Newmont was founded in 1921 and has been publicly traded since 1925. Newmont Australia’s 100 per cent-owned operating assets include Boddington in Western Australia and Tanami in the Northern Territory. Our Australia regional office is located in Subiaco, Perth, Western Australia.
Newmont is the only gold producer listed in the S&P 500 Index and is widely recognised for its principled environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices. In 2007, the Company became the first gold company selected to be part of the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index. Newmont has remained on the prestigious index every year since and has been named the gold mining industry leader for the past five years.
Newmont aims to create a workplace that attracts and retains top talent by being respectful and inclusive, protecting worker rights, providing fair and equitable compensation, and offering a range of experiences, growth opportunities and benefits. Cultivating a workplace that values the differences within our workforce is the goal of our global inclusion and diversity strategy. In addition to diversity representation metrics around gender and local/indigenous employee representation, we work to foster an inclusive workplace through voluntary, employee-led, executive-sponsored business resource groups (BRGs). Each mine site has at least one BRG, and we have two BRGs at our regional office.
Newmont’s success as the world’s leading gold company is closely tied to the well-being, accomplishments and development of its people. We understand that collaboration among different cultures, ideas and perspectives brings forth many benefits including greater creativity, innovation, improved decision making and employee engagement. In essence, we recognise that diversity and inclusion is a key factor in the ongoing success of our business, and gender equality is an important part of this strategy.
Publicly, Newmont has pledged support for Paradigm for Parity (P4P), a framework developed by business leaders to address the gender gap in corporate leadership. It outlines specific actions to create a workplace where women and men have equal power, status and opportunities by 2030. In leading by example, late last year the Newmont Board achieved gender parity amongst non-executive Board members. While this milestone is significant, we recognise that attracting and developing the next generation of our leaders by creating an inclusive working environment takes time, consideration and ongoing effort.
At an operational level, we recognise that in committing to gender parity, our policies can be a critical lever. One example of this is parental leave, and ensuring we have policies that are inclusive and encourage women and men to spend enough time with their children but have the opportunity to return to work without losing out on pay or benefits is an important factor. In 2019, Newmont Australia adopted industry-leading parental leave policies, including up to 26 weeks paid parental leave for either partner, with a gradual return to work approach and superannuation top up. This is one example where we can see the value in paying attention to the barriers in place to gender equity and take action to address them.
We still have more work to do, but Newmont’s core value of inclusion and diversity underpins how we work and our commitment to creating an inclusive culture with a diverse workforce. By ensuring that all employees are treated equally and valued for their diversity, where different opinions and styles are appreciated creates an open business culture. We know this is critical for safety and business performance, in addition to improvements in innovation.
Attracting and retaining the industry’s most talented people with diverse experiences and background gives us a competitive advantage. Ultimately, this enriches our relationships with our communities, with our people and our performance.