We work with leaders and organisations on the decisions that matter most to them. The work is long in character, even when engagements are short. It depends on trust, access, and the willingness to hear an honest independent view, and it is not won through a competitive pitch.

There is no business development layer, no proposal factory, and no team of graduates between the client and the advice. The person you meet is the person accountable.

Most engagements take one of two forms. A focused diagnostic, measured in weeks, to assess a specific situation and deliver a direct finding. Or a retained advisory relationship, providing ongoing advice across a portfolio of decisions over months or years.

Our advice is shaped by having governed decisions, not studied them. Capital committees, investment papers, heritage negotiations, co-management frameworks: we have been in these rooms as a principal, and that distinction matters.

We advise companies on what the ground requires of them. We advise Traditional Owner groups on what the commercial logic will demand. We work with a small number of clients so each engagement carries the full weight of our attention.

The person you meet is the person accountable for the work.

Christopher Christie is a Yirandhali and Koa man. He founded Blackpath to help companies and Traditional Owner groups create better outcomes for community and Country.

He has over twenty years of senior leadership across Rio Tinto, BHP, Fortescue, and the Australian energy sector. He has governed capital portfolios exceeding $13 billion and shaped major iron ore developments from feasibility through final investment decision, including South Flank, Western Range, Brockman Syncline, and Robe Valley. He helped shape and design Australia's first nationally recognised co-management framework with Traditional Owners at Western Range, a $2.7 billion joint venture with Baowu Steel.

He holds an Executive MBA from UNSW Australian Graduate School of Management and completed Leading Sustainable Corporations at Oxford Saïd Business School. He co-chaired the Rio Tinto Elevating Indigenous Voices Committee following Juukan Gorge and led significant work addressing discrimination and harassment in the workplace.

We are selective about the work we take on and the organisations we work with. We commit where our advice will carry real weight for company, community, and Country.

Blackpath is wholly Indigenous-owned and Supply Nation registered. We undertake pro bono work regularly, focused on education and place across Indigenous communities in Australia.