Be Ethical

Strong ethics and values are what define the emergency services sector. 

In the same way, our values are what drives our commitment to do what’s good and right for our members, the planet and people on it.

For the fourth year in a row, we’ve been named one of the World's Most Ethical Companies^® by the Ethisphere Institute. In 2021, we were one of only five banks globally to achieve this.

It feels good to be ethical. It underpins who we are, what we do and why we do it - and has done for over 50 years.

What we do

1. We pioneered $1 billion of ethical investment as the first bank in Australia to certify wholesale funds, the first based on fossil fuel exclusion. 
2. The Bank’s Certified Responsible and Ethical Investment products on the balance sheet grew 347% to reach $764million in FY 2019.
3. We are the only Australian bank with retail deposits, mortgages, and wholesale funding all certified as ethical or responsible .
4. We report on our environment, social and governance (ESG) performance annually across 85 targets and KPIs.
5. 45 external performance results highlight our consistency and excellence practice social responsibility.
6. We have strict social responsibility exclusion criteria in our lending. These exclusions mean we won’t provide funding where ‘the primary purpose of the entity or business is alcohol, armaments, correctional facilities, cryptocurrency, deforestation or gross environmental degradation, gambling, military activities, political activities, pornography, slavery, tobacco or uranium’.
7. No political donations: we do not donate, give gifts or employee or management time to support political candidates or political organisations.
8. As a member of the Global Alliance on Banking on Values (GABV), we adhere to its Principles of Values-based banking, which establishes a triple bottom line approach at the heart of the business model.
9. We support the UN Sustainable Finance Roadmap for Australia, designed to reset the $10 trillion sector to a sustainable future.
10. The Bank strives for excellence and international leadership in its business practices, and its Mission states that ‘The Bank will operate in an ethically, socially and environmentally responsible manner’.