We aim to deliver a long-lasting, positive contribution, recognising that social performance is essential to our social licence to operate.
Partnering with communities
Our purpose – we mine copper sustainably to energise the future – guides how we engage with the communities in which we operate. We aim to deliver a long-lasting, positive contribution, recognising that social performance is essential to our social licence to operate.
Social performance reflects how effectively we manage our direct and indirect impacts on local communities and other stakeholders, both negative and positive.
FY25 marked a key milestone in our approach to managing human rights and social performance, as we launched our Human Rights and Social Performance Group Standard. This standard defines minimum requirements for the business and embeds social performance into governance and decision-making. It provides a consistent, predictable approach to how we engage with communities, manage social risks and uphold human rights.
Group socio-economic contribution
We contribute to local and regional socioeconomic development by:
- Employing local people providing stable and meaningful work opportunities.
- Upskilling local people in both direct and ancillary mining services.
- Paying taxes and royalties that support governments to deliver essential services.
- Procuring local goods and services to stimulate the local economy.
- Investing voluntarily in communities through in-kind contributions, donations, sponsorships and partnerships.
In FY25, our total socio-economic contribution exceeded $877M. To read more about our approach to partnering with communities visit page 68 of Sandfire’s 2025 Annual Report.
Human rights
We are committed to respecting internationally recognised human rights, as outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) and the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and rights at work.
Our approach is guided by our Human Rights Policy, which sets out how we identify, assess, and respond to human rights risks across our operations and supply chains.
In FY25, we launched our Human Rights and Social Performance Group Standard, which sets out minimum requirements for integrating human rights considerations into our governance structures, risk management processes, and operational decision-making.
We also developed a Human Rights Response and Remedy Protocol, which provides a structured, Group approach to identifying, investigating, and remediating adverse human rights impacts.
In FY25 we also launched a Supply Chain Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) Program designed to improve how we identify and address modern slavery and labour rights risks in our supply chain.
Our Board holds overall responsibility for human rights, supported by our Human Rights Steering Committee, a cross-functional, management-led body chaired by our Chief Legal and Compliance Officer with senior leaders from Group Health and Safety, Procurement, Legal and Sustainability.
Indigenous Peoples
We respect and recognise the rights and interests of Indigenous Peoples and are committed to ensuring their meaningful participation in decisions that affect their communities, and the stewardship, and protection of culturally significant sites.
We seek to collaborate with Indigenous Peoples, communities, and other stakeholders, to implement practices that protect culture and cultural heritage. This includes striving to obtain the free, prior, and informed consent of Indigenous Peoples where significant adverse impacts are likely and capture the outcomes of engagement and consent processes in agreements.
We are committed to meaningful and lasting relationships with Indigenous Peoples wherever we operate and providing mutually beneficial outcomes through employment, procurement, social investment, and training.
Our approach to managing cultural heritage is guided by our Human Rights Policy and Human Rights and Social Performance Group Standard, which outline minimum requirements across our operations.
