Introduction, Marcia Langton; PART 1:Impacts, strategies and choices: the resource extraction industry and the economic and social status of indigenous and local peoples; 1: The resource curse compared: Australian Aboriginal participation in the resource extraction industry and distribution of impacts, Marcia Langton and Odette Mazel; 2. Curse or opportunity? Mineral revenues, rent seeking and development in Aboriginal Australia, Ciaran O’Faircheallaigh; 3.Measuring indigenous outcomes from mining agreements in Australia: the role of applied demography, John Taylor; 4. Papua New Guinea: conflicts, customary landholding and resource exploitation, George Yapao, Lee Godden and Steven Pettigrove; 5. Mining companies as agents for social development: the case for more effectual corporate-community investments, Ana Maria Esteves; PART II: Agreements, taxation and natural wealth accounts: distribution, preservation and economic development: 6. Legal forms and their implications for long-term relationships and economic, cultural and social empowerment: structuring agreements in Australia, Maureen Tehan and Lee Godden; 7. Five principles for managing Timor-Leste’s natural resource revenue wisely, Jen Drysdale; 8. The development forum in Papua New Guinea: evaluating outcomes for local communities, Colin Filer; 9. Tax law and policy for indigenous economic development in Australia, Miranda Stewart; 10. Native title agreements, taxation and economic development in Australia, Lisa Strelein; 11.The income tax exempt charitable structure as a vehicle for holding Australian native title interests: some lessons from New Zealand, Fiona Martin; PART III: Economic development for local and indigenous people: case studies of the dynamics among states, corporations and local communities: 12.Turning a benefit agreement into practical development: a case study of a Papua New Guinea development foundation, Tim Offor and Barbara Sharp; 13. From paternalism to partnership: the Good Neighbour Agreement and the Argyle Diamond Mine Indigenous Land Use Agreement in Western Australia, Kim Doohan, Marcia Langton and Odette Mazel; 14. Engaging communities in resource development initiatives in Timor-Leste, Demetrio do Amaral de Carvalho and Lisa Palmer , 15. To be destitute or to benefit: corporate social responsibility and mining in South Africa, Henk Kloppers and Willemien Du Plessis.