About ASFI

ASFI’s vision is for Australia to have a financial system that is:

• Sustainable, resilient and stable and can withstand systemic risks and other shocks and strains.

• Able to meet the present and long-term needs of all Australians, the environment and the economy.

• Ensures financial decisions are both informed by and consider sustainability risks, impacts and opportunities.

• Enhances financial inclusion, wellbeing and informed choice.

• Has capital flowing to support Australia to meet sustainable development goals, including facilitating an orderly transition to a net-zero, a resource-efficient and social inclusive economy.

To realign Australia’s financial system so that more money flows to activities that will create a sustainable, resilient and inclusive Australia. We will do that by contributing to the following outcomes:

• Climate mitigation: Emissions reductions across key sectors of the economy at asset and entity levels

• Climate resilience: Increased private capital flowing towards climate adaptation and resilience

• Nature: Nature is valued and integrated into financial decision making

• First Nations: Embedding First Nations rights and interests in financial decisions while improving access to finance to drive equity and economic self-determination

• Community Finance: Communities have increased access to place-based financial products and improved financial inclusion

• Capability: Shifting capability, mindsets and leadership for sustainability

• Mission driven: ASFI’s mission is our guiding compass. We have a laser focus on maximising our impact against that mission, drawing on our deep expertise in many aspects of sustainable finance and systems change.

• Continuous learning: We believe in always growing and improving. We seek out new knowledge, learn from our experiences, staying open to change which help us to adapt and innovate to do things better.

• Collaboration: Our starting point is to collaborate, and we design processes and partnerships to deliver mutual benefit for all involved.

• Integrity: We build trust through transparency, acting with honesty and upholding the highest ethical standards in everything that we do.

ASFI’s vision for reconciliation is an Australia where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledges, priorities, perspectives, and voices are elevated within the financial system.

After enduring economic exclusion for far too long, we aspire to see the Australian finance system embrace its duty to reconcile, opening pathways for First Nations communities to prosper on their own terms. The vision of reconciliation detailed in our Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) centres on economic empowerment and inclusion, fostering:

• Greater understanding, awareness and recognition of First Nations rights and cultures within the finance sector.

• Recognition by the finance sector of the role First Nations peoples can play in contributing to reconciliation, particularly in achieving economic self-determination.

This path will lead to:

• Enhanced outcomes, opportunities, and experiences for First Nations peoples in Australia.

• A more inclusive Australia that recognises the inherent value of different ways of being, knowing and doing.

Our RAP has been developed by a RAP Working Group that involves all members of the ASFI team and the lead of our First Nations work program.