Our purpose of feeding into prosperity, not off it, is our guiding light, informing who we are and who we want to continue to be.
We believe in enabling communities to flourish. This belief underpins our profit-with-purpose, social enterprise Community Bank model.
Our business activities deliver real value and create a positive difference in our community, positively impacting the health and wellbeing of our customers and the places that they live, work and play. Our commitment to community, the Community Bank model, the philanthropic donations and the many social investments and partnerships that occur across our business, help bring our social purpose to life each day.
Communities thrive when local businesses and enterprises flourish. Our model helps communities take charge of their own financial destinies. Working together, we have built community infrastructure, strengthened creativity, diversity and teamwork across communities, improved educational outcomes for future generations and created healthy and safe places for Australians to live and work.
The internationally recognised model has grown from a concept designed to empower communities at risk of losing face-to-face banking services to one of Australia’s most successful social enterprise movements. As the banking industry continues to evolve, customer relevance and innovation remain paramount. By staying customer-centric and embracing innovation and fostering partnerships with our communities, we will be well positioned to continually help shape the future of banking.
Community Enterprise Foundation
The Community Enterprise Foundation (Foundation) was established in 2005 as the philanthropic arm of the Bank and plays a key role in bringing our social purpose to life. With its partners, the Foundation has invested time, resources and funds into Australian communities who need it the most. The Foundation enables organisations to raise money for projects and initiatives to build vibrant and sustainable communities. Our wide-reaching branch network and online presence facilitates donation collection to maximise impact. It also facilitates a wide range of grants for eligible charities and not-for-profit organisations. Grants are distributed via structured charitable grants to support communities and organisations across Australia. This community-led approach helps to build stronger and more resilient communities.
Its trustee, Sandhurst Trustees, is committed to good governance and ensures donated funds are returned to the community after considering advice from our community partners.
When disaster strikes, we know that affected customers and communities can be adversely impacted. To better support them, the Foundation is responsible for fundraising appeals to support recovery efforts. We recognise the road to recovery can be long, and that medium- and long-term support is just as important as short-term and immediate relief. We are in it for the long haul.
Scholarships
Our scholarship program is one of Australia’s largest privately funded programs and it forms a significant part of the Foundation’s activities. The scholarship program supports regional and rural students, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, students aspiring to make an impact in the agribusiness sector and students from disadvantaged backgrounds. The financial support assists with the costs of accommodation, travel, course materials, study equipment and tutoring. Our Community Bank network plays an integral role in the program, contributing significant funds and using their close community relationships to promote the program to communities across Australia.
