BHP and CSIRO join forces to improve community engagement

BHP is giving local communities the opportunity to express their views on the projects that the company operates through CSIRO’s Local Voices initiative. The ongoing project, launched in Muswellbrook, Singleton, Denman and Scone, will facilitate monthly surveys to seek local community opinion across a range of issues. CSIRO will track key issues identified for over three years to see how things change for communities over this time. BHP has committed to use the community insights from the Local Voices project in its decision-making, according to BHP community manager Melita Shirley. “While we may not be able to solve every issue raised, CSIRO will share the results with the community and our business to ensure we are better informed on the things that matter most to our local communities,” Shirley said. The initiative will provide a more regular opportunity for BHP to better understand local views and to help build trust through actions. Local communities will also be able to access, share and use the data to help with their own planning and reporting needs, according to CSIRO Local Voices project leader Kieren Moffat. Further, their individual responses are always kept confidential. CSIRO will provide the Local Voices survey data in an aggregated form to BHP and the communities through the Local Voices website, the miner added. CSIRO said it has built its knowledge of the Australian and global communities through thousands of research hours over the past decade.