As Australia’s largest not-for-profit health fund, HCF has always believed it can positively impact the health of its members, community and the environment. We’re focused on delivering real value for our stakeholders through improved health and social outcomes, while reducing our environmental impact.
Our sustainability framework is aligned to our purpose of bringing our human touch to healthcare, as well as our vision and strategic priorities including delivering uncommon care, affordability & value and growth for sustainability.
We’re creating value and sustainability outcomes for our members, people, communities, environment, providers & suppliers and through governance including appropriate policies and practices.
HCF is creating value for our:
MEMBERS
Since HCF began in 1932, we’ve grown to become the nation’s largest not-for-profit health fund. Helping to protect the health and wellbeing of over 1.9 million Australians with health, life, travel or pet insurance.
For 90 years now, we’ve stayed true to our not for profit philosophy – making decisions to benefit our members, not shareholders. We deliver uncommon care to our members, putting their health and wellbeing first.
Our 2025 Strategy charts an ambitious course for us to become a true health partner of choice in the future and builds upon our vision of making healthcare understandable, affordable, high-quality and member centric.
As Australia’s largest not-for-profit health fund, we believe we have an important role to play in advocating for a fair and sustainable healthcare system, to make sure members reach the care that’s best suited to their needs.
In 2021 HCF merged with Australia’s oldest health fund, rt Health, helping protect and future-proof the value provided to members by not-for-profit mutuals.
Our commitment to our members is also outlined in our Member Service Charter.
EMPLOYEES
We know our people are vital to our success and that’s why we’re continuing to create an engaged, purpose and values-led culture, enabled by a diverse and inclusive workforce, where our people feel safe and supported on their wellbeing journey and are celebrated for their contributions to delivering the best possible member experience.
An engaged workforce is one that continually learns and grows. We are committed to providing learning and development opportunities, to guide and support our people to reach their career goals.
Diversity and inclusivity are also at the heart of our culture and we’ve formed four Diversity Employee Reference Groups to foster belonging, respect and equal opportunity.
We’re also continually looking for ways to improve our employee experience, one where the best people choose to work for an exciting career. We’re proud of being a Family Friendly Accredited Workplace.
Being in the business of health, means prioritising the health & wellbeing and safety of our employees. We provide our people with the skills and knowledge to support their journey from the 10,000 steps challenge to ‘Wellbeing Wednesday’ tips or via HealthyMinds programs.
View HCF’s Diversity & Inclusion Statement
COMMUNITY
At HCF we make a positive difference to community wellbeing through our products, health programs, member offerings and community partnerships – all while generating value within the Australian economy.
Since 2016 through our Catalyst program, we’ve helped 55 start-ups transform their innovative health and wellness ideas to investment ready businesses that have the potential to reshape healthcare in Australia. In 2022 we announced that as part of the next phase of HCF Catalyst, we are a cornerstone investor in XT Ventures fund. Now, through Catalyst we will be an investor in the first Venture Capital fund in Australia focused purely on the health, wellbeing, sport and fitness sector.
Over the last two decades we’ve also invested $26.7 million through the work of the HCF Research Foundation, funding critical projects to improve health services delivery, ensuring Australians get the right treatment, at the right time, in the right setting.
We are proud of our four-year strong partnership with Netball Australia, we’re we are motivating Australians of all ages to lead healthier, more active lives.
We’ve also supported our members when they’ve needed it most. For example, committing $300 million in financial support and member givebacks to assist our community with navigating the effects of COVID-19, as well as donating to natural disaster relief efforts.
ENVIRONMENT
We know that a healthy planet is important to everyone’s health & wellbeing. That’s why we’re taking steps to reduce our environmental impact. We have measured our carbon footprint to assess HCF’s current emission profile and establish a baseline measurement. We are working to set a net zero commitment. In addition, at HCF House we received a 4-star Green Star accreditation and are working towards a 4.5-star NABERS energy rating.
Our Responsible investment policy takes into account environmental, social and governance factors such as climate change. Within our international equities portfolio, HCF has restricted investment in countries assessed to be in breach of the United National Global Compact principles. These principles represent human rights, labour, environmental and anti-corruption practices. In addition, in 2022, we invested $30 million in an impact bond strategy. The proceeds of the strategy are not only used to help mitigate and adapt to the impact of climate change but also to create a positive social and sustainable impact.
In July 2022 we transitioned to 100% renewable energy for HCF occupied floors at our offices in Sydney CBD, St Leonards and Parramatta, as well as dental, eyecare and retail locations. We have also commenced an initial gap assessment for HCF's first Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure to gain a deeper understanding of our impact on climate change, as well as its impact on HCF.
View HCF’s Responsible Investment Policy.
PARTNERS & SUPPLIERS
Together with our partners we continue to deliver value and sustainability outcomes to our members and key stakeholders. We’re working closely with our external providers to identify and take action on important ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) risks across our supply chain.
Through HCF’s Supplier Management Framework, we have implemented a consistent approach to managing our suppliers to ensure that we are addressing risk, performance and sustainability. We continue to focus on the protection of HCF assets and critical business activities through enhanced third-party supplier on-boarding controls across IT, security, business continuity, financial stability and fit for purpose solution assessments. To embed these practices, we have implemented governance across the business that ensure accountability and ownership internally.
We have also made good progress in assessing and addressing the risks associated with modern slavery. Along with publishing our modern slavery statement we have implemented a Modern Slavery Policy, completed assessments of all of our high-risk rated third-party suppliers and conducted Modern Slavery Awareness training to raise awareness around HCF’s commitment to the humane treatment of everyone across our operations and supply chain.
Additionally, we have introduced HCF Group Supplier Principles to ensure our suppliers operate in an ethical and sustainable manner. These principles outline our expectations for compliance with laws and regulations, ethical conduct, human rights and labour standards, environmental responsibility and climate action, social impact, supplier diversity, privacy and data protection, and governance. Suppliers are required to understand and operate in accordance with these principles.
As part of our carbon footprint measurement, we completed an initial high-level assessment of carbon emissions across third-party suppliers and we will be evolving our procurement practices to ensure environmental factors are part of our decision-making process across our supply chain.
