WARNING: This report contains details of alleged sexual assault.

Rio Tinto has apologised to members of its workforce who are victims of bullying and sexual harassment, but says there has been progress in creating a safer and respectful workplace.

It follows the publication of an internal report which revealed eight employees said they experienced actual or attempted sexual assault or rape in 2024, compared with five people in 2021.

"It's distressing to know that people are still in situations where very bad disrespectful behaviour is occurring," the company's Australian chief executive Kellie Parker said.

The company has been on a mission to improve its workplace culture since an independent report of the company — commissioned in the wake of a WA parliamentary inquiry into the broader mining sector — found sexism and bullying were systemic across worksites.

Rio Tinto is Australia's largest taxpayer and has mines in almost every continent.

'Cultural transformation'

The Everyday Respect progress report found around half of its employees believe things are improving in relation to bullying, sexual harassment and racism.

And stressed that it will likely take years for significant progress to be backed up by the numbers.

"As Rio Tinto is only two years into its cultural transformation, this survey data is a lagging indicator, suggesting that the full benefit of the changes made over the past two years are yet to be fully experienced by the Rio Tinto workforce," the report stated.

But results from the more than 11,000 staff who contributed to the report revealed some troubling trends, including a stark increase in targeted bullying against women.

In 2021, 36 per cent of women reported experiencing bullying, while in 2024 it grew to 50 per cent.

Backlash with diversity

The report identified backlash to Rio Tinto's internal diversity and inclusion measures as a contributing factor to the increased levels of bullying experienced by female staff.

Some women reported being seen as 'diversity-hires' which put a target on their back.

"Women leaders are leaving. Many appointments of women are tokenistic. We are trying with diversity, but not inclusion," one staff member included in the report wrote.

Managers need the training to manage these situations."

Another staff member said sexual harassment on site was still a problem.

"I hear things like 'I love swinging the big bitches around' referring to operating machinery," they said.

"I have heard of some of the female apprentices getting 'dick pics' sent to them. I told them to do something. If you don't address it, it empowers the men who sent them."

Rio Tinto's iron-ore division CEO Simon Trott said the company needed to do a better job of explaining the reasons behind its diversity push.

"We need to really be articulating the why, why this is important and why we want to drive this change," Mr Trott said.

"We've got to make sure that we take everyone with us and all change takes time. All changes sometimes also creates resistance in some areas."

Other minority groups also reported feeling excluded in the workplace, and discouraged from applying for promotions.

One Indigenous employee said there was a lack of mentors in the company that made it difficult to progress their career.

"A lot of Indigenous people don't put their hands up for leadership roles because there are not enough Indigenous leaders and mentors."

While an LGBTQ+ employee said their workplace experiences were dependent on individual managers.

"A company driven approach is important, one that starts at the top and is cascaded down to all levels. We shouldn't be reliant on individual employees."

Rio flags better training for managers

In response to the progress report, Rio Tinto will focus on improving the training it gives to people in management positions.

Many of the comments highlighted in the report spoke to a perception that overt bullying and sexism is dealt with effectively, but more subtle bullying behaviours aren't always picked up on.

Ms Parker said the company would focus on upskilling managers to pick up on these behaviours.

"The micro-aggressions, the low-level racism is definitely part of our culture and we need to have more conversations about that and the training will address [that]."

While performance reviews will also include behaviour assessments in a bid to incentivise a better workplace culture.