Sustainability and Our Impact

MDA National is proud to be on a journey towards a better future.

We are committed to our purpose to support and protect our Members and promote good medical practice. We believe that this will lead to a healthier future for our Members, their patients and the communities in which we all live and work in.

We will achieve this through a values driven culture and by acting on our responsibilities with transparency and accountability.

As a business that has a footprint across Australia, we have a responsibility to play a part in addressing global and local challenges, helping shape a more sustainable and inclusive future for the generations to come. To remain true to our purpose, we will continue to operate in a manner that is fair, honest and ethical, while focusing on developing a sustainable organisation and generating value for all our Members.

This means that we are investing in meaningful partnerships, developing new programs to enhance our capabilities, strengthening our cyber protection, and implementing sustainable practices across our offices to reduce environmental impact.

We have initiated a comprehensive Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) plan, underpinned by the values that have guided us over our 100 years of service. Our framework is designed to positively impact our role within society as we prioritise work that will support and protect our Members, and the health of the communities and preservation of the environment that surrounds us.

Our Impact

With the fraework now in place, MDA National is future-focused and working to build a more sustainable future for our people, our Members and the communities where we live and work.

With a range of accountability measures now established to ensure that we deliver on our commitments, we’re not only on a journey of working towards better, but are committed to  ensuring our people, our Members and our partners are actively involved every step of the way.

Our approach to sustainability focuses on the following principles:

1. Strengthening Communities Where We Live and Work 

Through supporting our Members, we help enable the health and wellbeing of our communities. As a business that strives to establish a better future for all, MDA National aims to take additional steps by working on multiple programs internally and by partnering with organisations that share our vision for a sustainable future.

Over the years, we have developed a range of social impact partnerships with programs that are dedicated to improving the health and wellbeing of the communities where we live and work. 

• Binar Futures

Since 2023, MDA National have been proud to partner with Binar Futures and support a plus 2,000-person program addressing the health, social, and economic challenges faced by Aboriginal youth and their families in Western Australia. Binar (Noongar for “meteor”) provides culturally safe and accessible sporting activities for Aboriginal children and youth aged 5-20 in both Perth and regional areas, serving as a support system and extended family. 

As a foundational partner of the Binar Futures health embassy, we are proud to work closely with the not-for-profit organisation to fund and support the delivery of the pop-up health clinic run by volunteer nurses and doctors. Offering free health checks during tournaments, the health embassy has become an effective means of bringing healthcare to rural and remote communities – working to truly close the gap in access to healthcare for Aboriginal adolescents and aligning with MDA National’s core values.

• Street Side Medics

Our partnership with Street Side Medics was established in 2024 by offering our resources and assistance to help further the organisation’s impactful work that bridges the healthcare gap in making medical services accessible to vulnerable communities.

As a GP-led initiative that provides free, mobile medical services primarily to people experiencing homelessness, we are proud to have formalised an official business partnership with the organisation in 2025. Building on our existing support, we have provided additional funding that will go directly towards subsidising 200 GP consultations through the service to members of the community that need it.

• Indigenous and Remote Eye Health Service

Through our partnership with the Australian Society of Ophthalmologists and Vanguard Health, MDA National provides annual financial support to the Indigenous and Remote Eye Health Service (IRIS) Program. This initiative aimed for, and achieved, the completion of 800 cataract surgeries for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Northern Territory in 2025, and is ramping up to complete another 800 cataract surgeries across the next two years.

As part of our ongoing commitment to IRIS, we funded 900 pairs of sunglasses, which help prevent cataracts from developing in the second eye and promote a culture of sunglass-wearing as a preventive health measure within remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. We are also proud to have supported the funding of educational materials that have been translated into local dialects to support in guiding patients how to properly care for their eyes post-surgery.

• Rural Doctors Association of Australia

Supporting doctors in rural Australia is essential to reducing healthcare disparities and improving access to medical services in remote areas. MDA National provides Junior Doctor bursaries to assist young doctors on their pathway to rural medical generalism, creating a stronger workforce to support medical practice in remote communities.

Our sponsorship includes funding bursaries for junior doctors to undertake rural clinical placements, attend rural health conferences like the Rural Medicine Australia conference, or participate in skills workshops in rural towns.

