Governance and oversight 

For information on the role of the BHP Board in overseeing our approach to and delivery on sustainability refer to the Sustainability approach webpage. 

As set out in our Human Rights Policy Statement, BHP is committed to respecting internationally recognised human rights and operating in a manner consistent with the principles set out in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 10 Principles of the UN Global Compact.   

Our Code of Conduct sets out the expectations and standards of behaviour for our people, as well as contractors and suppliers (where under relevant contractual obligation).  

A global Indigenous Policy team coordinates our approach and standards for BHP’s engagement with Indigenous peoples across our regions, operated assets and functions. In FY2024, we completed an inaugural assessment of the health of our relationships with a range of our Indigenous partners. The feedback indicated that relationships had been strained in the past. While BHP had made some progress in our relationships with Indigenous partners, there was still more to do to achieve our goal of delivering respectful relationships that hear and act upon the distinct perspectives, aspirations and rights of Indigenous peoples, and support the delivery of mutually beneficial and jointly defined outcomes. Following the release of the results, we worked to deepen and strengthen our engagement with Indigenous partners in Australia, Canada and Chile in FY2025. Our regional Indigenous Peoples Plans in Australia and Canada were reviewed considering the partner feedback we received, with key actions incorporated into how we implement those plans. Partner feedback was also incorporated into the draft for the Regional Indigenous Peoples Plan in Chile. We plan to report on this metric every three years, with the next report scheduled for FY2027.    

We ‘partially met’ our FY2025 social value scorecard short-term milestone for ‘Indigenous voices and perspectives are incorporated into co-designed priorities in each region’, as two out of three countries (Australia and Canada) have published a co-designed regional Indigenous Peoples Plan that incorporates the voices and perspectives of Indigenous peoples. 

Minerals Australia’s sixth Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), which outlines specific commitments to Indigenous peoples in Australia, was released on 23 June 2023 and covers FY2024 to FY2027.¹ The RAP target due to be completed in FY2025 was for Australian assets to deliver work-ready programs that target Traditional Owners and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to support job readiness, and this was achieved as planned. We are tracking the delivery of the RAP commitments which are due by the end of FY2027. Monitoring of overall progress occurs through the BHP Australian Indigenous Peoples Working Group that is attended by the Minerals Australia Business President and Chief Legal, External Affairs and Governance Officer. 

Minerals Americas approved its Canada Indigenous Partnerships Plan (CIPP) in FY2024.² There are nine total CIPP objectives to be achieved over the life of the plan, and all of them are on track as at the end of FY2025. There are specific actions that support these nine objectives and 10 of those actions were completed in full in FY2025. An internal CIPP implementation team meets quarterly to monitor progress.  

Chile intends to publish a regional Indigenous Peoples Plan in FY2026.   

Through these regional Indigenous Peoples Plans, we will seek to work closely with the communities where we operate to make a positive contribution to the lives of those communities on or near whose traditional lands we operate. 

In addition, through our global Indigenous Peoples Policy Statement, BHP seeks to understand how we can avoid and mitigate adverse impacts on Indigenous peoples in the communities where we operate. We plan to carry out informed and good faith consultations with potentially affected Indigenous peoples for proposed new operations or capital projects. Our objective will be to obtain consent through FPIC processes undertaken in accordance with the approach set out in our Policy Statement.  

Footnotes: 
1. For more information about the Australian RAP refer to bhp.com/-/media/project/bhp1ip/bhp-com-en/documents/careers/indigenous-peoples-and-bhp/200921_bhpreconciliationactionplan.pdf   
2. For more information about the Canada Indigenous Partnerships Plan refer to bhp.com/-/media/documents/ourapproach/operatingwithintegrity/indigenouspeoples/240808_bhpcippreport.pdf 

Our disclosures about Indigenous peoples are reported annually in the BHP Annual Report. For FY2025 disclosures refer to the BHP Annual Report 2025, Operating and Financial Review 9.12 – Indigenous peoples.  

Our performance data about Indigenous peoples is reported annually in the BHP Annual Report. For FY2025 disclosures refer to the BHP Annual Report 2025, Operating and Financial Review 9.12 – Indigenous peoples.