24 May 2022 - Update on contact centre wait times: Recently our customers have been experiencing unusually (and unacceptably) long waiting times when calling our contact centre. We apologise for this inconvenience and are taking important steps to improve. Read more here.
Climate change is an issue we know you feel strongly about. We’ve been listening and it’s one we share, too.
At Bank Australia, it’s time for us to step up and go beyond what we’ve already achieved. We want to help Australians build the future we all deserve.
In our climate action strategy, reducing emissions is an essential first step. We’ve also realised our role is supporting communities in Australia to respond to climate change in a way that’s regenerative and focused on a just transition.
We don’t have all the answers yet but scroll down to explore how we’ll:
Read our Climate Action Strategy here.
Most of our emissions come from our lending portfolio from the homes that we provide loans to build and buy (our scope 3 emissions, for the climate nerds). We’re going to work with our customers to reduce their emissions from electricity and gas use.
We’re also going to keep reducing our emissions from running the bank. We’ve been using 100% renewable electricity since 2019 and we’ve switched our fleet cars to hybrids. Next, we want to get our buildings off gas and work out how we can support our staff to reduce emissions when they travel to and from work.
We need a pathway to net zero, so we’re using the leading global standard for setting near-term emissions reduction targets from the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).
We’ve developed draft targets for 2030 using the methods for financial institutions and we’re seeking validation from the SBTi. We’re expecting to announce our targets within 12 months.
We’ve been carbon neutral since 2011 and we’re Climate Active certified. We do that by offsetting all of our operational emissions by buying carbon offsets from registered carbon offset projects.
Now, we want to explore whether we can combine our expertise regenerating land on our conservation reserve with creating our own carbon offset projects. We plan to start this investigation on our newest conservation reserve property, Salvana.
We’ve got a long history in the Latrobe Valley and we’re still there. One of the larger credit unions that merged into what is Bank Australia today was the Enterprise Credit Union, the credit union for employees of the Victoria’s former State Electricity Commission. A third of our staff are based in the Latrobe Valley and we’re committed to continuing to support the community as it transitions from fossil fuels.
We’re committed to the Latrobe Valley community – in 2018, we completed a major renovation of our National Contact Centre in Moe to make room for more employment growth in the Latrobe Valley. We also work with community customers like the Gippsland Climate Change Network and help them progress the switch to renewables.
We know and recognise that First Nations voices can lead the way on climate action.
We began our own Reconciliation Action Plan journey in 2010, becoming the first customer owned bank to develop a RAP. We still have a way to go but we’re committed to the work we know we need to do.
On our conservation reserve, we’re working with Barengi Gadjin Land Council to implement Indigenous Land Management practices. Indigenous Land Management has maintained this land for tens of thousands of years. This knowledge is essential to addressing the climate crisis on our reserve and across Australia, and is valuable for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people working with plants, animals and the ecosystems.
At Bank Australia we respectfully acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of all the lands on which we work and pay our respects to the elders past present and emerging. Our head office is located on the land of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation. We recognise their continued connection to the land, waters and culture and we acknowledge their sovereignty has never been ceded. We acknowledge the constant resistance and resilience of First Nations people in their fight for self-determination.
We support the Uluru Statement from the Heart to achieve justice, recognition and respect for First Nations people and a referendum to enshrine a First Nations Voice in the Constitution. We see reconciliation as a fundamental responsibility for Bank Australia and we are committed to advancing reconciliation with Australia’s First Peoples.
