Bank funder connecting financial-crime operations, data infrastructure and research

Westpac

Westpac is the Australian bank funding a substantial ICMEC data-sharing partnership and separately supporting child-exploitation research. Its programme reporting connects the bank to the construction and maintenance of analytical tools, including Lighthouse, while its financial-crime professionals also appear in advisory and governance roles.

One large commitment and a separate research award

Westpac describes an AUD25 million multi-year ICMEC commitment, with AUD inferred from the Australian reporting context. The FY21 statement describes three years; FY24 reports a two-year extension; the 2024 programme account describes six years. These are descriptions of the same award, not additive grants. Separately, its 2021 research-grant page places a UNSW project among $150,000 awards over up to two years. Later study material acknowledges Westpac funding, without allocating that earlier award to each output or documenting an editorial veto.

What the records show

WestpacICMEC Australia

committed funding for data sharing

FY21 original award description; FY24 extension reported; source terms not fully reconciled

AUD25m award; FY21 statement describes three-year grant for platform and analytical-tool design/build/deployment/maintenance. FY24 Modern Slavery Statement reports two-year extension; SCSC2024 report says six-year partnership. Exact agreement/amendment dates, cash schedule and grant rights unresolved. Same award, not additive amounts. Financial details: value: 25,000,000; currency: AUD; kind: stated multi-year grant commitment; period: FY21 describes three years; FY24 reports two-year extension; SCSC2024 describes six-year programme; operative dates unavailable

WestpacUNSW online-offending survey project

announced research award

Historical publication or award as specified; effective relationship interval unresolved.

Westpac lists the UNSW Australian Human Rights Institute project within research grants of $150,000 each over up to two years. AUD is contextual to the Australian grant programme, not an explicit currency code in this page. Not a disbursement and not an earmark from ICMEC's $25m partnership. Financial details: value: 150,000; currency: AUD; kind: announced award; period: 2021 research grant; up to two years

Jodie ArthurWestpac

held financial-crime executive role at

2024-25report

Report lists General Manager Financial Crime and Group MLRO role. No assumption she exercised the bank role in a specific charity decision.

WestpacFinancial-behaviour study · 2025

research funding acknowledged

Historical publication or award as specified; effective relationship interval unresolved.

Study C credits Westpac funding. The later author methods account credits Westpac for the underlying survey and reports expansion to UK/US samples at no extra cost following ethical/stakeholder approval. Neither specifies how the 2021 award, later analysis costs or institutional core support were allocated; no publication right or veto established.

From the investigation

3. Survey implementation and later output budgets

Whitten, Salter and Woodlock's 29 July2025 CrimRxiv methodology preprint , release1, reports an original design for3,000Australian men, Westpac funding, and advisory review. It says CloudResearch subsequently recruited/administered through PrimePanels after an earlier contractor declined the subject matter. This is the authors' account, not vendor correspondence or an executed service contract.

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The remaining obtainable records

The executed Westpac–ICMEC grant, FY24 extension and any novation associated with the2023 separation should identify legal grantee(s), start/end dates, drawdowns, remaining promises, reporting, permitted costs, clawback, termination and renewal rights. Likely holders are Westpac's programme/legal records custodian and the relevant ICMEC finance/legal archives. A novation is a candidate record, not a document proved to exist merely because control changed.

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ICMEC counterparts: money, participation and an observed drafting step

The September 2020 Westpac response plan already promised $25 million for cross-border and cross-industry data sharing after AUSTRAC's proceedings. This amount is a precursor, not another funding flow to add. The recovered plan is bank-issued, not a court order mandating a grant. Westpac's April2026 update reports FY25 data projects supported by its funding and separately describes continued SaferAI convening; it supplies no coalition-specific allocation or editorial approval term.

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Result

For the Westpac-supported survey, the referenced OSF registration is now readable in both original and revised form. It expressly records registration after analysis , and therefore cannot establish an analysis plan fixed before data collection. The authors' methods account explains a scope expansion and recruitment arrangement, but supplies neither the grant agreement nor a per-output budget. This improves the money map by narrowing the unresolved instrument, rather than assigning existing large amounts to later publications.

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Further reading

Research funding and the monitoring proposal

Award instruments: bounded public-source return

Australian financial/legal lane: a dated separation, an extended grant, and the remaining instrument gap

ICMEC counterparts: money, participation and an observed drafting step

Read the original sources 8

What the connections say

5 relationships
1

Westpaccommitted funding for data sharingICMEC Australia

FY21 original award description; FY24 extension reported; source terms not fully reconciled

AUD25m award; FY21 statement describes three-year grant for platform and analytical-tool design/build/deployment/maintenance. FY24 Modern Slavery Statement reports two-year extension; SCSC2024 report says six-year partnership. Exact agreement/amendment dates, cash schedule and grant rights unresolved. Same award, not additive amounts.

Financial details: value: 25,000,000; currency: AUD; kind: stated multi-year grant commitment; period: FY21 describes three years; FY24 reports two-year extension; SCSC2024 describes six-year programme; operative dates unavailable

Read the original sources 4
3

Westpacannounced research awardUNSW online-offending survey project

Historical publication or award as specified; effective relationship interval unresolved.

Westpac lists the UNSW Australian Human Rights Institute project within research grants of $150,000 each over up to two years. AUD is contextual to the Australian grant programme, not an explicit currency code in this page. Not a disbursement and not an earmark from ICMEC's $25m partnership.

Financial details: value: 150,000; currency: AUD; kind: announced award; period: 2021 research grant; up to two years

Read the original source 1
4

Westpacresearch funding acknowledgedFinancial-behaviour study · 2025

Historical publication or award as specified; effective relationship interval unresolved.

Reported by the cited source

Study C credits Westpac funding. The later author methods account credits Westpac for the underlying survey and reports expansion to UK/US samples at no extra cost following ethical/stakeholder approval. Neither specifies how the 2021 award, later analysis costs or institutional core support were allocated; no publication right or veto established.

Read the original sources 2