The recent resumption of Rio Tinto's annual Aboriginal Training and Liaison program continues to create avenues to employment for Indigenous people across the Pilbara in Western Australia.

The iron ore miner's eight-week intensive course has had 54 Indigenous participants since it was re-launched in 2023 with guidance from the Regional Implementation Committee, comprised of Pilbara Traditional Owners and Rio Tinto representatives.

An expected 40 people from Perth and regions across the Pilbara to undertake the 2025 program, which focuses on work-ready training in fields including safety, health and wellbeing, cultural awareness, and financial literacy.

Resume support and career planning are also part of the course to help prepare participants for employment within Rio Tinto and other mining companies in the region.

Co-designed with Traditional Owners to build job-ready skills and a range of career pathways, the training program has been run in Perth and Karratha and, for the first time in 2025, Tom Price, as Rio Tinto continues initiatives to build sustainable, resilient communities in the regions it operates.

2024 Aboriginal Training and Liaison (ATAL) graduate and Yamitji Amungu man Jamahl Martin, a trade assistant at Rio Tinto's Mesa A Robe Valley mine site (one of 18 the company operates in the Pilbara) said the intensive training course was a turning point in his career.

"I'd never worked in mining before, but the support from the team and being surrounded by others like me, made me feel comfortable and excited to give it a go," Mr Martin said.

"The training gave me confidence and direction; I'm now working FIFO and aiming to become an auto sparky."

A visit to Rio Tinto's expansive, tech-driven Perth Operations Centre near Perth Airport was an eye-opener to the variety of roles and skills Rio Tinto required to operate its massive Pilbara operations.

"If you're thinking about it, give it a go, it could really change your life," Mr Martin said, one of many ATAL graduates who had secured jobs at Rio Tinto and similar miners in the region since 2023.

Matt Kimball, the company's iron ore vice president of people, said a majority of 2024's ATAL graduates were from Traditional Owner groups where Rio Tinto operates – including Banjima, Muntulgura Guruma, Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura, Ngarluma, Yindjibarndi and Yinhawangka – and had secured traineeships or full-time positions at Rio Tinto.

He said the training initiative engaged Traditional Owners in specific Pilbara communities to better understand their own barriers to employment, a strategy that had helped more Indigenous people find suitable and sustainable employment.

"ATAL is about more than delivering a training program; it's about listening to our communities, understanding the barriers to employment and creating real pathways to sustainable jobs for Indigenous people," Mr Kimball said

"Thanks to the leadership of Traditional Owners, and in particular the members of the Regional Implementation Committee, we continue to evolve ATAL to meet community needs and expand the program's reach across WA."

ATAL program advisor Adrienne Viti – a South Sea Islander and Noongar woman with connections to the Wilman, Whadjuk, and Ballardong people – said Rio Tinto gave Indigenous applicants a foot in the door to endless opportunities in the industry.

"We do everything to get them in; the rest is up to the participants," said Ms Viti, better known as Ady during her 15 years at Rio Tinto.

"But we upskill, empower, support, and give that mentoring, like a wrap-a-round support, from the first day they walk in.

"Initially they are quite shy and reserved but, by the end of the program, their confidence is soaring... you can just see the difference. If you held a picture up side-by-side, you'd see how far they've come."

Ms Viti said being connected with her own cultural identity gave her a unique lens to carry out her role.

"Once you build up their trust and rapport, you break down those walls," she said.

"We also have Indigenous mentors from local communities to connect with our participants at a grassroots level.

"Each area has its own barriers, but we focus on solutions and partnerships to overcome them, such as obtaining a driver's licence, whatever it is we work through it to find the best way forward."

Aboriginal-owned employment support provider Impact Services will partner Rio Tinto to deliver the 2025 program, which runs in Perth (August to October), Karratha (October to December) and Tom Price (early 2026).

Expressions of interest for the Karratha program are now being taken, with Tom Price applications open next month.