Margot Sweeny resigned from her position as CEO of Summerland Credit Union in 2019 after an involvement stretching back to 1992. For much of those 27 years Margot was the proverbial face of Summerland becoming CEO in 1999 after joining the Board in 1994. Margot was also Chair of CUFA and was the first female Director elected to the Board of COBA, the peak body for mutual banks and credit unions.
Before she joined the credit union movement, Margot made a significant impact in academia, IT and finance. She holds a Master’s in Economics, a Bachelor of Business and has been a Certified Practicing Accountant since 1987. During the 1980s and 1990s she worked with a number of firms, had her own accountancy practice and from 1983 to 1993 she lectured in Computing, Accounting, Hospitality, Finance and Small Business at Southern Cross University.
Living on the Northern Rivers of NSW as a savvy finance professional she knew the benefits of mutual membership and joined Summerland Credit Union in 1992. The CEO of Summerland in 1994, Ross Murray, persuaded her to join the Summerland Board which she did. She resigned her position on the Summerland Board to take over the CEO role upon Ross Murray’s retirement in 1999.
On her remarkable career with Summerland, Margot recounts the following as highlights:
- Summerland Credit Union coming through the GFC with strong results making it one of the top five mutuals
- Establishing a Securitised Trust in 2002 – The Cordatus Securitisation Programme
- Led the growth of the credit union from $99m in assets in 1999 to $750m when retired from Summerland Credit Union in 2019
- Two successful mergers with First Pacific Credit Union and Queensland Community Credit Union
- First NSW Financial Institution to receive the Sustainable Advantage Gold Award from the Department of Planning
Margot was a COBA Director from 2007-2015. She saw this position as a key way to bring financial mutuals together ensuring “the 5th pillar of banking worked together to be successful”. She also felt it was important to be the voice for small and mid-sized mutuals within COBA.
It was during her time on the COBA Board that Margot got involved with CUFA, which was begun by COBA’s predecessor, the Australian Federation of Credit Union Leagues (AFCUL) in 1971, before eventually going its own way during the 2010s.
While Margot was on the Board from 2010 to 2020, CUFA ran projects in Cambodia and later in Myanmar, Bougainville and Timor Leste. Margot says CUFA sought its independence from the mutual banking peak body so it could redefine its identity and purpose. This allowed CUFA to position itself more explicitly as an NGO seeking to alleviate poverty. Margot was fully involved in the changes within CUFA, particularly establishing appropriate Corporate Governance.
Mutual banks and credit unions provide a “strong alternative to the Big Four banks”, says Margot, especially in regional Australia and says this is felt most significantly through:
- The level of service mutuals provide to members
- Assisting members to obtain loans
- Assisting members through difficult times
- Giving back to the community through sponsorships and involvement in many community groups by various credit union and mutual staff
- Providing good employment opportunities for many, many staff over the decades.
In 2018 Margot was awarded with an Order of Australia Medal for her services to the financial industry and those in the community. The award was an especially proud moment for Margot as she came to Australia from Canada when she was 15.
