From little things big things grow
In 1840, just five years after Melbourne was founded by settlers from Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania), a group of eight people banded together to form a friendly society dedicated to the health and wellbeing of its members. From these humble beginnings in a community of no more than 3,000 people, Australia’s first wellbeing company grew to deliver health, wealth and care services to more than 700,000 Australians.
Since its early days, Australian Unity has been a strong advocate for positive change in the community. After more than 180 years, the mutual remains true to its roots and is on a mission to demonstrate the benefits of putting community and social value at the centre of business.
This delivery of community and social value is evident throughout Australian Unity’s history, and the company has evolved with the social issues affecting Australia. During the 19th century Australian Unity established community pharmacies to address concerns over medicine cost and quality, provided health benefits to cover treatment costs, and offered funds for financial security.
During the post-war era, the Great Depression and into modern times, Australian Unity added infrastructure projects – such as the development of offices, medical centres and aged care and retirement living communities – to its community and social value.
For the past 25 years this social benefit has even included measuring the Real Wellbeing of Australians through the Australian Unity Wellbeing Index, developed in partnership with Deakin University.
As a social enterprise in 2025, Australian Unity is motivated by this rich history and its modern purpose – to positively impact the wellbeing of millions. However, claiming social purpose is one thing – measuring and demonstrating it is another.
Since 2020, Australian Unity has calculated its community impact using a framework developed with Social Ventures Australia. Each year, the organisation attributes a dollar value to its collective community impact, with the latest results estimating this annual impact to exceed $2 billion. This annual value has grown by $760 million since Australian Unity’s first social impact report, reflecting the organisation’s determination.
The framework is increasingly used as a tool to inform strategic decisions and drive investment that addresses societal needs. This is an example of how mutuals and co-ops are shaping a better future in the UN International Year of Cooperatives.
Simply put, Australian Unity is leveraging modern methods to continue to improve social outcomes for Australians – a collective endeavour that its forebears would no doubt approve of.
