What is a mutual?

Reviewed and updated 3 April 2024

In Australia, many private health insurers are mutuals.

A mutual is a member-owned organisation where people come together to help achieve their shared purposes.

Its objective is to help members and/or the community by providing goods or services rather than returning profits to investors.

The underlying concept behind a mutual is that a group of people acting together will achieve more for their ‘mutual benefit’ than they will acting alone.

A mutual differs from a company on the Australian stock exchange or even a private company because it is not owned by shareholders. Unlike a public or private company, a mutual’s primary objective is not to return a profit to owners. Instead, mutuals reinvest any profits into:

delivering greater benefits for members
reducing the price of premiums.

Mutuals are a key part of private health insurance in Australia. Most health insurers were originally set up by specific professions, workplaces or regions as mutuals with the sole objective of helping their members pay for medical and hospital treatment.

Each of these health funds was set up to help members pay for hospital and medical treatment:

ACA Health	The Seventh-day Adventist Church set up ACA Health to help employees.
CBHS Health	The Commonwealth Bank of Australia set up CBHS Health to help employees.
Hunter Health Insurance (by CDH Benefits Fund)	Coal miners set up the Cessnock District Health Benefits Fund to help miners and their families.
Defence Health	Defence Health was set up to help members of the Australian Defence Force and their families.
Doctors Health	The Australian Medical Association (AMA) set up Doctors Health for doctors.
GMHBA	A group of workers from the Australian Cement Company in Geelong set up the Cement Workers Hospital Benefits Scheme, which later became GMHBA, to help cement workers and their families.
HCF	HCF began as the Metropolitan Hospitals Fund. Its original objective was to help people living in Sydney.
HCi	HCi began in Tasmania. Its original objective was to help Tasmanians.
HIF	HIF began as the Western Australian Government Railways Employees Hospital and Medical Benefits Fund Inc. Its original objective was to help railway workers and their families.
Latrobe Health Services	Power workers set up Latrobe Health Services to help people living in the Latrobe Valley in Victoria.
Mildura Health Fund	Mildura Health Fund was set up to help people living in the region.
Navy Health	Navy Health was set up to help family members of people serving in the Royal Australian Navy.
nib	Workers at the BHP Steelworks in Mayfield set up the Newcastle Industrial Benefits fund and the Newcastle Industrial Medical Fund to help workers and their families.
Peoplecare	Peoplecare was set up to help employees and families of the Wollongong-based steel manufacturer John Lysaght Australia Ltd.
Phoenix Health Fund	Phoenix Health Fund was set up to help employees and families of Tubemakers of Australia group.
Police Health	A group of police employees in South Australia set up Police Health to help police and their families.
Queensland Country Health Fund	Queensland Country Health Fund began as the Mount Isa Mines (MIM) Employees’ Health Society, to help workers.
Reserve Bank Health Society (RBHS)	The Reserve Bank Health Society was set up to help employees of the Reserve Bank of Australia and Note Printing Australia.
rt health	A group of railway workers from Sydney’s Eveleigh rail workshops set up rt health to help workers and their families.
St.LukesHealth	A group of businessmen set up St Lukes Health to help Tasmanians.
Teachers Health	The NSW Teachers Federation set up Teachers Health to help teachers and other people working in education and their families.
Transport Health	Transport Health was set up to help Melbourne tramway workers.
TUH	A group of teachers from the Queensland Teachers’ Union set up TUH to help teachers and their families.
Westfund	Westfund was set up to help miners based in central western New South Wales.

What is a mutual?

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