Justin Tsuei, General Manager Community and Customer Vulnerability said: “We’re incredibly proud to be part of the launch of the One Stop One Story Hub pilot. Every day, our Community Wellbeing team sees firsthand how difficult it is for customers in vulnerable circumstances, like those impacted by domestic and family violence, to share their most personal stories.
“Through the work we’ve done as part of our Next Chapter program, which aims to help victim-survivors of domestic and financial abuse achieve long-term financial independence, we know how important it is to take a collaborative, whole-of-community approach when it comes to addressing this chronic issue.
“The cross-industry collaboration to deliver the One Stop One Story hub is a fantastic example of how working across sectors can deliver new solutions and increased support for those customers who need it most, helping to alleviate some of the stress caused from having to retell their stories.”
The initial pilot will focus on supporting members of the community impacted by family and domestic violence and has been co-designed with community partners and people with lived experience. This scope was chosen for the pilot due to the complex nature of family and domestic violence, ensuring that the important privacy and security requirements were a key focus during the co-design phase. The flexibility of the OSOS Hub means over time, the scope of the project can expand to include other members of the community experiencing vulnerability.
Speaking about the multi-sector collaboration, CEO of Thriving Communities Partnership Ciara Sterling said: “We’ve developed a new way of working to help humans by redesigning and simplifying the system for humans instead of trying to get humans to fit into our complex systems. People’s issues do not occur in silos, so our response should not either. We want the ecosystem to wrap around them and are looking to create a better practice approach for the future.”
This initiative forms part of CBA’s Next Chapter program, which seeks to address the hidden epidemic of financial abuse in Australia through leading the industry in providing care for customers impacted by domestic violence, expanding support for long-term recovery, increasing community and industry understanding of financial abuse, and fixing known issues within CommBank’s own products and services.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic or family violence, call 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) or visit www.1800RESPECT.org.au.
For counselling, advice and support call Men’s Referral Service on 1300 766 491 or ntv.org.au/get-help/
In an emergency or if you’re not feeling safe, always call 000.
About Next Chapter
Since 2015, CommBank has been working with community organisations and experts to better understand the issue of financial abuse and expanded this support in 2020 with Next Chapter. The program, which focuses on three key areas - support, advocacy and prevention – seeks to address the hidden epidemic of financial abuse in Australia and assist impacted customers and members of the community achieve long-term financial independence.
About the Thriving Communities Partnership
Thriving Communities Partnership (TCP) is a not for profit organisation that enables collaboration across multiple sectors including community, business, academia, government, NGO’s and those with lived experience. TCP’s goal is to see everybody have fair access to the modern essential services they need to thrive in contemporary Australia.
TCP’s approach focuses on understanding the often complex influencing factors of vulnerability using co-design and other community-led solutions that reduce the barriers to access and embed sustainable and effective change.
TCP believes the best results for individuals, organisations and the community occur when we have a movement of organisations working collaboratively within and across sectors to provide holistic support. The challenge is not to ‘fix’ people, but rather to unite and shape a system around what works better for people. We aim to create a fair and connected system, so that everyone in Australia can achieve an adequate standard of living, and live free from discrimination.
