YOUR EMAIL WILL NOT SEND UNTIL YOU HAVE ADDED IN YOUR MEMBER NUMBER.
The last thing a supporter of Palestine wants to find out is that their super fund is financially tied up with Israel. Over the last few months tens of thousands of people around Australia have written to their superannuation funds asking them to disclose if they have any investment in companies that the United Nations has found to be complicit in Israel’s illegal settlements on Palestinian land.
The responses we’ve received from most super funds have been very disappointing with almost all super funds confirming exposure to companies that are profiting from Israel’s crimes. So now it’s time to ramp up the pressure by filing formal complaints and demanding that super funds divest from these complicit companies.
We have put together a template complaint letter and compiled the contact details of most super funds in Australia into an email tool which makes it easy for you to contact your super fund directly.
The template letter urges super funds to immediately divest from any companies listed by the United Nations and any others that are complicit in actions that violate international law or perpetuate human rights abuses. It also asks the fund’s Investment Manager a series of questions about how investing in these companies is compliant with the fund’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policy and how their investment decisions around these companies compare to their treatment of companies profiting from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
If you don’t see your fund on the drop down list, it may be because your fund does not provide an email address but may have a web-based contact form which you can copy the letter into. We have copied the text of the template letter at the end of this page under the heading ‘Letter Template’ and listed the URLs of the 'contact us' forms for super funds without email addresses for their complaints team. We hope this makes it easy for you to copy and paste the letter into your super fund’s ‘contact us’ form on their website.
Collectively Australian super funds have hundreds of millions of dollars of Australian retirement savings invested in companies complicit in the oppression of Palestinians.
We should expect that our retirement savings are not oppressing Palestinians. The goal of this campaign is for the super funds to change their behaviour, the best way this can happen is we all act together. If an individual chooses to roll over their super to a different fund, this makes a very small difference to the financial position of these funds. This action is targeted to demand super funds completely divest from all those companies complicit in the occupation of Palestine.
By being part of the BDS movement and participating in this divestment campaign, you are joining a collective of people all over the world who are running similar campaigns to ensure that their and our retirement savings are not supporting Israel’s apartheid. BDS campaigns targeting super or retirement funds have had huge wins overseas including in New Zealand, the UK, Norway, Denmark and many more. Our plan is to build on this global pressure and secure similar BDS wins here in Australia.
Please note that any communication from APAN about this campaign is not financial advice. APAN is not providing advice on which super funds individuals should be members of and there can be serious financial implications to changing superannuation funds that individuals must consider. You should not change super funds without specific advice from a suitably qualified professional. Rather than changing super funds, demand your fund divests from companies which are profiting from apartheid Israel by sending a formal complaint now.
If you have any questions or concerns you can contact our team at [email protected]
Email subject - Formal complaint re: investment in companies complicit in Israel’s illegal settlements on Palestinian land
[Your Name]
[Your superannuation member number]
[Your Email Address]
[Date]
Dear Investment Manager and Complaints Team,
I am writing as a member of your superannuation fund to lodge a formal complaint regarding the investment practices which have resulted in this superannuation fund’s continued exposure to companies that the United Nations has found to be complicit in Israel’s illegal settlements on Palestinian land. I believe that investment in these companies is not only morally reprehensible but also poses significant reputational risks to the superannuation fund and its members, myself included.
In January 2024, the International Court of Justice found it “plausible that Israel’s acts could amount to genocide”
In May 2024, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim A A Khan KC, announced his intention to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
In June 2024, Special Rapporteurs from the United Nations Human Rights Council stated that companies must end arms transfers to Israel immediately or risk responsibility for human rights violations.
The trustees of our superannuation fund have both a fiduciary and moral obligation to me as a member, to not make me an unwitting accomplice in the oppression of Palestinians.
Your continued investment in companies that the United Nations has determined to be complicit in Israel’s illegal settlements on Palestinian land is deeply disturbing and the response to this issue to date is wholly inadequate and does not address my concerns.
In order to inform my decision on where best to invest my retirement savings, I request a response to the following questions:
What is your environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policy and does it include screening for weapons manufacturing, companies breaching human rights obligations, countries engaging in conflicts or acting against United Nations resolutions?
Has our superannuation fund divested from Russian assets or companies due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and subsequent human rights abuses and are you considering divesting from Israeli assets or companies for similar reasons?
Does the Board of our superannuation fund have a position on how its ESG policy is applied to companies operating on and/or complicit in Israel’s illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian land?
How are you monitoring the actions of companies operating on and/or complicit in Israel’s illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian land to ensure they are not breaching your ESG policies?
Is the Board currently considering divesting from any of the companies that the United Nations has found to be complicit in Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise on Palestinian land, due to their breaches of human rights? If the Board is not currently considering divestment from companies complicit in illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land I formally request that this be escalated through the appropriate dispute processes and reported to the Board and/or appropriate committee and ask that the result of this discussion is reported back to me.
I respectfully urge you to immediately divest from any companies listed by the United Nations and any others that are complicit in actions that violate international law or perpetuate human rights abuses.
It is imperative that you take swift and decisive action to ensure that our investments align with ethical and responsible principles, thereby safeguarding the interests and values of its members.
I understand that there are Australian superannuation funds who have confirmed they do not have any investments in these complicit companies. While I would prefer not to change my superannuation fund, I cannot, conscionably, be complicit in the oppression of Palestinians.
I await your urgent response.
Yours sincerely,
Australian Retirement Trust /APSS (Australia Post Super Scheme) / AvSuper - https://www.australianretirementtrust.com.au/contact-us/email-us
NGS Super Superannuation Fund - https://www.ngssuper.com.au/forms-and-resources/complaints
TWU Superannuation Fund - www.twusuper.com.au/contact-us/
Image credit:
YOUR EMAIL WILL NOT SEND UNTIL YOU HAVE ADDED IN YOUR MEMBER NUMBER.
