 In 1924, Mr FW Lean and Mr KA Mathieson Snr formed the Newcastle and Hunter River Public Service Starr-Bowkett Building Cooperative Society Ltd, a Starr-Bowkett society, in response to unemployment and economic depression in Newcastle, New South Wales.By providing interest-free home loans to members, the society provided an opportunity for home ownership at a time when low wages and high rent otherwise made it impossible for many.The Bank began as a building society, the Greater Newcastle Cooperative Permanent Building and Investment Society, which opened its first office in Newcastle, New South Wales in 1945.