Insights
The community sector in Australia comprises around 700,000 organisations helping disadvantaged and disabled people with complex social and economic issues.Collectively the community sector is also a significant economic and social contributor to the nation, employing over 6% of Australia's workers and accounting for more than $40 billion annually to the national economy, similar in size to the agricultural sector.
Community Sector Banking was established as a financial institution to support the delivery of specific financial services and products to enhance the capacity of the community sector to deliver those outcomes.
The ownership of Community Sector Banking by not-for-profit organisations is a key element to its structure and continuing development.
David Thompson, Chair Community 21 Board
I am the Chairman of the group of twenty nor-for-profit community sector organisations that came together to invest in the Community Sector Banking joint venture with Bendigo Bank.
Community Sector Banking gives us better control of financial capital and other financial resources. Bringing the community sector together with the private sector gives us the opportunity to play a part not just in deciding our destiny but also gaining benefits from the combined power of not-for-profits in the community sector.
Rob Hunt, Managing Director, Bendigo Bank
We have been involved in Community Sector Banking since its inception and the primary reason we got involved was that like all of the other community enterprises we are working with across Australia we needed to do something that engaged and involved the people who were being affected.
Community Sector Banking is unique much the same as Bendigo Community Banking around Australia is unique. It is the community in action to produce change.
Allan Kirkland, ACOSS
We knew major banks were not delivering for the community sector and we thought we could come up with something that would deliver better banking products for the community sector as well as providing us with returns for reinvestment
Catherine Mahony, NCOSS
Our primary motivation was to see the development of a bank specifically for the not-for-profit community sector across Australia. Something that would enable, over time, the sorts of services and products we got from Community Sector Banking to be aligned to what our needs are and aligned to our business and operating environment.
Will Reynolds, Access Community Group
We figured if we could organise as a bank which is more receptive, more responsive to the needs of the not-for-profit sector this would serve the not-for-profit community sector better.
We were looking for a way of becoming less beholden to government and the vagaries of winning contracts so that we had more control of our destiny. So we saw an opportunity in the form of organising banking for the community sector.
Ken Langston, CEO STEPS Employment and Training Solutions
We can borrow money from any bank but with Community Sector Banking it is a question of understanding what it is that we're trying to achieve and what Community Sector Banking is trying to achieve. What we needed was the money and social outcomes and Community Sector Banking sees the value of the social outcome as much as the banking outcome.
Margaret Bowen, The Illawarra Disability Trust
The community sector is really about partnerships and Community Sector Banking knows and understands this. The partnership with Community Sector Banking allows many not-for-profit organisations to do a lot of good for local communities.
Ross Donovan, Micro-finance client
CSB goes beyond just banking and business. CSB is about creating links in the community that allow empathy and compassion to support those of us who find ourselves in very difficult but not hopeless situations.
Gail Kerr, ACCESS Services
Access Services has been operating for about twenty years we have always had a focus on the most disadvantaged and marginalised people in the community. One of the outstanding products that we have accessed through Community Sector Banking has been the Salary Benefits Card. The Salary Benefits Card has allowed us to make the salary benefits packages much more attractive to staff so we are better able to retain our people.
Peter Quarmby
Community Sector Banking is about the cooperation between the community sector, the private sector and the public sector. Together we can achieve an enormous amount and it's our commitment to do exactly that.
The success of CSB is built on the participation of our not-for-profit shareholders, our commercial partners and the community sector. This participation enables CSB to invest in solutions which are socially engaged and underpin not just the value of the community sector but the values of the communities which they participate in. CSB is a bank designed for the community sector, by the community sector.