Indigenous communities - Corporate Responsibility

Indigenous communities

Working with Indigenous Communities

ANZ is the first major Australian company to register a Reconciliation Action Plan. The Reconciliation Action Plan program was developed by Reconciliation Australia, an independent, not-for-profit organisation, to coordinate efforts by Australian governments, businesses, non-government and community organisations to increase the life chances of Indigenous Australians.

Reconciliation Action Plan: What Is It?

ANZ's Reconciliation Action Plan outlines the specific steps we are taking and plan to take to help improve the wellbeing of Indigenous Australians, including:

ambitious targets for the employment of Indigenous Australians
measures to build programs and initiatives to improve the money management skills of Indigenous Australians
measures to further strengthen ANZ's relationship with Indigenous organisations and the Indigenous communities in which we operate
clear time frames for our promises

To formulate our action plan, we listened to our stakeholders - including Indigenous leaders, community organisations involved in Indigenous financial inclusion and government agencies.

Our conclusion was that we should concentrate on areas where we have experience and expertise, thereby ensuring we devote our energy and resources where we can make a real and lasting impact.

Why Are We Doing It?

Helping to improve the social and economic wellbeing of Indigenous Australians is a key part of ANZ's overall pledge to improve social and financial inclusion. And because the measures contained in the Action Plan are closely related to our business, we also expect the success of these new and existing initiatives to translate over time into direct business benefits.

For example, employing more Indigenous people and building our understanding of the experience of Indigenous consumers will help us better meet the needs of those customers and build their trust and confidence.

How Do We Measure Our Results?

The public accountability that comes with releasing the Action Plan ensures our initiatives maintain momentum. We also report publicly on our performance against the Action Plan - for example, through the website - so our stakeholders will always know how we are delivering on our commitments.

The Action Plan will be monitored by a Governance Group, made up of internal and external specialists and stakeholders, to ensure it is implemented, remains relevant and is achieving its objectives. ANZ reports on progress against the Action Plan in our annual and interim Corporate Responsibility Reports.

Find out more about the Reconciliation Action Plan