PROJECT LEAD
BEN LAIDLAW
Ben Laidlaw is an experienced and highly sought after communities and social performance practitioner with over 20 years’ experience in senior leadership roles across community not-for-profit, government and mining and resources sectors.
During this time, Ben has lived and worked on Cape York in Queensland, the Pilbara in Western Australia and extensive work across communities in the Northern Territory, forming trusted working relationships with Traditional Owners and local communities.
Recent project and work experience has focussed on the following areas:
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Government and community stakeholder engagement, relationship management and critical incident and community grievance response;
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Strategic and business planning, project feasibility assessment, new enterprise development & support
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Regional FIFO strategy implementation to support remote Pilbara mining operations in WA, including Indigenous workforce recruitment, regional economic development and community investment in source communities;
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Development of detailed plans to address social and economic impacts and complex stakeholder engagement requirements for new and existing mining operations and transitional planning for mine closures in Qld (Cape York) and WA;
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Leadership and direct involvement in Indigenous community consultation and engagement processes, including roles as an independent facilitator for Government and Industry;
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Development of social impact management plans, social risk assessment and analysis, socio-economic baseline assessment for new, existing and expanding mining operations;
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Indigenous agreement-making engagement processes, negotiations, agreement implementation & relationship management, working closely with over 20 Aboriginal Corporations across Qld (Cape York), NT, & WA;
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Development and implementation of Local and Indigenous employment and training and workforce capability development strategy private sector, Government and remote Indigenous community organisations;
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Facilitation of several Government (Local, State & Federal), Community and Industry partnership agreements, including local decision-making arrangements, relationship management and engagement processes in NT;
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Indigenous business development & contracting strategy development and implementation; and
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Social and economic communities impact assessment, social impact management plan development and implementation for existing and future mining operations.
