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Inclusive and accessible design is good for everyone.

When people are supported at work and are safe to be themselves, authentically, everyone wins.

We’re building a disability-confident organisation

More than 4.4 million, or one in five people in Australia, are living with some form of disability, many of which are invisible. That means most of us either have a disability or at least know or care for someone with a disability.

We believe in creating a safe, inclusive and empowering environment where everyone can thrive, and ensuring that we’re accommodating and flexible in the recruitment process. We pride ourselves on being a place where you can make an impact that matters and be part of organisation that truly values you.

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A man in a dark suit with a red shirt, black tie and neatly trimmed beard smiles at the camera

Creating a sense of belonging: Meet Sahil

Having faced discrimination and exclusion as a child and in previous workplaces, Sahil said nothing was previously done to help or include him as a person with autism.

“Growing up with autism, I experienced the hurt social isolation can bring to people living with a disability. Over time, I learned inclusion is the recognition that our world is filled with individuals who possess unique qualities and characteristics. Each person, in their own way, contributes to our society through their diverse backgrounds, cultures and abilities."

Sahil's experiences have inspired him to be vocal about accepting and respecting all individuals, treating them with equality, and incorporating their perspectives without hesitation. He was even given the opportunity to present his views to the Ministry of Education in New Zealand. Sahil decided to join Bendigo Bank in 2023. Recalling anxiety-inducing interviews at previous workplaces, Sahil said the Bendigo Bank recruitment team demonstrated a willingness to make interviewing as accessible as possible when he applied for a role.

“The recruitment team took proactive steps to assist me in preparing for the interview process. They provided me with a set of potential interview questions and offered a mock interview to practise my responses. This support helped me gain confidence and answer questions to the best of my ability. Now I’m at the bank, I’m focusing on delivering for my team as best as I can. I feel supported by my team members and can see the importance of inclusion in our culture every day."

BENability

BENability is the Bank’s Access and Inclusion Employee Network.

The network has members from across the organisation. It includes people who have lived experience with disability, carers and allies, all who share a passion for building an accessible and inclusive workplace. Members of the BENability network play an important role in growing our disability confidence here at BEN and contributing to delivering on actions in our Access and Inclusion Plan.

Our purpose is to foster an environment where people with disability and carers feel valued and supported, by:

Reducing barriers and creating accessible and inclusive environments for all people.
Building disability confidence at Bendigo Bank.
Being a known and approachable resource that is relied upon and trusted.

Australian Disability Network

The Australian Disability Network (ADN) is a national not-for-profit that helps organisations engage with people with disability. ADN are the only employer-led network in Australia focused on the inclusion of people with disability.

Find out more

Recruitable

We’ve partnered with Get Skilled Access, founded by Dylan Alcott OAM, and Randstad to participate in Recruitable, a program designed to build disability confidence in organisations and hire people with disability. This program leads the way to create a successful model for the employment of people with disability through mainstream recruitment companies and industry.
Recruitable aims to reduce the employment gap for people with disability by changing attitudes to hiring people with disability and making the process easier and inclusive for all via the mainstream recruitment sector.
Our partnership with Recruitable has enabled us to onboard some wonderfully talented people, and provided us with actionable recommendations on how to further improve the accessibility of our recruitment process and experience.

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The Field

The Field is an organisation knocking down employment barriers and connecting people with disability who want to work with organisations that want to hire more inclusively. Our partnership with The Field widens our net even further, connecting us directly to people with a disability who would be a perfect fit here at Bendigo Bank.

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Peter Mac

Bendigo Bank has partnered with Peter Mac and Mars Recruitment to help cancer patients re-enter the workforce.

Recovering cancer patients who are ready to re-enter the workforce will have a direct pathway to employment here at Bendigo Bank – thanks to a new partnership with Mars Recruitment and Peter Mac.

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headspace Bendigo

We've teamed up with headspace Bendigo to help their clients hear about roles we advertise and work out if they have the necessary experience and understanding of what the role requires, as well as pathways available to them.

headspace Bendigo is all about supporting young people in Bendigo between the age of 15 to 25 with their vocational goals. This includes interview preparation, job applications and connecting young people with employers in Bendigo.

Young people referred by headspace Bendigo, who have an interest in a career in banking (and who may still be studying at school or university), will be able to tour our workplaces, providing a real-life insight into what the job would be like.

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Our Accessibility and Inclusion Plan 2024-2026

This, our second Accessibility and Inclusion Plan, was developed by us in partnership with Australian Network on Disability and demonstrates our commitment and dedication to being an accessible bank for our customers, team members, and the communities in which we operate.
We start from a position that inclusive and accessible design is good for everybody, and includes commitment across four key areas:

Our Customers

Making it easy for people to access information, communicate with us, and use our products and services.

Our People

We continue to build an inclusive organisation, where our differences bring us together and make us stronger. This is integral to creating a great employee and customer experience.

Inclusive Design

By ensuring our physical and digital environments are accessible and adjustments are proactively made, we help create a community where: people want to work, customers feel connected, and everyone can thrive. As part of this, we are supporting our people to share their stories of inclusion and working with our partners to promote and improve accessibility far and wide. accessibility far and wide.

Our Communities and Partners

With a national footprint, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank is uniquely positioned to address barriers to meaningful participation in communities across the country and we are pleased to be able to play our part

Whilst we consulted with experts to create the Plan, a key part in development was consulting with our customers and our people. Those with actual lived experience, including our very own BENAbility Employee Network Group – compromising of members from diverse backgrounds who contribute first-hand experience of disability to our operations and strategies.

You’re more than just a number at Bendigo Bank.

Find out more about our Access and Inclusion Plan