Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

Equity, diversity and inclusion is part of our mission and aligned to our values.

Our commitment to EDI

Building an inclusive and diverse bank is an ongoing piece of work, not a statement we made once. This page sets out where we are going and the steps we are taking to get there — inside Charity Bank Australia and in the sector we lend to.

We want everyone, whether you are a customer or a colleague, to feel able to be yourself here and to know that you belong.

Our EDI statement

At Charity Bank Australia, equity, diversity and inclusion goes beyond being part of our mission — it is ingrained in our values. Our aim is to build an inclusive workplace and to contribute to a more equitable Australia, where people have fairer access to the opportunities, resources and support they need to thrive, whatever their background.

EDI is not only a change we have promised to make in our own team. It shapes how we operate as a lender, who we are able to reach, and whether the money savers trust us with ends up where it is needed most.

What we mean by the words

We use these terms in a particular way, so it is worth saying plainly what we mean by each of them.

Equity

Recognising that people start from different places and have different needs, and removing the barriers and systemic disadvantages that stop them getting a fair go.

Diversity

Respecting and celebrating human difference, visible and invisible, and the perspectives and ideas that come with it.

Inclusion

Building a culture where people belong, where voices are heard and where everyone can take part.

Colleagues in conversation in a meeting room

Building an inclusive workplace

We want a workplace with enough psychological safety in it that people can disagree, ask for what they need and bring their whole experience to the work. That means inclusive policies, recruitment designed to reduce bias, and leaders who are accountable for culture rather than only for numbers.

We are a member of Diversity Council Australia and use its research and practice guidance to test our own. Our obligations as an employer sit under the Fair Work Act and Australia’s anti-discrimination law, and we follow the Australian Human Rights Commission’s guidance on what good practice looks like beyond the legal minimum.

Staff and community partners talking at an outdoor event

Reconciliation

We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which we work and the organisations we lend to operate, and we pay our respects to Elders past and present.

We are developing our first Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan with Reconciliation Australia. The work we have committed to begin with is the least glamorous and the most useful: learning properly about the communities we say we serve, understanding why Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled organisations are so often turned away by lenders, and changing our own credit process where it is part of the problem.

We will publish the plan and our progress against it rather than describing it in general terms here.

Our progress so far

We know this is a long piece of work. These are the steps we have taken so far, and our EDI action plan is where the next ones are recorded.

Inside the bank

Built EDI into our strategy, our board reporting and our organisational targets.
Appointed an EDI lead and a non-executive director who sponsors EDI at board level.
Set up an EDI working group of staff, managers and a board member that meets each quarter.
Moved to a recruitment process that hides identifying details from the hiring panel, and review the results as a group.
Provided inclusion and neurodiversity awareness training for all staff, at induction and afterwards.
Run an independent employee survey each year and publish what it tells us, including where we score badly.
Started our first staff affinity group, for neurodivergent colleagues, with time in the working week to meet.
Joined Diversity Council Australia and use its benchmarking to check our own work.

As a lender

Strengthened the team that works with organisations led by and for their own communities.
Changed how we assess applications from organisations whose income and governance do not look like a small business.
Improved our support for customers in vulnerable circumstances and financial difficulty.
Adopted an accessibility-first principle for this website and our online banking, tested against WCAG.
Held listening sessions with borrowers and community organisations, and changed our process because of what we heard.

Our EDI action plan

Mission

Set specific, measurable EDI goals that take intersectionality seriously. Remove bias from employment processes and policies. Monitor performance against the goals and report it openly.

Leadership and power

Grow a workforce and a board that reflect the communities we lend to. Share decision-making with the people affected by it, and make senior leaders accountable for EDI outcomes.

Products and processes

Design lending and savings products that reach organisations historically shut out of finance, and make every step — from first enquiry to drawdown — accessible and plainly explained.

EDI change starts inside the bank. Doing it properly here is what makes us a better lender to diverse-led organisations, and a more useful one to the communities they serve.