Quit Nukes, together with the Australia Institute, has launched a new report: “Risky Business: an update on super funds and nuclear weapons”. The report shows that almost all Australian major super funds continue to invest in companies involved in nuclear weapons production.
This report is an update on the policies and practices of the 14 largest Australian public offer superannuation funds. It analyses these funds’ investments in 20 companies involved in nuclear weapons development, production, maintenance and other services as of 31 December 2023.
According to the research findings, in 2023 these 14 Australian superannuation funds invested $3.4 billion in companies involved in the nuclear weapons industry. Australian Super invested $1.5 billion in nuclear weapons companies; UniSuper and HESTA invested over $200 million each.
12 of the 14 funds offer responsible investment options. Two of those funds — Spirit Super and Australian Super — do not exclude nuclear weapons producers from their responsible investment options.
The authors of the report call on all Australian super funds to adopt controversial weapons exclusion policies that include nuclear weapons in the definition of controversial weapons, and to exclude nuclear weapons companies across the whole of their portfolios, with a zero-revenue threshold.
Read the full report here.