Julia Keenan is a Research Fellow, and PhD candidate, at the Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining (CSRM). With over 15 years of experience at CSRM, her work focuses on social performance, sustainable development, and Indigenous self-determination within the extractive industries both in Australia and internationally.
Much of Julia’s research has been on the relationship between mining operations and local communities, including opportunities for meaningful engagement, agreement-making, gender, economic participation and multi-stakeholder governance. Her doctoral research investigates the complexities of corporate social performance in the extractive sector, including implementation gaps, practices, and safeguards across the mining lifecycle - from development to post-closure.
Her experience spans a wide range of issues in natural resource and extractive industries and includes research collaborations across a spectrum of stakeholders, from global institutions to local communities. With Professor Daniel Franks, Julia partnered with the United Nations Environment Programme to implement the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-4) Resolution on Mineral Resource Governance by supporting a global consultative process during which participants shared knowledge, challenges and good practice examples related to mineral resource governance.
Julia also contributed to the social, cultural and economic studies of the Strategic Regional Environmental and Baseline Assessment (SREBA) program for the Beetaloo Sub-basin in collaboration with Associate Professor Kathy Witt. This project focussed on building a baseline profile of communities within the region, with particular attention to community (including Indigenous) values, aspirations and concerns about shale gas development (and other projects).
Since 2023, Julia has coordinated CSRM’s participation in the Community Smart Consultation and Consent Project (CSCC) with Landesa, Conservation International and RESOLVE, supported by the BHP Foundation. This work focuses on bringing a community-based perspective to the concepts of consultation and FPIC in order to improve natural resource governance across the globe in a range of sectors, including forestry, Indigenous protected areas, conservation, carbon projects and mining. For the CSCC project, Julia developed an online interactive resource on the global dynamics of consultation and consent.
Julia has contributed to research on company-community conflict, extractive industry policy, social impact assessments, and internal management systems, collaborating with resource companies, government agencies, and non-government organisations. She has also co-authored key industry guidance documents for the International Council on Mining and Metals and Rio Tinto, promoting the integration of Indigenous rights and gender perspectives into mining practices.
Her early experience includes volunteering with Yayasan Tambuhak Sinta in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, and working with the Queensland South Native Title Representative Body. She holds a Bachelor of Science/Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Linguistics from The University of Queensland and is in the final stages of her PhD.