Social License to Operate and Coal Seam Gas Mining

 A central principle and mechanism for community engagement used in the mining industry generally is termed the 'Social License to Operate' or SLO. This term is used to describe the approval and / or ongoing acceptance for a development granted by the local community and other related stakeholders. It's not a static arrangement but a dynamic approval which must be renegotiated continually as new information comes to light or circumstances change. Arguably the coal seam mining sector has failed to adequately address this critical link to communities with whom they interact and ultimately also affect with their mining operations. SLO has five key features -

• Starting point is that no SLO exists until one is negotiated - miners cannot assume they have any social licence from the community until they engage in dialogue to establish one.
• Dynamic is the descriptive term underpinning the SLO and an SOL must be earned and then maintained.
• Key values for an SLO must include credibility, transparency and fundamentally, trust.
• Dialogue enabling communties and stakeholders to engage meaingfully with miners on issues around the acceptibility of new or continuing operations.
• Information which is sufficient and from a range of perspectives for public education to enable communities and the broader public to make informed decisions, consider trade-offs and develop realistic expectations concerning coal seam gas mining.

To the degree that there is a high level of opposition to coal seam gas mining, there is equally apparent an absence of a social license to operate.