As workers in healthcare, aged care, disability and community services, we are united by our commitment to care, justice, and human dignity.

We believe the money we earn from our work - and the superannuation we entrust to HESTA - should reflect those values.

Based on the 2016 UN database of businesses operating in illegal Israeli settlements, HESTA is investing $138 million in companies complicit in Israel’s military occupation.¹⁺² However, this figure likely understates the full extent of HESTA’s complicity. Further screening of companies linked to the Gaza genocide indicates that the total value of HESTA’s investments could be significantly higher.³⁺⁴

These companies profit from war, apartheid, and human rights abuses. They have no place in our retirement savings.

Since October 2023, Israel’s military campaign has committed the following war crimes:

• Killed over 1,400 healthcare workers in Gaza⁵

• Systematically targeted and destroyed hospitals, ambulances, clinics, and health infrastructure

• Imposed a siege preventing access to food, water, fuel, and aid

These are war crimes under the Geneva Conventions. No Australian super fund should be invested in companies complicit in such crimes. HESTA’s investments profit from Israel’s illegal occupation, including tourism and accommodation, surveillance technology, banks, and construction companies.

These investments entrench the oppression of Palestinians and violate international law. The 2024 International Court of Justice ruling reaffirmed the illegality of Israel’s occupation and the obligation of all States and institutions to end their complicity in war crimes — a responsibility that extends to investors like HESTA.⁶

We call on HESTA to:

• Immediately divest from all companies profiting from Israel's occupation, apartheid, and the destruction of Gaza's healthcare system.

• Adopt a binding ethical investment policy that excludes companies complicit in war crimes and violations of international law.

We also call on the ACTU and our unions, including the ANMF, HSU, HACSU, HWU and ASU, to:

• Publicly demand divestment from HESTA's board and investment committee.

• Use their power within HESTA's governance to push for immediate change.

• Support their members in ensuring our retirement savings reflect our ethical obligations.

• Should they fail to divest, unions must remove HESTA as the default industry super fund in relevant workplace agreements and EBAs.

HESTA members work in sectors built on care, justice, and dignity. We demand that our super fund stops investing in companies complicit in war crimes, apartheid, and genocide.

HESTA: DIVEST NOW

 

*If you are a HESTA member wishing to take further action, please email your concerns to hesta@hesta.com.au. You may use this petition or write your own message. To help the campaign track the number of members contacting HESTA, you can BCC: hestadivest@proton.me in your email.

REFERENCES:

¹ UN Database of Business Enterprises Involved in Certain Activities Relating to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, United Nations Human Rights Council, 2016 – ohchr.org

² “HESTA: Divest from Occupation”, Australian Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN), 2024 – apan.org.au

³ “Complicit: 78 Companies Enabling Genocide in Gaza”, American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), 2024 – afsc.org/gaza-genocide-companies

⁴ Francesca Albanese, “From Economy of Occupation to Economy of Genocide,” Report to the UN Human Rights Council, July 2025 – un.org / Centro Diritti Umani

⁵ “1,400+ Healthcare Workers Killed in Gaza,” Medical Aid for Palestinians & Al Mezan, via ReliefWeb, June 2024 – reliefweb.int

⁶ International Court of Justice, Advisory Opinion on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, 19 July 2024 – icj-cij.org