Commonwealth Bank Foundation

In 2003, the Commonwealth Bank (the Group) established the Commonwealth Bank Foundation, building on the Bank’s community activities and contributions towards education and financial literacy over the previous 70 years.

The Commonwealth Bank Foundation encourages developments in education, in particular the financial literacy skills of young Australians and Indigenous Australians. It aims to create awareness, skill and understanding of the benefits of a more financially literate community.

The Foundation was set up with a $70million contribution from the Group but it is very careful not to support activities which could be viewed as directly or indirectly marketing the Commonwealth Bank’s products or services.

At this time, the Foundation is running and developing its own education programs and is not seeking applications for funding from other organisations.

The Commonwealth Bank are proud recipients of the 2009 Australian Business Award for Community Contribution.

This award recognises our commitment to developing financial literacy skills in the Australian community and most notably the work done by the Commonwealth Bank Foundation through its StartSmart program and other financial literacy initiatives. This year alone, we will reach over 70,000 students in cities, regional centres and rural towns through our StartSmart money management program.

The Foundation’s programs

Australian Financial Literacy Assessment (AFLA) – a tool to identify Year 9 and 10 students’ financial literacy strengths and weaknesses.

National Financial Literacy Curriculum Resource – free resource to help teachers improve their students’ knowledge, skills and understanding of financial literacy.

Financial Literacy Grants – grants of $3,500 each are awarded to 100 secondary schools to develop tailored money management programs.

StartSmart – programs for secondary school students and their teachers, delivered at schools by world class professional facilitators.

DollarsandSense – Online resource containing unbiased objective information for students on a range of topics including jobs, tax, saving and budgeting as well as a number of interactive tools that can be used in the classroom.