Advice for your HESTA account.

HESTA is the industry super fund for health and community services, and anyone can join. On HESTA’s own figures, MySuper Balanced Growth — where it says about 80% of members sit — was ranked in SuperRatings’ SR50 Balanced 60–76 top 10 over the 10 years to 30 June 2026. SuperRatings named HESTA the 2026 Net Benefit award winner. Balanced Growth returned 9.46% for the year to 30 June 2026, and 8.29%* p.a. over 10 years (option returns, before admin fees). Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns. Whether the fund is a good fit still turns on the option you actually hold, the insurance attached to the account, and the fees on your balance — not the award headline.

HESTA's published Super administration fee is $52 a year plus 0.15% p.a. of your balance — not charged on the amount above $500,000 — plus an estimated 0.03% p.a. paid from fund assets rather than from your member account. For Super Balanced Growth, investment fees sit inside the unit price at 0.49% p.a. including a 0.09% performance-fee component, and transaction costs for that option are 0.04% p.a. Insurance fees are extra and vary by age and cover; HESTA's fee pages don’t list a member exit fee.

HESTA is the industry fund for health and community services, and it is open to anyone. Its MySuper default is Balanced Growth. Default insurance is Death Cover plus Income Protection, with TPD as an opt-in rather than something you already have.

If you’re happy with HESTA, there’s often no reason to move. If you’re not sure it still stacks up, we can benchmark it against five leading comparable funds so you know exactly where it stands. We specialise in industry, government and corporate super funds, and what we look at is the insurance, the fees on your actual balance, and the option you actually hold.

One thing to check before anything else: rolling the money out can cancel your cover.

For eligible HESTA Super members, default cover is two units of Death Cover and two units of Income Protection. TPD is optional to age 70 and isn’t switched on by default; Death Cover can run to age 75, and default income protection runs to age 67 with a benefit period of up to five years. For HESTA Super members, automatic cover generally starts once you're 25 or over, your balance has reached $6,000 and employer contributions are flowing — and you can ask HESTA to start it earlier. Personal Super members apply for cover rather than receiving it automatically, and early-start cover carries initial conditions worth checking. From 1 July 2026 HESTA says it reduced insurance fees for Super and Personal Super by an average 12% and changed the TPD assessment rules.

Preservation age is now 60. Super is generally accessible on permanent retirement at or after that age, when an employment arrangement ceases on or after 60, at 65, on permanent incapacity or terminal illness, or under hardship or compassionate-grounds rules. Depending on which condition you meet, options can include a lump sum — requestable online if you're 65 or over, or you've ceased an employment arrangement on or after 60 — or an income stream; some conditions (like TTR, hardship and compassionate release) only unlock part of the balance under their own rules. If you're still working at 60 and haven't ceased an employment arrangement, a transition to retirement account is usually the available route. Hardship release also exists — broadly up to $10,000 in 12 months while you're on eligible income support, with a second, less restricted pathway once you're past preservation age. The rules are specific, so check them with HESTA or bring them to a chat with us before counting on it.

A HESTA Transition to Retirement Income Stream is available from preservation age — now 60 — with a minimum $10,000 from your super account, and it sits beside the accumulation account. Income from TTR is tax-free from 60, but investment earnings inside a TTR account are generally taxed at up to 15%. Each financial year you can draw between the government minimum — 4% if you are under 65, pro-rated in the first year — and a 10% maximum of the balance. There are generally no lump-sum withdrawals until 65 or another condition of release; the PDS lists limited exceptions. Typical uses HESTA names are cutting work hours without cutting take-home pay, or salary-sacrificing more of your salary and replacing the cash with TTR income — whether either helps depends on your circumstances, which is exactly what advice checks.

The HESTA Retirement Income Stream is an account-based pension you can start with a minimum $10,000 once you've reached preservation age and fully retired, ceased an employment arrangement on or after 60, turned 65, or met a permanent-incapacity or terminal-illness condition of release. Payments from age 60 are tax-free and investment earnings in the retirement phase are generally tax-free (additional tax can apply to very high total super balances); government minimum drawdowns apply — 4% if you're under 65 in 2026/27 — and there’s no maximum, unlike TTR. Eligible members may receive the HESTA Retirement Reward, a tax saving added automatically, though the amount can be zero.

HESTA Super and HESTA Personal Super use the USI HST0100AU. The HESTA Income Stream uses HST0001AU. The fund ABN is 64 971 749 321, the trustee ABN for H.E.S.T. Australia Ltd is 66 006 818 695, and the SFN is 129638949 — your employer or another fund needs the Super USI to pay or roll money into the accumulation account; HST0001AU identifies the Income Stream product, which is opened through HESTA's application process rather than by direct rollover.

No. HESTA says anyone can join. You don't need to work in health or community services to open or keep an account.

The first conversation is free and takes about half an hour. Tell us what you'd like to discuss and we'll explain if and how we can help, including any fees, before you decide to go ahead.