<div>Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples hold a wealth of traditional knowledge about their land and waters gathered and passed down from observations over thousands of years. Geoscience Australia (GA) is the national geoscience public sector organisation that advises on the geology, hydrogeology, and geography of Australia by applying science and technology to describe and understand the Earth. Respectful and successful two-way engagement with Indigenous peoples provides an opportunity to identify and share traditional understanding, complementing geoscientific studies and preserving traditional knowledge. </div><div>Through its Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan, GA is committed to building mutually beneficial relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Aligned with this vision, and as part of the Exploring for the Future Program, GA engaged a subject matter expert to undertake a scoping study. The aim of this study was to provide advice to strengthen the internal processes it uses to engage and undertake projects with Indigenous peoples. Drawing on two case studies (northeast NSW; eastern WA), a framework was developed to guide GA staff in the collection and recording of information and knowledge in a culturally appropriate manner. </div><div>The project also delivered a road map to achieve better engagement and inclusion of Indigenous peoples in geoscience studies, to be tested and refined in future work programs. The road map is built on six key elements: (1) increasing Indigenous employment; (2) building partnerships; (3) respecting timeframes; (4) embedding Indigenous values and culture; (5) adhering to ethical practices and principles; and (6) embracing two-way knowledge sharing. Trust is crucial to building a partnership with Indigenous communities, binding the six elements of the road map. </div><div>In the future GA hopes to share the outcomes with other organisations, from applying the framework and road map aimed at improving engagement with Indigenous peoples in groundwater activities and the geosciences more broadly.</div><div><br></div>

The Exploring for the Future (EFTF) program is unmatched for the scale of geoscience data acquisition across northern Australia, covering 37 648 individual land parcels and 2.9 million km2. The scale of works has raised many new challenges for Geoscience Australia (GA) through the diverse range of field activities, and the numerous stakeholders from different social and cultural backgrounds, across multiple jurisdictions. Success of the program depended on the development and maintenance of a social licence to operate. This was broadly achieved for fieldwork activities through early engagement with stakeholders, including free, prior and informed consent. Here, we present two case studies of stakeholder engagement for facilitation of data collection: one focuses on broadscale, low-impact field activities associated with the AusAEM survey; and the other on Indigenous-focused engagement related to the Barkly Seismic Survey. Because of the complexity of project planning and managing such a large number of stakeholders, GA’s project governance team was expanded; it now includes a dedicated Land and Marine Access team and a commitment to adopt world-leading engagement practices. One practice is to consider impacts and benefits for all stakeholders—not just landholders—of field activities and data acquisition programs. This includes a plan for how the data are delivered back to the communities and stakeholders, and how information exchanges can be built into projects. The aim is for stakeholders to hold GA in the highest regard and understand the benefits to the Australian people, and ultimately their own communities, from the geoscientific data that GA produces. <b>Citation:</b> Mouthaan, R., Buchanan, S. and Sweeney, M, 2020. Land access and Indigenous engagement for Australian geoscience. In: Czarnota, K., Roach, I., Abbott, S., Haynes, M., Kositcin, N., Ray, A. and Slatter, E. (eds.) Exploring for the Future: Extended Abstracts, Geoscience Australia, Canberra, 1–4.