INDEPENDENCE GROUP NL SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2017

DRIVING DIVERSITY IGO has continued to make progress with our employment program for Aboriginal people. The program provides support and training for Aboriginal people in roles with both IGO and our major contractors. Throughout FY17 our Aboriginal employment and traineeships have been well supported and clearly demonstrate our commitment to support the creation of education, employment and business opportunities for Aboriginal people, many of whom are Traditional Owners on the lands where IGO operates. Our Aboriginal liaison officer at the Nova Operation has done particularly well this year working with our business leaders to identify opportunities for employment and development, and to build capacity and support for our local communities. The completion of the Nova Operation has allowed us to enrich our relationships with the local community and to support and create new opportunities for Indigenous employment, jobs and training for all sectors of the community. We have also had success with our focus on facilitating training and support which has reinforced our view that education is the key to improving the socio‑economic standing of our host communities. EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT Employee engagement is important to IGO and we want to foster a workplace where people are encouraged to express their ideas, opinions and concerns. We know that engagement based on respect, integrity, teamwork and a respectful connection to each other promotes individual productivity, performance and well-being. Our inaugural employee engagement survey was conducted in FY17 and generated some encouraging results. It was pleasing to find that many of our employees support our safe work culture, speak positively about the organisation and would recommend IGO as a place to work. The survey also identified opportunities for IGO to improve. Ensuring our people have the necessary resources, family friendly rosters and better internal communications were all seen as opportunities to improve our organisation and enhance its external reputation. Along with a number of other measures to build engagement, the Company introduced an Employee Share Ownership Plan to provide our people with an opportunity to have real ownership of the Company and foster a strong shared purpose between our employees and shareholders. It is our intention to ensure all IGO people have the opportunity to be owners of the business, and that through shared ownership we can all be empowered by the value we create. IGO SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2017— 59