Organisational legitimacy, Employer of Choice, and First Peoples: a critical examination of the Australian mining industry in Groote Eylandt

Abstract

This thesis examines the concept of organisational legitimacy in the employment of Australia’s First Peoples in the mining industry through an in-depth case study analysis of Groote Eylandt Mining Company’s (GEMCO) operations in the Northern Territory. The thesis explores such relations from a two-pronged perspective: that of the organisation GEMCO and its self-perception as holding a social licence to operate; and critically and foremost, that of Groote Eylandt’s First Peoples themselves, whose voices have not been frequently heard. There are rhetorical and practical considerations. The rhetorical aspect concerns GEMCO's legitimacy strategy around 'Employer of Choice'. For that to have acceptance in community, there must be resonance in practice.

Examining the case study through the conceptual lens of Employer of Choice and stakeholder theories, this thesis positions Groote Eylandt’s First Peoples as ‘dependent stakeholders’ attempting to move towards the position of ‘ultimate’ stakeholders but thwarted by complexities in structural power dynamics and practical implementations of targeted and measurable policies and organisational behaviours. The realisation of deeper stakeholder salience for First Peoples can be facilitated through organisational legitimacy, but factors enhancing organisational legitimacy need to be congruent across all levels of the organisation, and evident in actual behaviour and formal initiatives.

The case study highlights how organisational legitimacy for GEMCO as an Employer of Choice for First Peoples was enhanced by positive outcomes in recruitment and retention but impacted by distinctly different cultural elements in the workplace: the need for First Peoples to ‘keep’ culture and familial obligations, to adhere to bereavement protocols (sorry business) and to meet other commitments. These elements were found to clash with GEMCO interviewees’ neoliberal discursive framing of individual excellence and motivation in Aboriginal employees. Systemic barriers arising from the uneven distribution of power amongst stakeholders contributed to the complexities already inherent in GEMCO’s efforts to consistently embed mechanisms of cultural safety in the workplace. The case study research used a methodological approach grounded in my cultural identity as a Malera–Bundjalung woman, building on Indigenist methods of research such as yarning that foreground interpretive subjectivity, and enhanced with qualitative interviews plus the analysis of documentary and statistical evidence. This thesis thus brings new knowledge to theory, policy and practice, opening up new avenues for future scholarship on First Peoples and mining and other extractive industries.

Date of Thesis submission	2022
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Western Sydney University
Supervisor	Gregory Teal (Supervisor), Terry Sloan (Supervisor) & Terri Mylett (Supervisor)