Mining companies committed to encouraging Indigenous workers and expanding cultural awareness

With mining companies actively looking to employ Indigenous people, South32 Cannington mine recently flew a group of Indigenous students from Brisbane to the remote site.

Mining companies are actively looking to employ Indigenous people, particularly from local communities.

The company behind South32 Cannington mine, near Mount Isa in north west Queensland, flew a group of Indigenous students from Brisbane to the remote site last week, to learn about different jobs including engineering, maintenance, technical services and warehouse services.

South32 chief operating officer Jason Economidis said the company was committed to encouraging Indigenous workers and expanding “cultural awareness training for employees, as well as increasing community investment programs that drive long-term change”.

The day trip was a collaboration between the mining company and the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation (AIEF), which gives scholarships to Indigenous children to study at boarding schools in the cities.

Ben Mills, one of eight high school students flown to the South32 Cannington Mine, with his mentor Tafara Chipamaunga.

The charity said one in five Indigenous children who took up a scholarship returned to live in their home communities after graduating. It had several students that came from remote communities near the South32 mine.

“The AIEF is committed to increasing Year 12 attainment and expanding employment outcomes for Indigenous Australians,” AIEF executive director Andrew Penfold said.

Successful students who get jobs are inspiring their “siblings, cousins and neighbours” to study too, according to the charity patron David Gonski.