ANZ

The ANZ website contains the following categories:

The About ANZ category contains the following sections:

Community

Key Findings

There is an under-serviced market

Our key finding from research and consultation with over 400 people is that we should focus on Indigenous home ownership principally because of the potential business opportunity in an under-served market, within the context of our broad corporate responsibility.

Home ownership is as strong an aspiration for Indigenous Australians as it is for other Australians.

We found the more sustainable response to this need would be to use our existing products and tailor our marketing and distribution of these products to better assist Indigenous consumers.

ANZ was encouraged to promote home ownership in urban and regional areas where there is reliable housing supply, employment opportunities, economic and social infrastructure and accessible banking services. The barriers to home ownership in remote and very remote communities are more significant and financial service providers should continue to work with communities, government and other stakeholders to better understand and address these barriers in the longer term.

We can improve the way we serve Indigenous Australians

Many Indigenous Australians in urban and regional areas meet bank lending criteria but may not consider home ownership due to preconceptions of not receiving approval for a loan or fear of not being welcomed or understood. Banks may inadvertently discourage approaches by Indigenous customers by applying standard customer and credit processes unsuited to personal circumstances.

We should therefore focus our efforts on behavioural change. This includes developing a closer understanding of Indigenous customer needs, better tailored customer communications and a greater awareness of Indigenous culture and experience.

Our current work in this area is heading in the right direction

We have started on this work:

  • our Indigenous employment targets will help us become more representative and understanding of the communities we service, particularly in regional areas;

  • we are equipping our staff with the knowledge and skills they need to better serve Indigenous customers through cultural awareness training; and

  • we are continuing to work in partnership with communities and government to develop and deliver financial literacy programs to Indigenous Australians.