Regional Activators Alliance
We're supporting regional growth as a founding member of the Regional Activators Alliance.
Heritage has a rich history of supporting regional Australia that can be traced back to 1875 when the Toowoomba Permanent Building Society was established. Since then, we've grown to become Australia’s largest customer-owned bank and one of the longest-running financial institutions in the country.
While we've grown, our regional roots have remained steady. Our Head Office is located in Toowoomba and we have many regional branch locations throughout Queensland, from the Darling Downs to Bundaberg and Stanthorpe. That's why we've joined the Regional Activators Alliance as a founding member.
This alliance is a new body through the Regional Australia Institute made up of over 35 organisations from around the country who will come together in early 2021 to create a national awareness campaign. The campaign will promote the benefits and opportunities of living, working and investing in Regional Australia with the aim of driving population growth in areas outside our major cities. As a founding member Heritage Bank will promote and support this campaign.
COVID-19 has triggered a seismic rethink of the way we live and work, and it’s regional towns and cities like my home base in Toowoomba that could reap the rewards.
Suddenly, it’s a real possibility for people to abandon the rat race and enjoy the quality of life in a regional city - without sacrificing career ambitions. Traditionally, office-based firms have clustered in the CBDs of our big cities. Armies of workers have trooped in from the suburbs each day to sit at their desks together in the high-rise office towers that dominate the inner city.
Then, with little warning, COVID-19 hit and turned that norm upside down. The pandemic has pitched us headfirst into the world of tech-enabled remote working – and it’s changed our perceptions forever. That’s because working from home works –it’s been proven during COVID.
Companies across Australia now understand that they don’t need to have everyone together in a high-rise complex to get their jobs done. There’s no reason people can’t live in Toowoomba - or Ballarat or Dubbo - and still work productively for a company based elsewhere.