Heritage and Partnerships

We integrate heritage into capital and operational decisions from the outset, not as a late-stage compliance overlay.

Heritage, native title, and cultural obligation sit at the centre of every major development decision in Australia. Most companies still treat them as compliance, addressed late and managed separately from investment and operational decisions. That compounds cost, delay, and reputational risk across the life of an asset.

We integrate heritage into capital and operational decisions from the outset, not as a late-stage compliance overlay. Our advice covers heritage strategy, partnership and co-management architecture, approvals pathways, Traditional Owner economic development, and whole-of-Country planning.

This practice draws on enterprise-level Indigenous engagement design across major mining operations and governance roles including co-chairing Rio Tinto’s Elevating Indigenous Voices Committee.

Traditional Owner corporations receive advice on evaluating development proposals, negotiating from a position of knowledge, and building the commercial foundations to manage assets on Country across generations.

What we do

Heritage strategy development. We bring heritage into capital decisions as a strategic input, not a parallel regulatory exercise. We help embed heritage risk, opportunity, and obligation into investment cases, operating models, and leadership reporting from the earliest stage of development.

Whole-of-Country plan development. We help bring proponents and Traditional Owner groups together around a shared view of what Country can sustain across decades. The objective is stable engagement and self-determined outcomes, not project-by-project negotiation.

Partnership and co-management architecture. We help shape structures between proponents and Traditional Owner groups that can hold across the life of an asset. Decision rights, benefit-sharing, and accountability mechanisms built as commercial architecture, not consultation theatre.

Approvals pathways. We advise where cultural heritage, native title, and environmental obligations converge. We help decision-makers navigate those pathways with operational judgement, not legal process alone.

Traditional Owner economic development. We advise on the commercial development of assets on Country, including evaluating proposals, structuring ownership for economic independence, and building the commercial capability to hold and govern those interests over time.

Examples of our recent work

JV and Traditional Owner Co-management, A$2.7B
Guided a complex joint venture through major investment gates while designing the first nationally recognised co-management framework with Traditional Owners. The framework became the reference model for subsequent developments across the region.

Indigenous Engagement Architecture
Designed and embedded enterprise-level governance for Indigenous engagement across one of Australia’s largest mining companies. Connected site-level engagement with executive oversight for the first time.

Traditional Owner Economic Development, Multi-sector
Advised Traditional Owner groups on commercial development of assets on Country across energy, water, mining, and critical minerals. Designed co-management agreements and ownership structures so Traditional Owners participated as economic partners with the governance and commercial footing to hold those interests over time.