Professional indigenous employment
As a way of increasing professional indigenous employment at Australian operations, Rio Tinto, under its National Indigenous Cadetship Programme, sponsors indigenous students to attend university to undertake their undergraduate degrees. The cadets are offered vacation employment during their summer breaks which provides them with practical industry experience in their chosen field of study, whilst also having the opportunity to understand the work environment they could potentially be employed in.
The cadets are studying in diverse fields at various universities across Australia. Whilst there is a strong desire to recruit cadets in engineering fields, candidates in other disciplines are also recruited. These disciplines include most fields of Engineering (Mechanical, Physics, Chemical, Civil, Surveying and Processing), Economics, Law, Geology, Communications, Human Resources and Information Technology. Candidates are enrolled in first year through to fourth year, with some at fifth year depending on their course structures.
Since the commencement of the cadetship programme in 1999, ten students have graduated from their studies and gained employment in their area of study, five of whom have been placed in permanent graduate positions with Rio Tinto in fields of engineering, underground mining and accounting.
Preference is given to cadets who are from the local indigenous communities in the vicinity of Rio Tinto operations. The cadetship programme is an integral part of Rio Tinto’s Indigenous Employment and Training Strategy and commitment to engage with communities.
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