BCCM members take action on COVID-19

03 April 2020

We’re keeping an ongoing list of how our members are showing resilience in the face of an international health crisis. Let us know what your organisation is doing by emailing [email protected].

Rabobank

As a food and agri specialist, Rabobank says it remains dedicated to its clients and the wider rural sector. “We have already put in place a number of options to help our rural clients.”

“With most of our staff working from home, and the branches largely unattended, we remain fully contactable and will be conducting all of our business over the phone and Skype.”

RACQ

RACQ has launched its updated COVID-19 response page which now includes a link to its online hardship application form for any member experiencing financial difficulties as a result of the pandemic. RACQ has brought together specialist teams from across the organisation to ensure members are supported in the days, weeks and months to come.

“We’ve planned for a pandemic for some time and have a detailed and flexible Pandemic Response Plan in place. This plan will ensure our business can continue operating and supporting Queenslanders throughout, and beyond, a crisis like this. We’ve proactively stood up a Crisis Management Team (CMT) several weeks ago to ensure we’re in a good place to respond to any new advice from Government or medical authorities.”

HCF

HCF has made changes to ensure all HCF Hospital policies, for Australian residents, are covered for COVID-19, provided at no extra cost. “For nearly 90 years HCF has been trusted by Australians and their families to safeguard their health and provide support and advice when they’re needed most. In these challenging and uncertain times, our commitment to you hasn’t changed.”

Bank Australia

Bank Australia is offering its customers impacted by COVID-19 a range of assistance. In addition to the already announced tailored financial assistance on offer to meet individual circumstances, it is also making several changes to its banking products. “Our priority is to ensure that all of our customers are supported through the COVID-19 pandemic”

Australian Unity

Australian Unity: “Our primary focus is the health and wellbeing of the 50,000-plus older Australians and 6000 workers across our home care services and residential communities. We have systems in place to best prevent and respond to outbreaks, and our employees have been advised on infection control and how to identify early symptoms of COVID-19 infection.”

Defence Bank

Defence Bank is defined as an essential service and its branches and Contact Centre will remain open for members and defence partners.

“We will continue to closely monitor and be guided by commonwealth government advice on how to operate during this period with our immediate priorities as always to support the well-being of both our members and employees, and ensure our everyday banking services continue to be delivered.”

Heritage Bank

Heritage Bank has established a COVID-19 Relief Package to assist members facing financial difficulties because of the current challenging circumstances.

Greater Bank

Greater Bank has implemented a range of measures to support the financial wellbeing of its members impacted by the pandemic.

Capricorn Society

Capricorn Society is managing supply chain issues related to automative repair and maintenance products. The supply chain for replacement parts in Australia is very exposed to China, so Capricorn has been speaking to major suppliers to plan for the coming months.

“Some companies have a good, better, best strategy for a number of product categories. This means the same item is available in different brands, so if one brand becomes depleted they have others to fall back on.”

Oz Group Co-op

Oz Group Co-op’s network of farmers and growers have also been working proactively to secure supplies of essential materials such as fruit packing boxes, fertilisers and fungicides. “We are continually communicating with our suppliers to build up our reserves to have at least 6 months available on hand , which should carry our growers through the peak season”

The Limestone Coast Fishermen’s Co-operative

The Limestone Coast Fishermen’s Co-operative sees the COVID-19 outbreak as a good example of how the co-operative business model demands a low-risk approach to running an export business.

“We will continue to work closely with our Members, and other industry stakeholders, and we are communicating regularly with the marketplace to provide the best and most timely information about the situation but, for now, we have to wait and see what transpires over the coming days and weeks.”

Geraldton Fishermen’s Co-operative

The primary concern for the Geraldton Fishermen’s Co-operative is labour supply: “50% of the casual work force in our regional hubs are on work visas, so extending visas would be something that we’d put our support behind as well.”