shutterstock_317618561-3

Catholic Development Fund

The CDF exists to provide treasury services and financial support to assist the Diocese in the fulfilment of its mission. 

What is the Catholic Development Fund?

The Catholic Development Fund (or CDF) is the treasury for the Diocese of Broken Bay and its agencies, including 44 primary and secondary schools, 26 parishes, Catholic Care Broken Bay and the central administration areas for the Diocesan Curia including the Catholic Schools Office. The CDF takes a prudential approach to carefully managing the funds with which it is entrusted for the purpose of funding capital works and delivering some surplus to offset recurrent expenditure on religious, charitable and educational services which the Church provides to the community.The CDF is a charitable institution under the Australian Taxation Office’s definition.

Click on the following link to view the CDF Diocese of Broken Bay Identification Statement.

Identification Statement 2019 (PDF 1.4MB)
Identification Statement 2018 (PDF 885.8KB)
Identification Statement 2017  (PDF 80KB)

Annual Reports

2023 Broken Bay CDF Audited Accounts (PDF 671.6KB)
2022 Broken Bay CDF Audited Accounts (PDF 981.2KB)
2021 Broken Bay CDF Audited Accounts (PDF 982KB)
2020 Broken Bay CDF Audited Accounts (PDF 663.8KB)
2019 Broken Bay CDF Audited Accounts  (PDF 561.4KB)

Who we Serve 

CDF Broken Bay exclusively services a range of Catholic Entities including Parishes, Schools, Agencies, Chaplaincies, Religious Institutes, Clergy and any entity that falls within the definition of an "Associate" under the Corporations Act 2001 (Act) Exemption Instrument 2016/813 (Wholesale Charitable Investment Fundraising) and an "Affiliate" under the Banking Exemption No.1 of 2017 of the Banking Act 1959.

CDF Broken Bay does not and will not offer, issue or sell products to individual retail investors who are not Associates and Affiliates, and as such, its products are not retail products and are therefore not available to the general public.

The CDF's beginnings 

In 1997 Bishop David Walker set up the CDF replicating what had been done in other Catholic dioceses in Australia and New Zealand. This idea involved the pooling of deposits of all agencies in the Diocese paying each agency interest on their deposits. These funds are then on-lent to diocesan agencies and other Catholic entities for development works at affordable interest rates. In the past funds have been lent for example, to build new parishes and schools in growth areas, refurbish churches and other parish facilities and for other diocesan requirements.  

Since inception, the CDF has provided loans in excess of $150 million for school building projects and over $7M for parish facilities. For example, a new parish and kindergarten to Year 12 school was established in the growth area of the NSW Central Coast at Warnervale. This multi million dolllar facility has allowed the Diocese to provide for much sought after Catholic education in the growing Central Coast region to take the pressure off the Catholic schools at East Gosford and Tuggerah.

Savings and Investment Products for Schools, Parishes and Other Agencies

The Catholic Development Fund (CDF) offers Diocesan parishes, schools, clergy and agencies a number of very good products to assist in the management of funds.

Click on the Interest Rates tab on the left of the page to access product descriptions and the current interest rates. Please note that interest rates change from time-to-time and the CDF at its absolute discretion can determine the interest rates for these and other products.  

Loans for Schools, Parishes and Other Catholic Agencies

Looking for finance for new computers, photocopier or building refurbishment? Whatever your needs, why not talk to us about a low-cost loan on terms to suit you. Conditions apply.

Contact Details

Postal address

Address correspondence to:

Catholic Development Fund
Diocese of Broken Bay

Level 15, 133 Liverpool St. Sydney NSW 2000

Location

Caroline Chisholm Centre 
Building 2, 423 Pennant Hills Rd
Pennant Hills NSW 2120 Australia

Phone: (02) 9390 5200 
Fax: (02) 9261 1271
Email: enquiries@sydneycdf.org.au

Disclosure Statement

The Catholic Development Fund – Diocese of Broken Bay (CDF) is required by law to make the following disclosure. The CDF is not prudentially supervised by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority nor has it been examined or approved by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. An investor in the CDF will not receive the benefit of the financial claims scheme or the depositor protection provisions in the Banking Act 1959 (Cth). Investments in the CDF are intended to be a means for investors to support the charitable, religious and educational works of the Catholic Diocese of Broken Bay and for whom the consideration of profit are not of primary relevance in the investment decision. The investments that the CDF offers are not subject to the usual protections for investors under the Corporations Act (Cth) or regulation by Australian Securities and Investments Commission. Investors may be unable to get some or all of their money back when the investor expects or at all and any investment of the CDF are not comparable to investments with banks, finance companies or fund managers. The CDF’s identification statement may be viewed at www.dbb.org.au or by contacting the CDF on (02) 9390 5200. The CDF does not hold an Australian Financial Services Licence.