A federal parliamentary inquiry is set to deliver its final report into Rio Tinto's destruction of the ancient Juukan Gorge rock shelters in Western Australia.
Rio blew up the 46,000-year-old caves on Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura country in May 2020, devastating the traditional owners.
The mining giant had legal permission to destroy the caves under WA's long-criticised Aboriginal Heritage Act but has since conceded it breached the PKKP's trust.
The global backlash that followed resulted in Rio parting ways with its chief executive and other senior figures.
In an interim report last year, the Northern Australia committee labelled Rio's actions "inexcusable" and urged them to compensate the PKKP.
The inquiry's final report, due on Monday, comes after more than a year of hearings involving dozens of traditional owner groups and other stakeholders.
While Rio's current and former executives faced intense scrutiny, the inquiry also cast a forensic eye on the relationships between other mining companies and Indigenous groups, hearing recurring concerns about inequity between the two parties.
Ngalia elder and National Native Title Council chair Kado Muir hopes the final report will recommend stronger protections for Aboriginal cultural heritage at both a state and federal level.
"The Rio experience, I think, sent a chill up the spine of all the CEOs and directors out there, to basically make them aware that the social licence to operate is real," he told AAP.
"Where there are bad laws in place, there's still an expectation from the community (to go beyond compliance). And often the views of the community are reflected by the investors."
The WA government is promising to soon introduce new Aboriginal cultural heritage legislation which it says will empower land owners to make decisions about their land.
Aboriginal groups believe the draft bill does not provide sufficient safeguards and the proposed new regime would place a heavy burden on under-resourced native title groups.
Rio has repeatedly apologised for the Juukan destruction.
Along with other Pilbara miners, it is modernising heritage agreements and has pledged to stop enforcing gag clauses which silence traditional owners.
The London-based miner last month disclosed direct and often unflattering feedback from traditional owners about its cultural heritage management, with investors praising the company for providing greater transparency.
