The world-first cross-sector digital platform enables frontline workers in corporate and community organisations to connect and refer their clients to a range of supports through a single access point in a safe and secure way. This process aims to make it simpler for people to navigate support offerings, reducing the burden and complexity involved in contacting each individual support program and having to relive any shame, embarrassment and trauma associated with recounting their story multiple times.

Co-funded with AGL, Telstra, Transurban, Sydney Water and Yarra Valley Water, and built by technology partner Infoxchange, the Hub pilot demonstrates Australian organisations’ commitment to collectively learn and take action to help those impacted by family and domestic violence receive the best support possible.

Justin Tsuei, General Manager Community and Customer Vulnerability said: “We’re incredibly proud to be part of the launch of the One Stop One Story Hub pilot. Every day, our Community Wellbeing team sees firsthand how difficult it is for customers in vulnerable circumstances, like those impacted by domestic and family violence, to share their most personal stories.

“Through the work we’ve done as part of our Next Chapter program, which aims to help victim-survivors of domestic and financial abuse achieve long-term financial independence, we know how important it is to take a collaborative, whole-of-community approach when it comes to addressing this chronic issue.

“The cross-industry collaboration to deliver the One Stop One Story hub is a fantastic example of how working across sectors can deliver new solutions and increased support for those customers who need it most, helping to alleviate some of the stress caused from having to retell their stories.”

The initial pilot will focus on supporting members of the community impacted by family and domestic violence and has been co-designed with community partners and people with lived experience. This scope was chosen for the pilot due to the complex nature of family and domestic violence, ensuring that the important privacy and security requirements were a key focus during the co-design phase. The flexibility of the OSOS Hub means over time, the scope of the project can expand to include other members of the community experiencing vulnerability.

Speaking about the multi-sector collaboration, CEO of Thriving Communities Partnership Ciara Sterling said: “We’ve developed a new way of working to help humans by redesigning and simplifying the system for humans instead of trying to get humans to fit into our complex systems. People’s issues do not occur in silos, so our response should not either. We want the ecosystem to wrap around them and are looking to create a better practice approach for the future.”

This initiative forms part of CBA’s Next Chapter program, which seeks to address the hidden epidemic of financial abuse in Australia through leading the industry in providing care for customers impacted by domestic violence, expanding support for long-term recovery, increasing community and industry understanding of financial abuse, and fixing known issues within CommBank’s own products and services.