Good Shepherd And NAB Partnership Recognised In PM Awards

The affiliation between Good Shepherd Youth and Family Services and National Australia Bank has been recognised with the Prime Minister's Award for Excellence in Community Business Partnerships.

(PRWEB) August 25, 2005 -- The affiliation between Good Shepherd Youth and Family Services (Good Shepherd) and National Australia Bank (NAB) has earned the two organisations a Prime Minister's Award for Excellence in Community Business Partnerships.

The Large Business category in the Victorian division of the Prime Minister's Awards for Excellence in Community Business Partnerships was presented on August 22nd, 2005 to Good Shepherd and NAB for the work they have done together to make financial services more accessible to the socially and financially disadvantaged in the community.

Good Shepherd Director Michael Yore said: "We are very proud of the work we have done with the NAB that has made a real difference to people's lives.

"We have covered a lot of ground together, including providing people on low incomes with greater access to responsible financial services.

We have also used NAB employees' expertise in our organistaion through the bank's employee volunteer leave scheme. And we have provided NAB staff with training on how to deal with clients who are undergoing genuine financial hardship.

NAB's Executive General Manager Strategy & Marketing, Greg Sutherland, said the relationship with Good Shepherd was an example of how beneficial genuine, open dialogue between the corporate and community sectors can be.

"We started working with Good Shepherd five years ago. Since then, we have sponsored their No Interest Loans Scheme (NILS®) and, most significantly, begun piloting the Step Up loan that provides low-income earners with a low-interest, unsecured loan of between $1000 - $3000."

"We are trialling this product in five sites in Victoria and New South Wales - Collingwood, Hastings, St Albans, Winmalee and Bathurst. We want it to expand it nationally."

Mr Yore said that access to financial services is fundamental to active engagement in society.

"Bank accounts and financial history validate an individual's ability to secure accommodation, employment, consumer rights and identity - the work we are doing with NAB is delivering some real benefits to the community."

For more details contact:

Alison Hill

Manager Development and Communications

Good Shepherd Youth and Family Service

Tel: 0011 61 03 9419 5477

Mob: 0400 77 0502

Geoff Lynch

Head of Media Relations Australia

National Australia Bank

Tel: 0011 61 03 8634 1564

Mob: 0405 319 819

Sean McIntyre

Wise Words Media

Mob: 0413 397 441

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