Sustainability

Together we can make a difference

Our mission is to be sustainably-minded, supporting our people, customers, community to make conscious choices.

At Southern Cross Credit Union (SCCU), we live and breathe the Credit Union ethos to help support and be there for our customers and communities. A big part of this is caring for the places they call home by addressing the environmental, social and economic challenges that exist today.

We recognise the need to act and are committed to making a positive impact for a more sustainable future that benefits generations to come. We want to encourage others to do the same, influence change and share our learnings. As part of our larger business strategy, our Sustainability Action Plan (SAP) is holistic and embedded across the business – in our operations and Financial Service Centres – grounded by the belief that every step in the right direction adds up.

For us it’s about learning, collaborating with experts, setting the right pace and having a plan that balances little wins with big picture goals.

Download SAP Info Booklet

A bird perched on a plain white background, showcasing its elegant stance and vibrant plumage

Engaging All People

Through engagement, shared-learning, collaboration and open communication we strive to partner for environmental and social good, influencing change and embedding a culture of sustainability that extends beyond our team.

A circular image displaying a plant with arrows pointing towards it, highlighting its significance

Managing Our Impact

Adapting our operations to reduce carbon emissions and constantly looking at ways to improve of process and procedures to ensure we are acting responsibly and playing our part to manage our impact on the environment.

A white paper airplane gracefully soars through the sky, showcasing its elegant flight

Developing Sustainable Finance

By providing individuals, families, businesses and groups’ with financial products and services that reward sustainable choices and we aim to improve financial wellbeing.

Australian Shepherd dog sitting on white background.

Acting With Integrity

Acting as a responsible business goes beyond our role in finance. We seek to better understand, work with and engage our suppliers, partners and customers to ensure ethical practices are upheld.

Our Sustainability Journey So Far

Our vision to become a more sustainable business and help contribute to this movement hasn’t just happened overnight. In fact we’ve been intertwining changes within our day to day practices and approach to community for a while now. Here’s a few recent projects that we’re incredibly proud to bring under a more structured, transparent and consistent approach.

A reusable blue cup placed beside a cardboard box, showcasing the SCCU branding

It’s cool to care

Catching up over a cuppa’ or picking one up on the way to work has never looked so good. After looking at how many disposable cups we were using, we decided to give everyone in the SCCU team a very cool reusable cup from Joco.

The accumulative impact of 96 Joco Cups eliminates 3.6 million single use cups over the average lifetime of use. Every Joco purchase serves as a lifetime solution eliminating plastic and single-use waste, with the added means to retrieve and repurpose toxic plastic debris. The Joco x Seabin fleet is actively filtering over 600,000 litres of ocean water a day, per bin.

Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection – Mark Twain

In 2019 we introduced a Reduce, Reuse and Recycle program that has helped us reduced our landfill waste by a mammoth 88% and our paper consumption by an incredible 77%.

We continue to identify other areas where we can become more sustainable in every facet of what we do, and leave as little as possible behind. A big part of this is done through digital transformation, education and working with experts who help us in our own understanding.

Paper art recycling symbol with floral and butterfly motifs on a brown background, promoting eco-friendly practices.

With every new beginning comes a chance for something special.

To inspire a better tomorrow, we’ve redesigned our gift boxes for new home owners to include eco-friendly products that we hope become everyday ‘go-to’s. We’ve also introduced Australian made seeded cards to say thank you and when planted,  grow Snowy River daisies.

It’s just our way of saying #welcomehome while caring for the home we all share.

A box revealing a delicate flower embraced by a gentle hand, while a graceful bird hovers nearby.

A captivating paper art showcasing an Australian kangaroo, beautifully crafted with intricate details

We don’t want to just do less harm, we want to do more good. Together.

As a community bank, we have many programs that focus solely on giving back to the community through volunteering, finance, partnership and programs like Community Grants.

Held annually, our Grants are an opportunity to help deserved winners make an impact and ignite new ideas across a number of areas, including sustainability led projects. As part of our assessment its important that applicants ‘do more good’ in the spirit of sustainability. We’re proud to contribute to some amazing stories.

Precious Plastics

Byron Bay Wildlife Hospital

Emergent Leaders 

  • Corporate Responsibility & Policy

    Sustainability for us isn’t a ‘bandwagon topic’ or a campaign we run for a few years. We continue to test and embed practices across the business to provide a foundation that sets the tone from day one and reinforces that our focus on sustainability is part of our DNA.

    As we continue to grow our knowledge and start new projects, we understand the need to formalise practices, policies and our corporate statements to better reflect the behaviours and actions that we expect of ourselves, and those we choose to work with.

