Prepared on 23 March 2021

Updated on 6 May 2026

1. Overview

The Mission Saver Student Account (MSSA) is a savings account designed for youth up to the age of 25.

2. Terms and Conditions

How your investment works:

A MSSA is a debenture issued by the Roman Catholic Trusts Corporation for the Archdiocese of Melbourne ABN 52 768 159 282 for the CDF Community Fund ABN 94 380 397 118. 

 

As such, the balance held in your MSSA, comprised of the principal sum and interest earned, is a debt owed to you. 

Who can invest in the Mission Saver Student Account?

A MSSA account can be opened by anyone up to the age of 25. 

Where an account is opened on behalf of a person under 18 years of age, a parent or legal guardian must be nominated as an account holder.

 

At age 18, a parent or legal guardian is no longer required to be nominated on the account. We will write to you before this occurs to outline the options available to you.

 

At age 26, your MSSA will be automatically converted to a CDF Community Fund 31-Day Mission Saver account. We will notify you in advance of this change and provide the relevant terms and conditions for the 31-Day Mission Saver account.

What is the minimum initial investment?

The minimum initial investment required to open a MSSA is $1.00.

All investments must be made in Australian Dollars.

How to apply for a Mission Saver Student Account?

You can apply online for a MSSA via our website. As part of the application, you will be required to verify your identity through the GreenID service provided by GBG Plc.

For applicants under 18 years of age, identity requirements can be met by providing a birth certificate or passport during the online application process.

Your application cannot be processed until all information and identification requirements are met. 

How to make an investment:

You can arrange payments into your MSSA in the following ways:

• Set up a one-off or recurring direct debit from an Australian Authorised Deposit-Taking Institution (ADI) during the application process
• Complete a Direct Debit Request form to set up a one-off or recurring direct debit after your account has been opened
• Roll over funds held with a Development Fund of the Catholic Church

The name on the ADI account must match the name of the applicant or parent/guardian recorded on your MSSA.

Member Acknowledgement:

Any person investing in a MSSA must first sign a Member Acknowledgement Form before their investment can be processed. 

How long will it take for my money to be invested?

Requests for investments into your MSSA received by us before 11.00am on any business day is generally processed on that day. While we make every effort to ensure timely processing, we cannot guarantee same-day completion.

If a request cannot be processed due to insufficient or incorrect details, it will be completed as soon as reasonably practicable once the required information is received.

 

We reserve the right to refuse any application to invest in a MSSA and are not required to disclose reasons for doing so.

Managing your account online:

You can manage your MSSA through the CDF Community Fund Online portal by completing a Member Online Access Request.

How to withdraw funds:

A minimum of 31 days' notice is required to withdraw funds from your MSSA. This means withdrawals can be processed no earlier than the 32nd day after your redemption request is received.

Withdrawals can be requested online via CDF Community Fund Online subject to the 31-day notice requirement, through Notice of Withdrawal (NOW) process.

Financial Hardship:

The 31-day notice requirement does not apply where a withdrawal is needed to alleviate financial hardship. If you are experiencing financial hardship, please contact us or view our Hardship Policy for further information.

Interest:

Interest rates are published on our website. The interest payable on your MSSA is a variable interest rate and is subject to change.

The MSSA account eligible for a bonus interest rate on top of the base interest rate. The bonus rate applies in any month where deposits exceed withdrawals by at least $1, excluding interest earned. If this requirement is not met, only the base interest rate will apply.

 

Interest is calculated daily using the daily percentage rate (the annual interest rate divided by 365), based on the closing balance of your account each day. Interest is credited to your account monthly.

Fees and charges:

No fees are charged on your MSSA unless the account is classified as dormant. Refer to the Dormant Accounts and Unclaimed Monies Policy for further information.

Updating your details:

Please notify us promptly of any changes to your name, address, or contact details so we can continue to correspond with you regarding your investment.

Changes to Terms and Conditions within this Information Statement:

From time to time, we may change terms and conditions associated to the MSSA. Changes to terms and conditions are published on our website.

3. Contact Us

We are pleased to answer any questions that you may have about our Mission Saver Student Account.

