Cultural competency is not a box-ticking exercise: RIAA

Leading First Nations advocates at the Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA) today outlined new measures to strengthen community engagement and better protect First Nations cultural heritage.

Allan James, head of indigenous engagement at BHP, said that co-designing the rules of engagement with the community is centre to what they do, acknowledging that previous agreements were shaped by a Western construct.

Today, it's moving away from that and, more importantly, ensuring staff and management within BHP have a high level of cultural knowledge and awareness.

"We've got various phases of different cultural awareness programs underway. From a 45-minute online course to actually spending a week on country with traditional owners," said James.

The programs are ongoing, not just a box-ticking exercise. "It's a continuum. It's not just what course you've done so you can call yourself competent," he added.

Jamie Lowe, panel chair and chief executive of the National Native Title Council, also believes cultural engagement is not enough. Companies should have a good relationship with Indigenous communities.

"You can't have engagement in a bad relationship, and you can't have a relationship without conversation. The first one you generally don't have a whole lot of choice in, so you make the best of it. But when a new relationship is going, it's got to be pretty intentional."

Having those conversations mean companies can avoid potentially disastrous environmental activities, including a tree-planting project in the wrong location.

"We would have been ploughing lines into a cultural heritage site. That risk was avoided by having traditional owners walk on site, which is a very practical example of a beyond-compliance approach," said Laura Osmetti, head community & social performance at Silva Capital.

Kado Muir, chair of National Native Council and former chair of First Nations Heritage Protection Alliance, said that existing sustainable frameworks provide the community with a negotiating tool - but that engagement is about finding a common ground and fully recognising First Nations rights.

"It would be great to reach a point where our contribution to the products that come off our land is recognised in value, where customers across the world would value knowing their minerals or energy came from Australia with First Nations cultural stewardship embedded in it."

FS Sustainability is a media partner of the 2026 RIAA Conference.