10 Minutes With… Credit Union SA CEO Todd Roberts
Credit Union SA recently celebrated its 15th anniversary following the merger of Satisfac and Powerstate in 2009. Business Insight spoke with Credit Union SA’s CEO Todd Roberts about his style of leadership and the current state of South Australia’s economy.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and explain your position at Credit Union SA?
I’ve worked in finance for over 25 years both in Australia and the UK in wide-ranging roles from accountancy, audit, commercial and retail banking. Four years ago, I had the opportunity to join the team at Credit Union SA as their CEO and was thrilled to take on the role of leading a great South Australian institution.
As CEO, my role has a diverse focus from regulatory compliance and governance to risk management and product development. However, it is largely focused on implementing the strategies that support our vision of helping South Australians thrive.
This core purpose is at the heart of what drives me and our whole team every day, which includes ensuring our product offering is in the best interest of our 54,000 members, and that we continue to honour our commitment to SA with investment that stays within our state.
You’ve held various senior positions at Commonwealth Bank. What motivated your move from Australia’s largest commercial bank to a credit union?
South Australia is home. While my career in finance and banking has seen me based in London, Perth, Sydney and Melbourne at various times, I keep being drawn back to Adelaide. It’s where I grew up and formed some of my closest personal and business relationships over the years. I see the growth outlook in SA and the lifestyle are second to none, so getting the opportunity to return home to this sensational state and lead a team dedicated to helping their fellow South Australians, it was an easy decision!
How has your past experience shaped your style of leadership?
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I have such a passion for learning. To be able to be able to continue to learn and grow is such a privilege that many take for granted. But it can also be confronting when you realise that some of your thinking is dated or may not work in today’s business environment. Sometimes you need to unlearn to relearn.
I encourage my staff to take every opportunity to challenge our own internal and unconscious bias, be courageous in their decisions and to take ownership. They are the experts telling me about the best solution in the project they currently are working on, and they provide me with an opportunity to enjoy my passion for learning every day.
What are the three top qualities that make a good leader?
- Surround yourself with great people. The ability to recognise that you may not always have all the answers or always be right. That’s why you build a strong team around you to challenge your thinking and deliver the best outcomes.
- I want my team to be excited to share with me a great idea they have that will positively impact members. They also need to be able to share with me when something hasn’t gone to plan so we can work as a team to find a new path.
- Sometimes as a leader, you have to be the one who makes the ‘unpopular’ decision to push forward with something and take ownership of the process. At times, we venture into unchartered water, and you need to have courage to take that first step.
What changes have you implemented at Credit Union SA while leading it? Why did you make these changes?
We recently revisited our values, and how we can support staff to bring their most authentic self to work each day. We spoke to our team about what inspires them to be the best they can possibly be. From this, we have now implemented our new core values and launched our CEO awards to recognise behaviours and achievements within our business that bring our purpose to life.
Another major change was the introduction of our Thrive Days and Birthday leave. We want our team to be able to take time to refresh and do things they love regularly, in addition to their annual leave. This policy gives our staff the equivalent of an extra week leave each year.
We have commenced work on our Reconciliation Action Plan. We want to build on the foundations our history provides to engage with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to build connection and support reconciliation.
We have broadened our reach into the SA community by launching the School Impact Program, delivering $1 million dollars in funding to schools in the next 10 years.
We also partner with incredible SA organisations supporting those community members who need additional help; including Foodbank to deliver meals for South Australians, St John’s Youth Services to provide driving lessons for youth at risk of homelessness, and The Zahra Foundation, where we support their programs and events that assist women experiencing financial abuse and other forms of domestic violence.
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What are some of the attributes you look for in a new hire?
- Passionate about South Australia and our local community.
- Member-first attitude. Our members are at the centre of everything we do, so we look for people who approach every decision with how this impacts our members and our community here in SA.
- Relationship builder. The building of trusted relationships with each other, our members and across the community allows us to deliver on our purpose of helping South Australians thrive.
What are some of the biggest benefits and challenges for Credit Union SA in South Australia’s current economy?
One of the biggest benefits is our local connection to our community. All of our decisions are made here in South Australia for South Australians and we are only a phone call away, including me, to discuss the member experience we provide.
The biggest challenge we face is how we can continue to help first-home buyers in South Australia. We all know that this state has had an uplift in the price you need to pay to acquire your first home and we want to help more South Australians unlock that dream. We have some exciting solutions coming in 2025 that I think will meet that challenge.
What role can credit unions play in easing the current cost of living crisis facing many Australians?
Being a customer-owned financial institution, we redirect our profit for a purpose. This allows us to invest back into products and services for our members, ensuring that we are mindful of offering the best value options to people who choose to bank with us.
We also have recently launched our Residential Development team. This team focuses on providing funding to developers who are creating suburban infill housing, taking a single block of land and turning it into multiple new homes for South Australians. This continues to assist in easing the current housing strain in our state.
In early 2025, we are also planning to launch a new home loan product to further assist first-home buyers, which may ease some of the cost of living pressure they are experiencing.
What did you do to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Credit Union SA?
Celebrating 15 years of Credit Union SA was extremely exciting for our Board and our team. In October 2024, we hosted a special morning tea to acknowledge our past and reflect on the future of customer-owned banking globally at our office.
It was an inspiring way to celebrate the for-purpose achievements of our sector. We also held a formal dinner in August, to commemorate our 15th year and present our CEO Awards, which was hosted by Andrew ‘Cosi’ Costello.
In your spare time, what do you like to do?
I’m very passionate about the SA community so spend significant time serving on local boards in our state, including Kickstart for Kids, Leaders Institute of SA and Scotch College. I’ve also joined the national COBA board this year, supporting customer-owned banking.
Although it’s often a challenge to strike the right balance between work and home life, I’m also focused on spending as much quality time with my family as possible, including my three daughters.