    Formalising our approach by:
    • Establishing a sustainability strategy that’s underpinned by a detailed action plan, set across 3 years (to start!)
    • Outlining our priorities under four pillars based on feedback from our people, customers and community led by a number of eco-warriors within the business
    • Committing to measuring and communicating our impact, aligned to Sustainability Development Goals (SDG) for further accountability
    • Updating our corporate statements including our Commitment to Sustainability: We’re committed to making a positive impact for a more sustainable future and demonstrate what it means to care about people and place, through actions that reflect our mutual ethos. We seek to continuously grow our knowledge, inspire others and share our progress in addressing the environmental, social and economic challenges that are most material to our people, customers and communities.
    Providing policies that address:
    • Hardship
    • Vulnerable Customers
    • Flexible Working
    Offering opportunities for our people to be involved through:
    • Volunteering & community involvement
    • Participation in Sustainably-minded Events (eg Earth Day)
    • Eco-warrior team
    • Specific sustainability projects

Working
Together

We work with a number of organisations, community groups and partners to address societal and environmental issues that impact people throughout the Northern Rivers and beyond.

Together we can do more – SCCU & Positive Change for Marine Life team up!

Learn More

We’ve Joined Over 800 Others

SCCU is a Member of Sustainability Advantage, a program of the NSW Government’s Office of Energy and Climate Change. Sustainability Advantage helps organisations understand sustainability and strengthen their environmental performance. SCCU is committed to strengthen its environmental performance through collaboration with the Office.

By drawing on different expertise at the program’s disposal, connecting with other businesses who are taking similar steps and forming our own ‘eco-warrior’ line-up we’re building a strong team that shares openly and learns from each other.

Our plan is just a start, we know there’s still a long way to go, and Sustainability Advantage will help us on this journey. We’re proud to be a part of this program and one day hope to be long-term role models in taking an approach that’s guided by guru’s, always improving and led by everyday people who share common values.

It All Starts With You

Our goal is to include and empower as many people as we can along our sustainability journey. Sign up below to receive updates on what we're working on, who we're partnering with and other sustainability-led news.

It can seem like an impossible task to change society’s direction. Being sustainable isn’t always about the headline act or the big efforts. Individually, little changes that stick, that make a difference in our lives and those around us will add up to a sustained, continued, positive change. We can help save our planet and our kids’ future one small action at a time. We just have to roll the sleeves up and get stuck in where we can.
Steve, SCCU Eco-Warrior & FSCM
Winning the $1,500 award from Southern Cross Credit Union’s Community Goals program will be a massive help to our organisation. This money will go directly into feeding and caring for the animals that we have rescued and are in our care. We currently have 14 sea turtles, one seabird and one sea snake in our care. With this kind of support we can give the best possible care to these animals so they can be released back into the wild.
Kelsey Banister, Australian Seabird Rescue Assistant to the General Manager
Not everyone is going to be an environmentalist, but it is important to always think about our own earthly fingerprints.   Even something as small as picking up rubbish left on the sidewalk, the people of SCCU understand that it’s the little things that make the earth a happier, more sustainable place.
Teaghan, SCCU Eco-Warrior & Lending Support Specialist
Through their Community Grants program, Southern Cross Credit Union have demonstrated their commitment to environmental sustainability  in our region in a number of ways. As well as funding projects to recycle plastic waste and remediate contaminated soil, they have supported Byron Bay Wildlife Hospital to provide expert veterinary care to native animals. Many of our patients are sea turtles, and  SCCU’s $10,000 grant will be used in partnership with Australian Seabird Rescue to secure a much-needed Sea Turtle Recovery Dry Docking System, assisting with their rehabilitation before being released back into their ocean home. We’re so very grateful to SCCU for their support and applaud their commitment to conservation and sustainability projects.    
Dr Stephen Van Mil - Founder and CEO, Byron Bay Wildlife Hospital
Southern Cross Credit Unit is an outstanding example of a business that is all about doing right by the communities that it operates in. By supporting local organisations such as ours (Positive Change for Marine Life), they are helping to address major issues around sustainability and environmental management. As is true to character for a locally focused, community-oriented business, they not only support us financially, but by actively attending and getting involved in community events. We are proud to have SCCU as a long term partner for our projects and campaigns, as we strive to foster greater community custodianship of the incredible environments we call home.
Dane Marx - Positive Change For Marine Life
"Access to having the same uniform really helped us to create a team environment where all women feel they belong. Quality footwear is also really important not only for safety but also for physical comfort as the work does require spending a lot of time on your feet.  The support from SCCU has made all the difference and we’re so grateful”
Sam Birmingham - Operations Manager for the Linen SHIFT