Overview and History

The Australian Business and Community Network (ABCN) was created in 2004 by a group of senior business leaders whose vision was to inspire, challenge and engage businesses to have a greater positive impact in the community.

Our objective

Have a more significant and sustainable community impact by working collaboratively and combining resources.

Our aims

Engage companies to:

Provide a collaborative environment to share best practice and learning in the area of business community partnerships
Work collectively to explore and exploit the leverage points where business can intervene to improve its impact on society
Provide mechanisms that build awareness of key social issues through 'real' engagement i.e. CEOs participating in a mentoring program with school principals
Integrate responsible practices into all areas of business
Inspire others when we put our beliefs into practice and share our knowledge and experience
Identify their unique 'community value proposition' and shift from a passive to active model of corporate responsibility
Work with community and government stakeholders to best leverage the resources available within the member businesses.

Our focus

After extensive consultation the ABCN decided to initially focus on education and provide mentoring, partnering and support programs to those students and schools that would benefit the most.

Our programs

In 2005 the ABCN introduced four practical programs: Partners in Learning, Growing Opportunities and Learning Skills (GOALS), Spark primary school reading program and InterAct Arts Experience.

Since this time, ABCN has experienced consistent growth and expansion of programs and now works with over 25 member companies, over 157 schools in areas of high social need, involving 7700 students and over 2000 company volunteers working in sustained programs nationally.

The future

ABCN plans to extend our partnering, mentoring and support programs into other areas of social need.