• Doctors’ Health Advisory Service Western Australia

Through our alliance with the Australian Medical Association WA, we are supporting Doctors’ Health Advisory Service Western Australia (DHASWA) in the valuable work that they are doing to support doctors and medical students seeking assistance with health or personal problems. They provide a confidential, anonymous 24 hour/7 days a week advice line and referral system that encourages medical professionals to reach out for help when they need it. 

Our funding supports DHASWA in expanding their reach, increasing the number of registered and trained GPs and Psychologists providing these critical services.

As reflected through our social impact partnerships, MDA National has established a key focus in Indigenous Reconciliation and supporting the healthcare of rural and remote communities.

MDA National are on a journey to deepen our recognition and engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Members and communities. We are reviewing and enhancing our support programs to improve access to healthcare for Indigenous communities, intertwined with working on a comprehensive Reconciliation Action Plan that will be embedded across the organisation.

2. Ensuring Responsible Investment, Governance, and Transparency

We are committed to protecting our Member’s interest and operating in a transparent manner, always. This extends to ensuring that adequate practices are in place to ensure that our capital is being invested wisely and with intent, securing all data and sensitive information to a high standard, and actively complying with regulations and guidelines that apply to our scope of business.

Alongside this, MDA National takes additional steps to create an inclusive and diverse business for the benefit of our Members, employees and the communities in which we live and work.

• Mandatory Reporting, Responsible Investment and Data Security

From 2025 to 2027, the Australian Government will roll out requirements for all businesses of a certain size to report their climate impact. MDA National will be liable to report beginning in 2027 and are preparing to do so.

MDA National also complies with the Modern Slavery Act 2018, training our staff and applying the policy to all directors, officers, employees, contractors and suppliers. Our Modern Slavery Statement ensures we act ethically and with integrity in all our business dealings and relationships. It can be found here.

We aim to invest in companies that provide solutions to sustainable challenges. MDA National will not knowingly partner with companies that are at any level involved in the manufacture of controversial weapons or tobacco products. We are constantly reviewing our investment portfolios’ alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and are monitoring our portfolios for any risk of misalignment against SDG, taking necessary steps to manage those risks.

Protecting our Members' data is crucial to us. We use industry leading security systems to block unauthorised access and routinely test our security measures to validate and keep them up to date. We comply with all relevant laws and regulations related to privacy and data protection, with frequent third-party systems audit and security testing activities to validate controls are performing as expected. We continue to track key data security performance indicators and ensure policies and procedures are regularly reviewed.

• Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

Promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion is a priority at MDA National, for the benefit of our people, the communities in which we all live and work and the organisation. We value diversity in our workplace at all levels, embracing individuals of various genders, backgrounds, ages, races, religions, cultures, sexual orientations, and abilities.

MDA National continues to track key DEI  performance indicators and  is working on evolving existing internal policies that will continue to establish a safe space for our people and our Members.

• ESG Steering Committee

Our ESG Steering Committee was established in 2025 to guide all sustainability related initiatives that are led by our organisation and has taken the position of what was previously known as our Corporate Social Responsibility  Committee. This group of staff is responsible for providing insight relevant to sustainability from all divisions across our business, offering opinions from a range of voices with differing strengths.

The committee is committed to meeting quarterly, and is key to ensuring that MDA National is delivering on our sustainability promises with careful consideration for our Members, our people, and the communities and environments that we live in. 

3. Commitment to the communities in which we live

MDA National recognises the importance of minimising our environmental footprint and committing to practices and policies that reduce climate change impacts in our community. This includes reducing unnecessary waste, making modest improvements to our energy usage in our offices located around Australia, and exploring more sustainable options within our existing operations.

By ensuring that we have a positive impact on the environment, we hope to contribute to a more sustainable future for our Members, our people, and the communities that we live and work in.

4. Bringing our Staff, Members and Partners on our Journey

We believe that meaningful progress in the sustainability space will be a result of collective commitment, which is why we are ensuring that our staff, Members and partners are a part of our journey. By working together, we can contribute to a more sustainable future.

Our staff will be engaged and involved in our strategy throughout its embedment, and we will continue to update Members in our progress and look to them for guidance in certain areas. As a key part of our work in the sustainability area, our partners are also an important part of our sustainability journey at MDA National, and we take pride as we continue to work alongside them, towards better.