The last thing a supporter of Palestine wants to find out is that their super fund is financially tied up with Israel. Over the last few months tens of thousands of people around Australia have written to their superannuation funds asking them to disclose if they have any investment in companies that the United Nations has found to be complicit in Israel’s illegal settlements on Palestinian land.
The responses we’ve received from most super funds have been very disappointing with almost all super funds confirming exposure to companies that are profiting from Israel’s crimes. So now it’s time to ramp up the pressure by filing formal complaints and demanding that super funds divest from these complicit companies.
We have put together a template complaint letter and compiled the contact details of most super funds in Australia into an email tool which makes it easy for you to contact your super fund directly.
The template letter urges super funds to immediately divest from any companies listed by the United Nations and any others that are complicit in actions that violate international law or perpetuate human rights abuses. It also asks the fund’s Investment Manager a series of questions about how investing in these companies is compliant with the fund’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policy and how their investment decisions around these companies compare to their treatment of companies profiting from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
If you don’t see your fund on the drop down list, it may be because your fund does not provide an email address but may have a web-based contact form which you can copy the letter into. We have copied the text of the template letter at the end of this page under the heading ‘Letter Template’ and listed the URLs of the 'contact us' forms for super funds without email addresses for their complaints team. We hope this makes it easy for you to copy and paste the letter into your super fund’s ‘contact us’ form on their website.
Collectively Australian super funds have hundreds of millions of dollars of Australian retirement savings invested in companies complicit in the oppression of Palestinians.
We should expect that our retirement savings are not oppressing Palestinians. The goal of this campaign is for the super funds to change their behaviour, the best way this can happen is we all act together. If an individual chooses to roll over their super to a different fund, this makes a very small difference to the financial position of these funds. This action is targeted to demand super funds completely divest from all those companies complicit in the occupation of Palestine.
By being part of the BDS movement and participating in this divestment campaign, you are joining a collective of people all over the world who are running similar campaigns to ensure that their and our retirement savings are not supporting Israel’s apartheid. BDS campaigns targeting super or retirement funds have had huge wins overseas including in New Zealand, the UK, Norway, Denmark and many more. Our plan is to build on this global pressure and secure similar BDS wins here in Australia.
Please note that any communication from APAN about this campaign is not financial advice. APAN is not providing advice on which super funds individuals should be members of and there can be serious financial implications to changing superannuation funds that individuals must consider. You should not change super funds without specific advice from a suitably qualified professional. Rather than changing super funds, demand your fund divests from companies which are profiting from apartheid Israel by sending a formal complaint now.
If you have any questions or concerns you can contact our team at [email protected]
Email subject - Formal complaint re: investment in companies complicit in Israel’s illegal settlements on Palestinian land
[Your Name]
[Your superannuation member number]
[Your Email Address]
[Date]
Dear Investment Manager and Complaints Team,
I am writing as a member of your superannuation fund to lodge a formal complaint regarding the investment practices which have resulted in this superannuation fund’s continued exposure to companies that the United Nations has found to be complicit in Israel’s illegal settlements on Palestinian land. I believe that investment in these companies is not only morally reprehensible but also poses significant reputational risks to the superannuation fund and its members, myself included.
In January 2024, the International Court of Justice found it “plausible that Israel’s acts could amount to genocide”
In May 2024, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim A A Khan KC, announced his intention to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
In June 2024, Special Rapporteurs from the United Nations Human Rights Council stated that companies must end arms transfers to Israel immediately or risk responsibility for human rights violations.
The trustees of our superannuation fund have both a fiduciary and moral obligation to me as a member, to not make me an unwitting accomplice in the oppression of Palestinians.
Your continued investment in companies that the United Nations has determined to be complicit in Israel’s illegal settlements on Palestinian land is deeply disturbing and the response to this issue to date is wholly inadequate and does not address my concerns.
In order to inform my decision on where best to invest my retirement savings, I request a response to the following questions:
What is your environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policy and does it include screening for weapons manufacturing, companies breaching human rights obligations, countries engaging in conflicts or acting against United Nations resolutions?
Has our superannuation fund divested from Russian assets or companies due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and subsequent human rights abuses and are you considering divesting from Israeli assets or companies for similar reasons?
Does the Board of our superannuation fund have a position on how its ESG policy is applied to companies operating on and/or complicit in Israel’s illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian land?
How are you monitoring the actions of companies operating on and/or complicit in Israel’s illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian land to ensure they are not breaching your ESG policies?
Is the Board currently considering divesting from any of the companies that the United Nations has found to be complicit in Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise on Palestinian land, due to their breaches of human rights? If the Board is not currently considering divestment from companies complicit in illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land I formally request that this be escalated through the appropriate dispute processes and reported to the Board and/or appropriate committee and ask that the result of this discussion is reported back to me.
I respectfully urge you to immediately divest from any companies listed by the United Nations and any others that are complicit in actions that violate international law or perpetuate human rights abuses.
It is imperative that you take swift and decisive action to ensure that our investments align with ethical and responsible principles, thereby safeguarding the interests and values of its members.
I understand that there are Australian superannuation funds who have confirmed they do not have any investments in these complicit companies. While I would prefer not to change my superannuation fund, I cannot, conscionably, be complicit in the oppression of Palestinians.
I await your urgent response.
Yours sincerely,
Australian Retirement Trust /APSS (Australia Post Super Scheme) / AvSuper - https://www.australianretirementtrust.com.au/contact-us/email-us
NGS Super Superannuation Fund - https://www.ngssuper.com.au/forms-and-resources/complaints
TWU Superannuation Fund - www.twusuper.com.au/contact-us/
Image credit: