HESTA chief executive Debby Blakey will step down later this year, ending more than a decade in charge of one of Australia’s largest superannuation funds. Her departure follows a prolonged system outage that left thousands of members unable to access their money for essential expenses, including surgery, home deposits and aged‑care fees.
The outage occurred during HESTA’s transition from administration provider MUFG to Grow Inc. Initially expected to last seven weeks, the disruption stretched far beyond that timeline, with some members locked out of their accounts for months. Many reported waiting hours on the phone for assistance as the fund struggled to restore services.
The situation drew sustained scrutiny, prompting the financial regulator to intervene. In December, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority raised concerns about HESTA’s risk management and board oversight during the transition, noting that while some disruption is inevitable, members should never face unnecessary barriers to accessing their own funds.
HESTA serves more than one million members, predominantly in the health and community services sectors, and manages over $100 billion in assets. The fund has been working to stabilise operations and rebuild trust after one of the most significant administrative failures in its history.
Blakey’s exit marks a major leadership shift as the organisation continues to address the fallout and reassure members that such a breakdown will not happen again.
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