicly

identified by the traditional owners and custodians.

The physical threat to such sites has immense cultural, spiritual, and legal significance. Land has a fundamental

social and economic importance to indigenous societies, one that can be disrupted and substantially transformed by mining operations. According to the Mirrar, "do not argue that mining alone is impacting on living tradition"-- the Mirrar argue that mining and its associated social, economic and political impacts are the single greatest impact, and that an additional mine will push their culture past the point of cultural exhaustion to genocidal decay.

The Mirrar maintain vigilance over Jabiluka's sister mine, Ranger, monitoring the negative social impact the mine is having on the Aboriginal communities in the vicinity. Mirrar fears about the safety of uranium mines are well-founded. Around May, 2000, a leak from the Ranger Mine contaminated water with manganese. Gundjehmi Aboriginal Corporation Executive Officer Jacqui Katona (co-recipient of the Goldman Prize) noted that the leak highlights the inadequate monitoring of the mine and evidences the grave threat that mining operations pose to the land.

Mining giant Rio Tinto decided to destroy two 46,000-year-old Aboriginal rock shelters in order to access $135 million worth of iron ore that would not have been available under alternative mining plans avoiding the culturally significant site. The nation's second-largest miner has faced a storm of condemnation after legally destroying the ancient site in Western Australia's Juukan Gorge, against the will of the land's traditional owners. Rio Tinto spokesperson said the land's traditional owners were never told there were other options that could have protected the Juukan Gorge site.

The Juukan Gorge disaster has highlighted the power imbalance between the nation's mining giants and Indigenous communities and raises questions being explored by the inquiry about a need for greater legal protections for traditional owners to safeguard significant

sites on their ancestral land. In its submission to the inquiry, Rio acknowledged it could have made better decisions and been better partners with the Indigenous community in the years leading up to the blast in May. Rio Tinto expressed it had missed multiple opportunities to better communicate with the traditional landowners or pause to rethink its mine expansion plan.

The mining industry's super-profits have come at a high cost to some parts of the community, as evidenced by workplace deaths in mines, to say nothing of the trashing of Aboriginal land rights and environmental destruction. A twenty-five-year-old Indigenous man David Armstrong was killed on 30 September at Fortescue Metal Group's Solomon Hub iron ore mine in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Part of the drill and blast team, he died after the ground collapsed beneath him. Workers are also afraid of losing their jobs for raising safety concerns. Added to this is the issue of fly-in fly-out (FIFO) worker suicides. FIFO stands for Fly In Fly Out and DIDO stands for Drive in Drive Out. This means that workers are brought to site for the length of their work roster where they are provided with accommodation, recreation facilities, meals, etc. FIFO jobs are those which involve employees being flown to their workplace for the duration of a roster before being flown back to a preferred location. Companies are not required to investigate when there is suicide in their mining camp, let alone if one of the workers or contractors takes their own life during an off swing (the week off after working two or three weeks consecutively).

There's a strong culture in Australian mining of female trailblazers who have forged a path for those established leaders of mining's current generation with a commanding presence. However, there has been increasing cases of sexual harassment. In particular, women has acknowledged it to be still relevant to choose between family and a career. This has created many challenges for women in FIFO roles.

A mining giant,

Fortescue Metals Group has rejected calls

for a register of sexual offenders in Western Australia's

mining industry. About 30 per cent of respondents to a recent online survey of 2000 staff said they had

witnessed sexual harassment or inappropriate behaviour at FMG sites.

FMG's director of people Linda O'Farrell said the priority should be to streamline reporting for victims. However, FMG also opposed to the creation of an independent body to oversee the management of harassment claims. FMG's stance is at odds with fellow Pilbara giants Rio Tinto and BHP. Facing a WA parliamentary inquiry, chief executive Elizabeth Gaines on Wednesday said FMG had investigated 11 sexual

harassment matters in 2020 and a further 31 so far this year.

"Working directly with people who have made complaints to us, it is very daunting to them when we need to explain they may be contacted by somebody they don't know from a department that they don't have involvement with," CEO Gaines said. Rio Tinto's iron ore chief Simon Trott said he was sickened by the evidence of widespread sexual misconduct within the industry. Since the start of 2020, Rio has identified one substantiated case of sexual assault and 29 sexual harassment cases. About 15 workers have been dismissed, while others remain under investigation. BHP last week said it had sacked at least 48 workers for sexual misconduct over the past two years. The three mining companies combined with the Chamber of Minerals and Energy Western Australia pledge support for the parliamentary inquiry into sexual misconduct against women in the FIFO mining industry and committed to work cohesively to eradicate these behaviours from the sector. A pilot program, to be developed in 2022, will be established for TAFE students through South Metropolitan TAFE. This will form part of core learning requirements for students who may be planning to join Rio Tinto, BHP or Fortescue.

Mining operations, however expansive and complex, are temporary. Eventually, once the most accessible and valuable materials have been extracted, the mine is closed, and the site must be restored back to its original state. This includes covering up mine entrances, replanting grass and trees, and testing surrounding water, soil, and air for contaminants. The chief executive of a small shire in Western Australia says cleared land, open pits, and hazardous materials left behind at abandoned mines are a major concern and has called on the state government to prioritise rehabilitation.

Peter Fitchat from Dundas Shire explains, "The big ones that are a concern are still exposed, that cause dust, there's asbestos on these sites, there's contamination, there's arsenic and old processors,". There were more than 190,000 abandoned mining features across WA's outback, including open pits, dumps, and mining shafts.

Adam Cross from Curtin University's Centre for Mine Site Restoration said abandoned mines were a hazard and "Mining creates materials that are among the most challenging for plants and animals to recolonise naturally,". He further added "Landforms like waste rock dumps and tailings can erode over time and their dust can contain particles and heavy metals and other compounds that can be harmful for plants and animals, even for us.

The East Kimberley's only operational iron ore project has started loading its last shipment, after a management decision to shut the mine and lay off hundreds of workers in Western Australia's far north. It is estimated the closure of Ridges will see about 200 jobs lost and as much as $3.5 million a month in lost revenue for local businesses across the region. The closure was particularly devastating in light of all the work done to build Indigenous employment across the mine, haulage, and ship loading operations.