Sustainability awards: Bendigo honoured for third year running

Bendigo Bank today won a Merit Award in the Ethical Investor magazine's 2003 awards for “Outstanding Achievement in Social Development”.

This followed two consecutive years in which Bendigo Bank won the magazine's Most Sustainable Company Award (2001, 2002).

This year's Most Sustainable Company was Insurance Australia Group (IAG).

Bendigo Bank's award recognised a number of initiatives including:

• Community Bank^® (locally owned banking in which communities receive income for reinvestment in community projects).
• Community Sector Banking (in which not-for-profit organisations receive a share of the income generated by their banking).
• Lead On (a youth development program sponsored by the bank and which involves young people in a range of business and community projects).
• Community Telco (which helps communities to secure competitive telecommunications infrastructure by channelling demand through a locally owned company, thereby providing suppliers with a ready market).
• Green Loans (a range of discounted home and personal loans promoting the use of environmentally friendly building and energy techniques).

Bendigo Bank managing director Rob Hunt said the bank was proud to have won awards in three consecutive years.

“It is recognition that our strategy has been very consistent and focused, but also that it continues to progress with new initiatives.

“Our aim is to secure our future success by improving the prospects of our customers and their communities. There is now clear evidence that our initiatives are making a real contribution to communities.

“We now have more than 1000 Community Bank^® directors who are gaining the skills and confidence needed to undertake more initiatives which will further improve their communities' prospects.

“Already, Community Bank^® companies have ploughed more than $2 million in profits back into local development.

“And there are 600 jobs in local communities which would not exist if there were no local bank.

“Bendigo Bank will continue to press out initiatives to empower communities to make a difference to their long-term future.
“Helping to build sustainable communities and business is essential for our business to reach its potential. The improvement in Bendigo Bank's profit performance in recent years demonstrates the strength of that strategy and shows that doing the right thing is also great business.”