Rio Tinto’s destruction of Juukan Gorge

On 24 May 2020, two ancient rock shelters in WA’s Pilbara region were legally blasted by mining company Rio Tinto. A previous archaeology report had stated that the shelters were of the highest significance in Australia, containing a cultural sequence spanning over 46,000 years, including, a high frequency of flaked stone artefacts, rare abundance of faunal remains, unique stone tools, preserved human hair, and sediment containing a pollen record charting thousands of years of environmental changes. In addition to their historical and archaeological value, the shelters were of great cultural and spiritual significance to the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura/Binigura (PKKP) peoples who had taken care of these sacred spaces for 40,000+ years.

Mr Burchell Hayes, a proud descendant of Juukan, explains how Juukan Gorge:

…is known to be a place where the spirits of our relatives who have passed away, even recently, have come to rest. It is a place that the very, very old people still occupy… It is in the ancient blood of our people and contains their DNA. It houses history and the spirits of ancestors and it anchors the people to this country.

The grief, shock and outrage at the destruction reverberated globally. As Wuthathi-Meriam woman and prominent legal authority Terri Janke noted, with the loss of Juukan Gorge, the world lost access to “intangible and tangible aspects of the whole body of cultural practices, resources and knowledge systems’ of human life going back 46,000 years”. Dr Virginia Marshall, Wiradjiri Nyemba woman and legal academic, said simply: “We are burning our libraries”. In many ways, the destruction was the epitome of the colonial mining project, with its almost total disregard for Traditional Owners and First Nations people when it comes to government-backed mining interests.

When I got there this morning, like coming out on the bus as well, I just couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I didn’t realise how much our Country is being destroyed.

Sandra Hayes, PKKP Aboriginal Corporation

In a matter of minutes, eight million tonnes of ore were ripped from the earth, and with them, 46,000 years of cultural heritage destroyed… For this hefty price we all paid, Rio Tinto lawfully gained access to $135 million dollars of high-grade iron ore.

Professor Clare Wright

PKKP people visit Juukan Gorge after the blasts

Why and how did it happen?

One of the most devastating aspects of the Juukan Gorge destruction was this: Rio Tinto acted within the law. 

In 2013, Rio Tinto received ministerial consent to destroy the Juukan Gorge caves under WA’s Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972. This occured even after an archaeological dig one year later revealed thousands of significant objects along with evidence that the site was much older than originally thought. Consent had already been granted, and the laws offered no provisions to reverse or amend the decision, even after new information had been uncovered. Full results of the excavation can be found here. The Commonwealth’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Act 1984 provided no legal protection, and the PKKP’s native title rights under the The Native Title Act 1993, were easily overridden by the WA Government.

A 30,000 year old sharpened kangaroo bone with ochre tip – one of many artefacts found during the Juukan two excavation in 2014. Photo by Michael Slack.

First Nations people, cultural heritage experts and academics have since attributed the destruction of Juukan Gorge to the failure of outdated and severely inadequate government legislation at all levels. While the case involved global headlines and widespread backlash, it was by no means an isolated incident. Sites of considerable significance to First Nations people, which include both tangible and intangible cultural heritage, are regularly and routinely destroyed, due to the failures of cultural heritage legislation. Three years after Juukan Gorge, mining company Sandfire Resources disturbed and/or destroyed 90 culturally significant artefacts at the DeGrussa mine, with prosecution unlikely. 

Over time, application processes to preserve sites of cultural significance have been amended. However, Traditional Owners continue to be marginalised by the significant power of ministerial discretion to override limited protections. When up against the substantial economic gain of development and resource extraction projects, First Nations people continue to be dismissed, ignored and undermined. 

Where are we up to?

In response to the destruction at Juukan Gorge, three key developments took place that aimed, at least in part, to correct the gaps in legislation and practice that enable the destruction of First Nations cultural heritage.

• In June 2020, the Federal Government initiated a Senate Inquiry into the Juukan Gorge disaster, which delivered its final report, A Way Forward, in October 2021;
• Also in June 2020, a unified alliance of First Nations leadership from around the country formed the First Nations Heritage Protection Alliance (FNHPA); and
• In December 2021, a contentious bill to replace the deeply flawed 1972 Cultural Heritage Bill (WA) was passed by the WA government. The Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2021 has since been repealed, and the 1972 legislation reinstated. 

The Senate Inquiry’s final report, A Way Forward, clearly stated that “…it is inconceivable that Australia has not developed proper protections for such sites, and action must be a matter of national priority.” It further found “countless instances where cultural heritage has been the victim of the drive for development and commercial gain”. The report’s recommendations can be found below, along with an update on their implementation. 

Meanwhile, the FNHPA has been working on a four-pronged approach, which includes legislative reform, engaging with the Federal Government to consult with First Nations communities, reform of how mining companies and the private sector operate, and developing partnerships in the investment sector. On 29 November 2021, after many months of negotiations, the FNHPA formed a historic partnership with the Federal Government, aimed at advising the Government on law reform to better protect sacred sites. 

The National Native Title Council (NNTC) Chair and co-Chair of the FNHPA, Kado Muir said at the time:

This is unique because we’ve essentially signed a partnership agreement which means at the highest level, we’re able to engage and be part of law reform… this encourages full protection as a national standard, at a federal level. We hope that through this process the federal government will also align to international standards for cultural heritage.

Alongside legislative reform, the FNHPA has been working on the ground with mining companies to enhance the influence and voice of Traditional Owners, as well as releasing the Dhawura Ngilan Business and Investor Initiative, which contains a set of twenty standards to guide the private sector in engaging with First Nations communities in more respectful ways. This work has led to some improvement in the way private companies acknowledge the rights of First Nations people to be involved in decision making that affects their Country. BHP, for example, have recently acknowledged First Nations peoples’ right to consultation and recognised “free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) as an important process to safeguard the collective rights of Indigenous peoples”. To what extent this translates into meaningful practice remains to be seen.

As of May 2025, a major reform of the federal cultural heritage protection legislation is expected to be announced, developed in close collaboration with the FNHPA. 

A Way Forward Implementation

The Government has agreed (in principle) to seven of the eight recommendations made in the Way Forward final report.

The table below depicts Australia’s progress toward implementing the report’s recommendations as of May 2025.