Prepared on 1 January 2018

Updated on 28 May 2025

1. Overview

This Information Statement is about the Term Investment Account that the CDF Community Fund offers. A Member Acknowledgement form covering terms and conditions and mandated disclosures is required to be signed by all account holders before the Term Investment Account can be opened. 

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

The Term Investment Account is a debenture issued by the Roman Catholic Trusts Corporation for the Diocese 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 Diocese of Melbourne.

Who can invest in a Term Investment?

Any entity, or person (who is an Australian Citizen/Permanent Resident and over the age of 18) can invest in our 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.

All investments must be made in Australian Dollars.

How to apply for a Term Investment?

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

 

You are required to provide satisfactory identification information and documentation for KYC verification purposes through the GreenID service. 

 

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

How to make an investment?

The investment may be made by:

• A direct debit from your bank account with an Australian Authorised Deposit-taking Institution (ADI) (an example of an ADI is a bank), which can be established during the account application process;
• Rolling over funds held with a Development Fund of the Catholic Church.

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

Can additional investments be made before the maturity date?

A Term Investment account is a product fixed for a pre-determined time until maturity on a pre-determined date. Therefore, prior to the maturity date, you cannot make additional investments of any amount to your Term Investment. However, you can invest in a new Term Investment Account (with a minimum initial investment of $2,000), Mission Saver Plus Account (if eligible), or 31 Day Mission Saver Account.

At maturity, you can choose to add additional amounts and/or rollover your term investment (principal), with interest rolling over or withdrawn to your nominated bank account. You must provide these instructions in writing prior to the maturity date. Instructions received after the maturity date cannot be actioned and your Term Investment will be reinvested for the same term (the rate may not be the same as what was previously invested). 

Additional requirement for investing in a Term Investment – Member Acknowledgement:

Any person investing in a Term Investment Account must first sign a Member Acknowledgement form before we can open the Term Investment Account.

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

Requests for investments into your Term Investment Account received by us before 11am 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 your request is unable to be processed (for example if you have provided us with insufficient or incorrect details or there are insufficient funds in the ADI) the request will be processed as soon as reasonably practical after we receive the required information and cleared funds into the Term Investment Account. 

 

We reserve the right to refuse your request to invest in a Term Investment Account and are not required to disclose why your application was refused. 

CDF Community Fund Online:

You can view the details of your Term Investment Account through the CDF Community Fund Online portal by completing the Member Online Access Request.

Nominated account:

All withdrawals must be linked to an ADI. The name of the ADI account must match the name on your Term Investment. If there is a joint Term Investment Account, it will need to be linked to a joint ADI account in the same names. Instructions to withdraw funds from a joint Term Investment Account can be provided by any account holder unless otherwise specified at the time of account opening. 

How to withdraw your money?

Upon maturity of a Term Investment Account, you may:

• Renew your investment for another fixed term.
• Withdraw your investment by transferring to your:

a)     nominated account, or

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

You can instruct us to do any of the above things by completing the Term Investment maturity instructions form which can be accessed here.

 

We will also provide you with a notice either through the mail or email as to your reinvestment instructions.

Financial Hardship:

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

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 from the day we receive your signed redemption request form

 

If you withdraw early, 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. 

 

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 you may choose to have interest paid annually.

What about fees and charges? 

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

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.

Changes to Terms and Conditions within this Information Statement

From time to time, we may change terms and conditions associated to the Term Investment. 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 your Term Investment.

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: (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:

Complaints Officer
Phone: (03) 9926 2200
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.