Julia Keenan

Julia Keenan is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining (CSRM), Sustainable Minerals Institute, The University of Queensland. She has over 15 years’ experience working on the social dimensions of resource development, with a focus on governance, land, and community outcomes.

Her work examines how large-scale resource investments interact with local communities across the project lifecycle, including agreement-making, economic participation, gender equity, and mine closure. She specialises in corporate social performance, social risk management, and the design and implementation of social safeguards.

Julia’s current research focuses on land access, consent, and post-investment transitions, including emerging approaches to responsible exit and land return. She works across sectors and jurisdictions, contributing to global policy and practice on natural resource governance.

She has partnered with organisations including the United Nations Environment Programme on the implementation of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-4) Resolution on Mineral Resource Governance, and has contributed to regional governance initiatives such as the Northern Territory Government’s Strategic Regional Environmental and Baseline Assessment (SREBA).

Since 2023, Julia has coordinated CSRM’s involvement in the Community Smart Consultation and Consent Project (CSCC), which focuses on improving natural resource governance through community-based consultation and FPIC.

Julia holds a Bachelor of Science/Bachelor of Arts (Hons in Linguistics) from The University of Queensland.