(8)Sustaining Project Agreements between Community and Corporations: Issues, Implications and Solutions

摘要

For almost 20 years Australian Indigenous groups and project developers have worked within a framework of prior consultation that provides for the making of agreements between the parties in relation to major projects in mining, oil & gas and certain types of infrastructure linked to the relevant Government's approval for the project. During that period of time, the capacity of both Indigenous groups and companies to operate within that regulatory environment has grown and there is now a body of acceptable practice around effective engagement, comprehensive priorconsultation compliance and negotiation of agreements established. The Australian mining boom of the last decade brought with it monetary compensation, training, employment and commercial enterprise opportunities not previously attainable for many Indigenous communities. Through much of our work we have observed that often these opportunities make little direct impact on communities, as people and organisations struggle to participate effectively in project development. In addition, project agreements have resulted in Indigenous communities and their members often facing unanticipated challenges, particularly around effective management and proper governance of Indigenous owned corporations, leading to additional administrative burden and community conflict (Taxation of Native Title and Traditional Owner Benefits Working Group Report to Government, 2013; Langton, 2015). With social risk being elevated as a fundamental issue for many projects and financiers, the questions of prior consultation, agreement making and implementation will continue to be central to project development. Project sustainability, in the context of agreement implementation and execution, has become, and will continue to be, the focus for ongoing satisfactory management processes and practice. This is the challenge facing communities and companies as they look to the promises that these agreements foretell. Failure to develop effective implementation mechanisms, communication pathways and systems of review to support life of project, and often intergenerational, arrangements may lead to the manifestation over time of conflict between the parties. It is our view that there needs to be a dual focus for both communities and companies when making project agreements, first on the negotiations and then on effective implementation and execution, in order to sustain agreements and relationships for the life of a project.