Australian Unity summary
Is Australian Unity nonprofit?
Does Australian Unity get many complaints from members?
How good is Australian Unity's gap cover?
How many hospital agreements does Australian Unity have in my state?
Does Australian Unity offer any discounts?
Does Australian Unity offer ambulance cover?
Does Australian Unity let you claim online or in-app?
What CHOICE Community says about Australian Unity
Australian Unity summary
A mutual company, Australian Unity has a 175-year history in Australia and 345,000 members nationwide. It is part of Members Own Health Funds, an alliance of 15 nonprofit and mutual health funds that promotes the benefits of funds that reward members rather than investors or overseas owners.
Australian Unity contact details
Phone: 113 29 39
Email: customerservice@australianunity.com.au
Website: australianunity.com.au
Is Australian Unity nonprofit?
No, but as a mutual company it returns profits to benefit members.
Does Australian Unity get many complaints from members?
Australian Unity complaints rating: High
When we score policies we give each fund a complaints rating, based on the number of complaints and serious disputes the Ombudsman deals with. We take into account the size of the fund, so big funds don't get automatically penalised for having more complaints.
- The ratings are Low, Medium and High. A Low rating is better than a High rating – it means the fund has fewer complaints and fewer serious disputes for its size.
- The infographic below shows the complaints about the fund to the Ombudsman as a percentage of all complaints. Complaints can be about benefits or customer service. The most serious complaints are escalated for investigation.
- The higher the share of complaints a fund receives above its market share, the worse its performance compared to other funds. If its share of complaints is below its market share, that's a better result.
Austalian Unity accounts for...
3.0% of the health insurance market
5.2% of all complaints about benefit payments
3.6% of all complaints about service
5.9% of all complaints that are escalated to investigations.
How good is Australian Unity's gap cover?
A medical gap is the difference between Medicare's recommended fee and what your doctor actually charges for a treatment or service.
Health funds have agreements with particular doctors and hospitals to cover all of the gap, which are called 'no gap agreements', or part of that gap, which are called 'known gap agreements' (these will have lower out-of-pocket costs, usually less than $500).
Our graphic below displays the CHOICE gap rating, which takes into account the percentage of services where members either paid no gap or a known gap, compared to the state average.
Rating scale
- Above average
- Average
- Below average
- Well below average
We also display the percentage of medical services that Australian Unity covers with no gap, and compare it to the industry average. The higher the percentage, the more effective the fund's gap scheme is in a state or territory.
Australian Unity gap cover performance by state
New South Wales (NSW)
Above average
Australian Capital Territory (ACT)
Above average
Victoria (Vic)
Above average
Queensland (Qld)
Above average
South Australia (SA)
Above average
Western Australia (WA)
Above average
Tasmania (Tas)
Average
Northern Territory (NT)
Average
Percentage of medical services covered with no gap
New South Wales (NSW)
Australian Unity – 90.9%
Industry average – 86.3%
Australian Capital Territory (ACT)
Australian Unity – 83.6%
Industry average – 76.7%
Victoria (Vic)
Australian Unity – 92.7%
Industry average – 85.0%
Queensland (Qld)
Australian Unity – 92.0%
Industry average – 85.1%
South Australia (SA)
Australian Unity – 93.4%
Industry average – 86.8%
Western Australia (WA)
Australian Unity – 88.7%
Industry average – 90.1%
Tasmania (Tas)
Australian Unity – 92.7%
Industry average – 83.0%
Northern Territory (NT)
Australian Unity – 86.6%
Industry average – 80.1%
How many hospital agreements does Australian Unity have in my state?
The benefit amount your fund pays you for hospital services depends not only on the type of cover you buy, but also whether your fund has an agreement with the hospital where you're treated.
The table below shows how many hospital agreements Australian Unity has in your state compared to the fund with the highest number (the industry maximum). Note that public hospitals don't have agreements with specific funds and are generally treated as though they're agreement hospitals.
Australian Unity has
ACT
6 private hospital agreements out of an industry maximum of 7
7 day hospital agreements out of an industry maximum of 8
NSW
94 private hospital agreements out of an industry maximum of 100
90 day hospital agreements out of an industry maximum of 100
NT
2 private hospital agreements out of an industry maximum of 2
1 day hospital agreements out of an industry maximum of 2
Qld
52 private hospital agreements out of an industry maximum of 58
45 day hospital agreements out of an industry maximum of 53
SA
26 private hospital agreements out of an industry maximum of 27
25 day hospital agreements out of an industry maximum of 28
Tas
5 private hospital agreements out of an industry maximum of 8
3 day hospital agreements out of an industry maximum of 6
Vic
79 private hospital agreements out of an industry maximum of 79
70 day hospital agreements out of an industry maximum of 79
WA
20 private hospital agreements out of an industry maximum of 23
22 day hospital agreements out of an industry maximum of 29
Does Australian Unity offer any discounts?
Discount for direct debit: 4%
Discount for annual prepay: 4% (not in addition to above)
Total discount for annual prepay via direct debit: 4%
Does Australian Unity offer ambulance cover?
All Australian Unity hospital and combined policies cover emergency ambulance in all states.
Cover is capped for:
- Care'n'Repair – $1000 limit per person per year
- Smart Start – $1000 per person per year
- Basic Saver – One emergency claim per year.
Do you need ambulance cover?
Depending on where you live, you may not need a policy with ambulance cover.
- In Queensland or Tasmania, emergency ambulance services are covered by your state government.
- In NSW and the ACT, all hospital policies come with emergency ambulance cover – so you'll be covered with any hospital or combined policy you select.
- In South Australia, Victoria and the Northern Territory you can buy emergency ambulance cover directly from the ambulance service. Alternatively, some health fund policies will cover ambulance in your state or territory or refund at least part of the cost of the ambulance service cover.
- Rural WA: You can buy emergency ambulance cover directly from the ambulance service. Alternatively, some health fund policies will cover ambulance or refund at least part of the cost of the ambulance service cover.
- Metropolitan WA: If you want to be covered for ambulance you need to buy a health insurance policy with ambulance cover.
Does Australian Unity let you claim online or in-app?
Online claiming and app (iOS and Android) for dental, optical, physio, chiro, osteo, podiatry, speech / eye / occupational therapy, acupuncture, myotherapy, shiatsu, naturopathy, remedial massage, dietetics.
What CHOICE Community says about Australian Unity
The CHOICE Community is the online forum for Australian consumers, open to CHOICE members and supporters. Join the conversation about Australian Unity to share your experiences or gain more insights into this health fund.
