Kestrel Mine Community Development Fund
The Kestrel Mine Community Development Fund was established in 2003 to support communities in Emerald, Capella and the surrounding district to build community capacity to address development challenges and take advantage of emerging opportunities.
In late 2008 Rio Tinto announced the continuation of the fund and has committed $750,000 to distribute to eligible projects between January 2009 and December 2011.
- Fund objectives
- Projects
- Committee members
- Eligibility and guidelines
The Kestrel Mine Community Development Fund aims to target issues, needs and opportunities which are a priority to the local community and are related to Rio Tinto's core business. Specific objectives have been identified based on an understanding of the local social and economic environment, as well as through direct feedback from members of the community. A community telephone survey of the local area was conducted in mid-2008 to assist in gaining this understanding.
Based on this information, the objectives of the Kestrel Mine Community Development Fund are to support projects in the following areas.
Economic
- Proposals aimed at enhancing the economic base of the region:
- Attract and diversify sustainable business and services, including providing support to small business
- Strengthen and promote regional attributes, capabilities, skills and cooperation that will add economic value, and
- Improve the economic competitiveness of the region.
Social and education
- Proposals aimed at increasing community capacity in the region:
- Develop community and youth leadership and recognise excellence
- Increase access to appropriate academic and vocational education and training
- Increase recognition of the benefits of lifelong learning within the community, and
- Enhance community participation and access to wellness and safety programmes.
Environmental
- Proposals aimed at increasing the quality of the regional environment:
- Promote awareness of regional environmental issues, and
- Implement community generated regional environmental programmes that will improve the quality of the Emerald, Capella and surrounding district environment.