Digging deeper for common ground as WA agrees it's time to fix Native Title and cultural heritage red tape before the boom gets bogged

Today’s announcement that the Western Australian Government will partner with the National Native Title Tribunal to review the State’s Native Title and Aboriginal cultural heritage processes is a long-overdue and welcome step toward striking a more workable and respectful balance between heritage protection and economic development.

For years, the mining and exploration sector has operated in a regulatory environment where goodwill and intent have not always translated into clarity or efficiency. The Association of Mining and Exploration Companies (AMEC) has been among the most consistent voices calling for reform. Their message has been clear: industry supports the protection of Aboriginal cultural heritage — but the current system is not working for anyone.

As AMEC Chief Executive Officer Warren Pearce rightly notes, "There has got to be a better way to protect cultural heritage, that doesn’t stall exploration and deter investment." He is not wrong. The escalating costs, delays, and duplication faced by explorers and miners navigating the heritage assessment process are not only placing a handbrake on investment — they are also undermining opportunities for Traditional Owners to benefit from sustainable development on country.

The existing system is straining under the weight of rising demand for heritage surveys, agreement making, and consultation processes. Meanwhile, the representative bodies responsible for managing these interactions are often under-resourced and overburdened, leading to delays that affect everyone.

It’s a bottleneck that serves neither cultural heritage nor economic progress. Worse, it risks entrenching division rather than promoting partnership.

That’s why this review matters.

By scrutinising how cultural heritage is identified, assessed, and protected — and by assessing the capacity of Native Title representative bodies to manage an increasing workload — the review can pave the way for a more functional, transparent, and efficient framework. One that ensures cultural heritage is properly respected and protected, while also enabling timely decision-making that encourages rather than deters investment.

This is not a zero-sum game. Exploration and development can coexist with meaningful cultural heritage protection. But it requires a shift in the way processes are designed and managed — moving from compliance-driven box-ticking toward genuine collaboration and shared outcomes.

The economic stakes are high. As Pearce bluntly puts it, this is the biggest issue currently facing the mineral exploration and mining sector in Western Australia. If unresolved, it could stall investment, halt project development, and erode the State’s global competitiveness. For a sector that underpins much of WA’s economic prosperity and government revenue, that is a risk too great to ignore.

But the human stakes are equally profound. Without reform, Traditional Owners may miss out on the chance to participate meaningfully in projects that could bring long-term social and economic benefits — employment, training, infrastructure, and direct investment into communities.

As the review gets underway, AMEC has committed to working constructively with the WA Government, the Tribunal, Traditional Owners, and other stakeholders. It’s a pragmatic and responsible stance — one that recognises the shared interest in getting this right.

There will no doubt be hard conversations ahead. But if the outcome is a process that delivers clarity, fairness, and cultural integrity — without grinding projects to a halt — then this review could well mark a turning point.

Progress doesn’t mean walking away from past protections. It means building a better system that works for the future — for land, for people, and for the generations yet to come.