Why Credit Unions are Better

When you're a Member of Summerland Credit Union, you're also an owner of our business.

We're community-based, and defined by our mutuality: we're owned by our Members, run by our Members, and everything we do is for the ultimate benefit of our Members.

We're not like a bank; our profits don't go to external shareholders, they go right back to our Members through fairer fees and improved levels of service.

As a credit union, we hold a banking licence and all Member deposits and investments are protected by the Federal Government Guarantee* for amounts up to $250,000. *See us for details.

As a Member and part owner of our credit union, you can have a direct say in how the business is run by voting at our Annual General Meeting and by voting in elections for our Board of Directors.

Since 1964, we've been helping North Coast families manage their finances, buy their homes and cars, fund their businesses, insure what's important to them and grow their wealth.

Find out more

Directors & CEO

“Summerland's Board and Executive is committed to maintaining strong financial performance, and delivering value to our members through quality products and services.” - Nicolas Harrison, Board Chair

Margot Sweeny

Chief Executive Officer

MEc, BBus, CPA, SA Fin, FAMI, MACS CT

• Chief Executive Officer since 1999
• Summerland Credit Union Company Secretary since 1999

Margot Sweeny is an active community member and public speaker. She holds a number of key Board and consultative positions including: Member of Southern Cross University Council; Chair of the Southern Cross University Finance Committee and Deputy Chair of the Audit Committee; Chair of Credit Union Foundation Australia (CUFA), the development agency for the Australian Credit Union Movement; Director of Abacus, which is the peak industry body for Australian credit unions and mutual building societies and promotes the role of customer-owned financial institutions in the Australian financial services sector. Margot is also the patron of the Friends of the Koala Care Foundation in the Far North Coast of NSW.

Board of Directors

The Board is elected by, and is accountable to, our members. The Directors are responsible for the overall corporate governance of the credit union including its strategic direction, establishing goals for management and monitoring achievement of these goals.

Environmental Sustainability

At Summerland we believe that sound business management must incorporate environmentally sustainable plans for the credit union.

That's why we're always looking to identify, research and implement actions that will reduce our impact on the natural environment.

We have an Environmental Sustainability committee to lead the efforts toward resource reduction and to encourage staff and members to adopt environmentally aware practices.

We aim to reduce our environmental impact by minimising our use of natural resources, energy and water and thereby reducing waste production and greenhouse gas emissions.

This journey toward environmental sustainability is helping to:

• Develop our understanding of our resource use, establish benchmarks and work towards our target reductions in energy, water, waste.
• Communicate,through a range of media, and develop a collaborative and transparent relationship with all our stakeholders about our sustainability goals.
• Encourage commitment to our goals throughout the entire organisation including the Board, management and employees.

View more on Our Environmental Sustainability Journey and our resource efficiency results in energy, water and waste.

Corporate Governance

The Board is responsible for the corporate governance of the credit union. As the Board acts on behalf of the members and is accountable to the members, it uses the key principles of accountability, disclosure and independence to carry out this responsibility.

In addition, the Board is responsible for identifying areas of significant business risk and ensuring arrangements are in place to adequately manage those risks.

To assist in this process the Board has established a number of key committees, each with its own terms of reference.

They are:

• Board Audit and Risk Committee
• Risk Management Committee
• Nomination Committee
• Assessment, Remuneration and Training Committee

The full Board currently holds eleven scheduled meetings each year plus planning meetings.

Summerland Credit Union's Constitution provides the framework for how the Board operates.

Good Corporate Conduct

Summerland Credit Union recognises that it has many responsibilities to its members and other stakeholders. As a mutual organisation, corporate responsibility is embraced and strengthened through our values.

Mutual Banking Code of Practice

Constitution

Annual Reports

Each year our credit union produces an Annual Report which presents our performance and achievements for the past financial year. The Report also includes our community involvement and the value returned to members.

Current & Past Reports

The reporting of our business sustainability is based upon how we operate and how we relate to the community. Our Annual Business Sustainability Report includes information on all aspects of our sustainability. 

Sustainability Reports

Help us reduce our environmental impact by viewing the Annual Reports online.

Capital Disclosures

Summerland Credit Union Limited, as an Authorised Deposit-Taking Institution (ADI), is regulated by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA). APRA is the prudential regulator of the Australian financial services industry and it oversees banks, credit unions, building societies, general insurance and reinsurance companies, life insurance, friendly societies, and most members of the superannuation industry. The primary role of APRA is to ensure the stability of the financial industry and a key way it does this is through stringent capital adequacy requirements. Under the Prudential Standard APS110 Capital Adequacy:

“Capital is the cornerstone of an ADI's financial strength. It supports an ADI's operations by providing a buffer to absorb unanticipated losses from its activities and, in the event of problems, enables the ADI to continue to operate in a sound and viable manner while the problems are addressed or resolved. The Board of Directors (Board) of an ADI has a duty to ensure that the ADI maintains an appropriate level and quality of capital commensurate with the level and extent of risks to which the ADI is exposed from its activities.”

Under the disclosure requirements for all ADIs, information about the credit union's capital is displayed here on our website for the information of our members and prospective members. The disclosure will show the assets of the credit union and their appropriate risk weight under Basel II – the international standard for a risk based capital framework.

The total capital, ie reserves and retained profits, of the credit union over these risk weighted assets produces a Capital Adequacy ratio for the credit union.

The minimum ratio required under APS110 is 8%.

Capital Adequacy

You can acccess our current and previous disclosure documents from the links below: