Today we released our Annual and Sustainability Reports for FY22, detailing our progress to grow as a health company and deliver on our sustainability commitments over the past year.
We’re really proud of our achievements across environmental, social and governance (ESG) areas of our business and the positive impact we’re making on the health and wellbeing of our community.
To achieve our 2030 vision of the best health and wellbeing for all Australia, we’re working hard to drive real change for all our stakeholders including our people, customers and communities.
Sustainability highlights
Net Zero
After being the first private health insurer to be accredited carbon neutral by Climate Active in 2019, we have accelerated our commitment to Net Zero, bringing forward our timelines and pathway to achieving Net Zero by 2040. This includes achieving Net Zero against our scope 1 and 2 emissions and transitioning to 100% renewable energy across our operations by 2025. We have also commenced analysis to understand the sustainability profile of our investment portfolio.
And while our pathway to Net Zero reflects our own environmental commitment, we also recognise the role we need to play to reduce the climate impact of the broader health industry. That’s why we’re looking for opportunities to engage with our health partners to drive more sustainable practices across the broader health system.
Addressing loneliness
As part of our 10-year commitment to address loneliness for people in Australia, we have been working with some of Australia’s leading researchers and experts to raise awareness of this growing social, health and economic issue. In FY22, we launched the podcast series We Are Lonely to explore the theme of loneliness and drive positive conversations around mental health and wellbeing. More than 55,000 people have listened to the We Are Lonely podcast to date. We also conducted new research which showed that more than half of 1,200+ Australians surveyed felt lonely on one or more days during a typical week, with young single people the loneliest. On top of this, the research revealed one in three people were classified with a high level of loneliness, an increase from one in four people in 2020. We are also part of Ending Loneliness Together – a national network of organisations working together to raise awareness of loneliness. Together, we are working to influence government and relevant stakeholders to make meaningful change and inspire others to take action.
Diversity and inclusion
We’re proud of the action we’re taking to support the health and wellbeing of all people in Australia. In FY22, we launched our 5th Reconciliation Action Plan (3rd Stretch RAP), building on our commitments to advance reconciliation and address the gap in health and wellbeing outcomes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
We launched our 2nd Accessibility and Inclusion Plan, outlining our new and ongoing commitments to better support our people, customers and all Australians living with disability. Key achievements this year also include the launch of our new accessible membership cards, auditing the accessibility features of all Medibank retail stores and listing these features on our website, and participating in the Positive Action towards Career Development (PACE) mentoring program through the Australian Network on Disability – a program that connects jobseekers with disability to mentors from leading Australian organisations.
Another highlight this year is our ongoing commitment to challenge our biases to further progress gender equality. In FY22, women represented 44% of Group and Senior Executive roles, 44% of Medibank Board members and 53% of all manager roles – all above the targets we set ourselves.
And for the seventh year running, Medibank continues to be recognised as an Employer of Choice for Gender Equality by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA).
For a comprehensive overview of our work throughout FY22, please see our Annual and Sustainability Reports.
