Rio Tinto reports 'concerning behaviours' persist in latest workplace culture review

An external progress review found that employees continue to experience 'harmful behaviours' two years into a long-term cultural change programme.

Eight people reported experiencing actual or attempted sexual assault or rape, compared to five people in 2021.

Thirty-two people reported experiencing pressure or requests for sex or sexual acts. The majority of people in both cases were women.

7% of respondents reported experiencing sexual harassment (the same as in 2021).

39% of respondents reported experiencing bullying (compared to 31% in 2021)

7% of respondents reported experiencing racism (the same number as in 2021).

Over 11,600 individual contributions of experiences, views and insights were made to the progress review process.

It was conducted by former Australian Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick, who undertook the Everyday Respect review of workplace culture that Rio Tinto previously publicly released in 2022.

The metals and mining company reports to have implemented the recommendations from this report.

Rio Tinto Chief Executive Jakob Stausholm comments, ‘People are still experiencing behaviours and attitudes in our company that are unacceptable and harmful. I am greatly troubled by this and sincerely apologise on behalf of our leadership team to anyone affected.

‘I want to thank everyone across our business who has shown the courage to speak up, as your honesty will guide our ongoing efforts to become an organisation where every day is safe, respectful, and productive for everyone.’

Rio Tinto has now shaped the next stage of its plan to further embed existing interventions and accelerate change around three priority areas: equipping frontline leaders to drive change, building buy-in for change across all areas of the workforce, and securing and retaining diverse talent.

These actions include:

• Further education about harmful behaviours including sexual harassment, bullying and racism, with more than 90% of Rio Tinto employees and contractors to complete redesigned mandatory Code of Conduct training, in line with Everyday Respect, by the end of 2025.
• The communication of case studies of harmful behaviour to encourage discussion and learning will be widened, through the roll out of ‘Purple Banners’ - a communications tool developed in Iron Ore that is modelled on the sharing of safety incidents.
• Further improvement to the reporting and resolution process for people experiencing harmful behaviours, including reducing timeframes and increasing transparency.