Funded by an annual contribution from Rabobank Australia & New Zealand, the Rabo Community Fund invests in a range of initiatives to benefit rural and regional communities identified by the bank’s local client councils.
The client councils are groups of Rabobank’s farming client representatives, who work with the bank to address industry and community challenges in farming and agribusiness.
The first initiatives to be funded include:
- Financial skills workshops: A practical hands-on program to build the financial capacity of the next generation of producers and farmers, which aims to reach 5000 participants by 2025.
- Are You Bogged Mate?: A ‘down to earth’ approach to raising awareness and starting conversations around rural men’s mental health and suicide, founded by Mary O’Brien.
- Rabo Tertiary Pathways: A scholarship program to support undergraduate students at select tertiary institutions to further their research and interest in topics critical to the ongoing success of the agribusiness sector.
Rabobank’s head of sustainability and community engagement Marc Oostdijk said the new fund demonstrated Rabobank’s commitment — as a major banker to Australia’s food and agricultural sector — to a thriving and sustainable rural sector.
“What is really unique about the Rabo Community Fund is that we are putting the power into the hands of the local client council members to advise us on what initiatives should be funded to address the challenges and opportunities in their communities,” Mr Oostdijk said.
Dairy farmer and Riverina & Northern Victorian Client Council chair Monique Bryant said the major injection of funding would help to create more resilient rural communities.
“This new fund will really increase the size and scale of projects implemented by the client councils, which will have a significant impact on rural communities,” Ms Bryant said.
“What it does at a local level is help give people confidence that there is a future in agriculture in their local area, and if people feel good about themselves and confident about their future prospects, then they are more likely to stay in the local area, seek local employment and invest in local economies.”
For more information, go to: https://rabobank.com.au/about-rabobank/rabo-community-fund
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