Prepared on 1 January 2018

Updated on 09 September 2025

1. Overview

This Information Statement relates to the Term Investment account offered by the CDF Community Fund (referred to hereafter as CDF).

 

Note that this is not an ‘offer information statement’ as defined in section 715 of the Corporations Act.

2. Terms and Conditions

How your investment works:

A Term Investment account 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.

 

The balance held in your Term Investment account, comprised of the principal sum and interest earned, is a debt owed to you, and guaranteed by the Roman Catholic Trusts Corporation for the Archdiocese of Melbourne.

Who can invest in a Term Investment?

Any entity, or person (who is an Australian Citizen/Permanent Resident over the age of 18) can apply for a Term Investment account. The Term Investment account is designed for investors who wish to support the charitable and religious works of the Catholic Church.

What is the minimum initial investment?

The minimum initial investment required to open a Term Investment account is $2,000 AUD, this is also the minimum account balance required to keep an investment active.

Interest:

Interest rates are published on our website. The interest payable on your Term Investment is a fixed interest rate.

 

Interest is calculated daily and compounded upon the maturity date. If your term investment is for 24 months, interest will be paid annually.

What about fees and charges?

There are no fees or charges on a Term Investment account. 

How to apply for a Term Investment?

You may submit an application to open a Term Investment by completing an online application form available on our website.

 

During the application process, you will be required to provide satisfactory identification information for all related people, and entities for Know-Your-Customer (KYC) Verification purposes through our KYC service provider.

 

Your application cannot be processed until all mandatory information and documentation as outlined in the application form is provided and identification requirements are met.

 

CDF reserves the right to refuse your request to open a Term Investment Account. 

Source of funds:

To establish your new Term Investment, CDF requires you to confirm the source of funds for your initial investment amount, by nominating an account from which CDF will direct debit these funds.

 

The nominated bank account must be held in the same name as your Term Investment account.

 

CDF will access the funds in one of the following ways:

• A direct debit from an Australian Authorised Deposit-Taking Institution (ADI), details of which can be provided during the account application process, or
• Rolling over funds from a Mission Saver account held with the CDF Community Fund.

When will my investment commence?

Once CDF has received:

• all required information and documentation;
• satisfactory identification for all account holders; and
• cleared funds for the opening investment amount the Term Investment Account will commence.

 

Your investment term will begin once CDF receives cleared funds from your nominated account, which may not be the date you submit your application. The maturity date is calculated from this commencement date based on the term length selected during the application.

 

To allow time for your application to be processed, debiting funds from an external Authorised Deposit Taking Institution (ADI) account (such as a bank) may be initiated up to three business days from the date your application is received by CDF.

 

Your fund transfer may be delayed if you provide incorrect or incomplete account details, have insufficient funds, or if your account cannot be debited. You are responsible for ensuring your account has adequate funds available when you apply. Your Term Investment Account will not earn interest until CDF receives cleared funds. If we cannot access funds from your nominated account, we will contact you as soon as possible. 

Can additional investments be made before the maturity date?

A Term Investment is a fixed-term product that locks in your funds for a predetermined period selected upon application. The minimum term is 31 calendar days. Once invested, you cannot add more money or make changes until the maturity date.

 

If you want to invest additional funds before your term ends, you must open a new Term Investment Account (minimum initial investment of $2,000) or open a Mission Saver account.

 

Options at Maturity

When your investment matures, you can:

• Add additional funds to your investment
• Roll over your principal (original investment)
• Choose to withdraw or roll over your earned interest to a nominated bank account

You must provide written instructions prior to the maturity date. If we receive instructions after maturity, we cannot process them and will automatically reinvest your funds for the same term at the current advertised interest rate.

Redeeming your Term Investment at maturity

Prior to the maturity date of your Term Investment account, CDF will provide you with a written maturity advice notice, which you can use to provide CDF with instructions related to your Term Investment account. Alternatively, you may complete a Term Investment Maturity Instruction form which can be accessed here.

 

Options include:

• Reinvesting your investment for another fixed term, or
• Redeeming some or all your investment by transferring to your:

a)   Nominated ADI account, or

b)   31 Day Mission Saver Account or Mission Saver Plus Account (provided you are eligible).

What happens if I need to withdraw funds before my Term Investment matures?

If you need to withdraw your funds prior to maturity and do not meet the conditions for financial hardship, a 31-day notice of withdrawal period will apply. This means your withdrawal request will be processed no earlier than the 32nd calendar day after we receive your redemption request.

 

Should you withdraw funds prior to maturity, your entire investment will earn interest at the 31 Day Mission Saver rate that was in effect on the date you opened your Term Investment, instead of your original Term Investment rate. This lower rate applies to the entire period your money was invested, from opening date until withdrawal. No additional fees will be charged for early withdrawals.

CDF Community Fund Online:

You can view your Term Investment account online by selecting this option when you apply. Online access will be available once your account begins earning interest.

Financial Hardship:

If you are experiencing financial hardship, please contact us or view our Hardship Policy for further information.

Change in your details:

You must notify us if you change your name, address, or contact details. This enables CDF to continue to contact you in relation to your investment. You can contact our Client Services Group on 1800 134 135 to update your details.

3. Contact Us

We are pleased to answer any questions that you may have about your Term Investment 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: P. O. Box 174, East Melbourne VIC 8002
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:

 

Complaints Officer
Phone (toll free): 1800 134 135
Email: csg@melbcdf.org.au
Mail: P. O. Box 174, East Melbourne VIC 8002

 

Our Complaints Officer will support you with your complaint in an efficient and timely manner and 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

CDPF Limited, a company established by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, has indemnified the CDF Community Fund ABN 94 380 397 118 (the Fund) against any liability arising out of a claim by investors in the Fund. In practice, this means your investment is backed by the assets of Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne.

 

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 at https://www.catholicdevelopmentfund.org.au/communityfund/important-information 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.