This is the latest in what is developing into a series of CAEPR monographs stimulated by the interest of mining companies to better understand the social and economic landscape of regions within which they operate. It stems from an approach made to the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research (CAEPR) by Jeff Wilkie of Pilbara Iron who sought to establish a detailed profile of the Pilbara population in order to assist company and public policy discussions on Indigenous engagement in the context of rapidly expanding mining activity in the Pilbara region. We acknowledge the financial and logistical support of Pilbara Iron that facilitated the undertaking of the research.

As an output, this monograph sits well within the framework of the Australia Research Council Linkage project, Indigenous Community Organisations and Miners: Partnering Sustainable Regional Development? This is a three-year research partnership between CAEPR and industry partners Rio Tinto and the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA). The project focuses on case studies of the Pilbara region of Western Australia, the Kakadu region of the Northern Territory, and the Gulf region of Queensland where major resource development agreements have been negotiated between the developers and Indigenous people and their organisations.

At the core of this project lies an examination of the conditions that might allow sustainable development for Indigenous people residing in mine hinterlands. The present study addresses this issue by detailing the socio-economic structural constraints on the supply of Indigenous labour in the Pilbara region against a background of increasing labour demand. John Taylor and Benedict Scambary’s comprehensive profile provides an invaluable baseline against which the future outcomes from mining agreements and regional initiatives might be gauged. A soon-to-be completed complementary project monograph to be published in 2006 will focus on the considerable diversity in the values and aspirations of the Indigenous people of mine hinterlands, and the fact that these are not limited to involvement in mining-related employment or business development, but may focus on other, more specifically Indigenous ‘social or community economies’.

The capacity of resource developers to realise employment and other goals, as often set out in agreements with Indigenous people, is a matter of considerable interest when considering the economic development prospects of Indigenous people in mine hinterlands. I commend Pilbara Iron for facilitating a flow of information that will ensure greater discussion of such issues.

Professor Jon Altman

Director, CAEPR

December 2005