Please feel free to contact us at:

CDF Community Fund, Melbourne Office:
St Patrick’s Centre, 486 Albert Street, East Melbourne VIC 3002
Mail: PO Box 174, East Melbourne VIC 8002
Phone: (03) 9926 2200
Phone (toll free): 1800 134 135
Email: csg@melbcdf.org.au

4. Privacy Policy

We understand how important it is to protect your personal information. We recognise that any personal information we collect about you will only be used for the purposes indicated in our policy, where we have your consent to do so or as otherwise required or authorised by law.

 

Any personal or sensitive information provided by you will be treated appropriately to ensure it is protected. Personal information may include your name, date of birth, driver’s licence number, marital status, phone number, email address, mailing or residential address, nationality, employment history, income, and/or assets and liabilities.

 

It is important that any information we hold about you is accurate and up to date.

 

We collect personal information from you for various reasons, including to identify, contact or provide services to you. 

We may also use your personal information to provide you with information about special offers, changes to our organisation, or new services offered by us or a company with which we are associated. By providing us with your personal information, you consent to us using your information to contact you on an ongoing basis for this purpose. If you do not wish to receive marketing information, you can contact our Client Services team via email at csg@melbcdf.org.au or unsubscribe using the link at the bottom of the communication.

 

We may disclose your personal information to third parties who provide services to us, such as IT service providers, mail houses, lawyers, accountants and auditors.

 

We may also be required, by law, to disclose your personal information in response to a request from a Court, Tribunal, law enforcement agency, a subpoena, or the Australian Taxation Office.

 

Your information is stored in a secure environment. When your information is no longer needed, it will be destroyed or permanently de-identified. We will take reasonable steps to protect information from misuse, loss and unauthorised access, modification, or disclosure. We will notify you if your personal information is accessed or released without proper authorisation and the breach is likely to result in serious harm.

Additional information on our Privacy Policy can be found here.

5. Complaints

We are committed to resolving any complaints you may have. Please raise any complaints by contacting:

Phone (toll free): 1800 134 135 (select Option 1)  
Email:  csg@melbcdf.org.au 

Writing to: 

The Privacy Officer 
Catholic Development Fund 
Level 4, 486 Albert Street 
East Melbourne VIC 3002 

Our complaints officer will deal with your complaint in an efficient and timely manner. Our complaints officer will provide you with information about how your complaint will be processed and the expected time frame for resolving the complaint.

If an issue has not been resolved to your satisfaction, you can lodge a complaint with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA). AFCA provides fair and independent financial services complaint resolution that is free to consumers.

Website: www.afca.org.au
Email: info@afca.org.au
Telephone: 1800 931 678 (free call)
In writing to: Australian Financial Complaints Authority GPO Box 3, Melbourne VIC 3001

6. Important information

The Fund is required by law to make the following disclosure: Investment in the Fund is only intended to attract investors whose primary purpose for making their investment is to support the charitable purposes of the Fund. Investor’s funds will be used to generate a return to the Fund that will be applied to further the charitable works of the Catholic Church. The Fund is not prudentially supervised by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority nor has it been examined or approved by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). An investor in the Fund will not receive the benefit of the financial claims scheme or the depositor protection provisions in the Banking Act 1959 (Cth). The investments that the Fund offers are not subject to the usual protections for investors under the Corporations Act (Cth) or regulation by ASIC. Investors may be unable to get some or all of their money back when the investor expects or at all and investments in the Fund are not comparable to investments with banks, finance companies or fund managers. The Fund’s identification statement may be viewed here or by contacting the Fund. The Fund does not hold an Australian Financial Services Licence. The Fund has entered into an intermediary authorisation with CDFCF AFSL Limited ABN 49 622 976 747, AFSL No. 504202 to issue and deal in debentures.

Terms and conditions for your investment are contained in this Information Statement.

Updates to this Information Statement:

We reserve the right to change this Information Statement. We will notify you of these changes by publishing the change on our website.

* This is not an ‘offer information statement’ as defined in section 715 of the Corporations Act.