DEI Strategy · Bendigo and Adelaide Bank
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank
Embedding belonging at Bendigo and Adelaide Bank.
Designing a governance-ready Diversity & Inclusion Strategy aligned to risk, sustainability and commercial performance.
Client Goals
The mandate
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank engaged Culture Plus to develop an enterprise-wide Diversity & Inclusion Strategy aligned to its purpose, strong community heritage and sustainability commitments. The Bank already had strong values aligned to community impact, existing inclusion initiatives across priority dimensions and active employee networks — but leadership recognised the need for a coherent framework capable of withstanding regulatory scrutiny and Board oversight.
- ●A coherent enterprise-wide D&I framework
- ●Clear governance architecture and formal accountability mechanisms
- ●Measurable targets aligned to commercial outcomes and risk management
- ●A strategy both values-aligned and commercially rigorous
What We Did
Our approach
Executive-Level Framing & Risk Horizon Briefing
- ●Structured executive briefing on the state of D&I in Australia and emerging regulatory and social risks
- ●Explored the link between inclusion and social licence, governance risks and Respect@Work horizon implications
- ●Framed the shift from “cultural fit” to measurable inclusion maturity — establishing executive ownership from the outset
Enterprise Maturity Mapping & Heat Map Analysis
- ●Assessed performance against a best-practice D&I maturity framework across workforce diversity, leadership capability, inclusive culture, customer inclusion, community impact and governance
- ●Informed a structured multi-year roadmap with Year 1–3 sequencing, implementation risk mitigation and accountability structures
- ●Defined benchmarking requirements and governance oversight mechanisms
The Outcome
What changed
Belonging shifted from distributed, values-driven activity to structured, enterprise-level governance architecture — publicly launched as the Bank's Belonging Strategy.
- ●A unified, publicly launched enterprise D&I strategy on a page
- ●Clear governance and accountability mechanisms with defined leadership KPIs
- ●Multi-year roadmap sequencing with benchmarking and reporting alignment
- ●Stronger linkage between inclusion and commercial performance
- ●Belonging embedded within sustainability positioning, risk management and leadership performance frameworks
Key Impact Areas
Where it landed
Enterprise Alignment
Multiple initiatives unified into a single, coherent enterprise-wide framework.
Governance Strengthening
Inclusion subject to structured oversight, KPI integration and Board-relevant reporting.
Risk Mitigation
Proactively addressed psychosocial risk, social licence exposure and reputational vulnerability.
Commercial Integration
Inclusion embedded into talent systems, customer strategy, community investment and leadership performance.
Sustainability Positioning
Belonging positioned as a long-term driver of trust, resilience and competitive advantage.
Services Delivered
What we provided
- ✓Executive Risk Horizon Briefing
- ✓Enterprise D&I Maturity Assessment
- ✓Governance & Accountability Architecture Design
- ✓Multi-Year Roadmap Development
- ✓KPI & Dashboard Framework Design
- ✓Benchmarking Alignment
- ✓Strategy Drafting
Further Reading
Reports, resources & references
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