In the lead up to a national cultural diversity tour, Indigenous Services Australia director Tony Shaw has asked mining companies to listen first and establish a relationship when approaching traditional owners regarding property rights.

“In most cases, they are not listening, they’re telling,” Shaw said.

“They need to understand that negotiation need to initially be face-to-face and consider both the short and long-term benefits to the people or communities they are dealing with, not just their own objectives.

“Companies need to get out of their offices and deal with the people direct. Lawyers are okay as a sounding board, but a bit intimidatory.

“Real change doesn’t happen in offices, real change happens within people.”

Shaw pointed to Sirius Resources’ landmark mining agreement with the Ngadju people in August, which paved the way for a mining lease and the start of construction at the company’s massive Nova nickel project in Western Australia.

End-to-end negotiations were achieved for the agreement in only nine months, a feat Sirius managing director Mark Bennett attributed to listening to the people’s stories, walking their lands and building a relationship.

“Don’t approach them in suits and tell them what you want to do,” Bennett said.

“Show some respect and sit down and listen to them before looking at how you can help them and achieve your goals at the same time.”

Bennett first met Shaw in 1999 while negotiating a land agreement for the Thunderbox gold mine in WA’s Goldfields region.

The two men will be the centre of the diversity workshop tour It’s not all black and white, which starts in Darwin November 10.

“Over many years, Tony has proved to me time and again how vital cultural awareness and engagement is in achieving meaningful outcomes for aboriginal people, and how little the rest of the community understands this,” Bennett said.

“Nova provided us with a unique opportunity to do things the right way from the start, to acknowledge the legitimacy of the connection of aboriginal people to their land, and to take a non-adversarial approach.

“I would like to think that our agreement sets a constructive example for the mining industry encouraging it to engage and cooperate with aboriginal communities and to provide an enduring legacy that can stretch far beyond the mine gate.”

Topics to be covered by It’s not all black and white will include the significance of skin grouping, labour and communications challenges, and the need for modern-day core values within Indigenous communities.

The tour will visit Melbourne on November 12, Sydney on November 14, Adelaide on November 17, Brisbane on November 19 and Perth on November 21.