Third-party authorities with HESTA

Form details

Form: 'third-party authorisation form', code HSTF132 01/26 ISS2 (January 2026, issue 2 — current post-administration-transition version), URL: https://www.hesta.com.au/content/dam/hesta/Documents/Third-party-authorisation-form.pdf. Member Section 1 requires member number/s, name, DOB, residential address (no PO Box), phone, email. Adviser/business authority is Section 3: adviser name, business name, business ABN, business address, adviser phone and email, ASIC Financial Adviser Register number, licensee name, licensee AFSL number; member ticks either 'All staff from the above company' or lists up to 4 named representatives. Section 4 member declaration + signature + date required (form may be typed or completed in pen; signature required — e-signature acceptance unverified; scanned copy by email is accepted, no original required). No ID certification requirement stated (information-access only — third party cannot transact). Validity: EXPIRES 18 MONTHS from the date signed; authorisation only begins once the completed form is ACCEPTED by HESTA; after expiry a new authority is required.

Where and how to lodge

Email the completed signed form to hesta@hesta.com.au (stated on the form itself — this is the fastest published channel) or post to Locked Bag 35007, Collins St West VIC 8007. No fax channel and no online/portal TPA upload for initial lodgement published. Per HESTA's contact page, an adviser emailing a TPA can request a member account summary, sent within 2 business days; enquiries about an existing TPA, TPA rundown, or Adviser Online access go to the dedicated adviser inbox advisersupport@hesta.com.au (24-48 hour response). Advice implementation cases are uploaded via HESTA Adviser Online with responses via advisersupport@hesta.com.au within 2 business days.

Published turnaround

No formal published TPA-processing service standard. Published commitments scattered across hesta.com.au: adviser support responds within 24-48 hours (advisersupport@hesta.com.au); member account summary emailed to an adviser within 2 business days of a TPA request; advice implementation case responses within 2 business days. Form processing/acceptance time for the TPA itself: unverified.

Watch-outs

(1) Administration transition trauma: HESTA moved administration from MUFG to GROW Inc with a seven-week limited-services period (12 April - 1 June 2025, services resumed 3 June 2025); members and advisers reported hours-long call waits, staff unable to identify accounts, and significant processing backlogs for months after — expect residual TPA delays and re-verify any pre-June-2025 authority survived the migration. (2) 18-month authority expiry (one of the shortest in the industry vs Hostplus's 3 years) — authorities quietly lapse mid-engagement and the fund won't talk to the adviser until a fresh form is 'accepted', a leading cause of surprise rejections. (3) Authority starts only on HESTA's acceptance, not signature date — an unprocessed form in their queue means no access, with no published processing SLA to hold them to. (4) No support-staff logins for Adviser Online — the paraplanner/CSO who actually chases funds must work by email/phone. (5) Old form versions circulate widely (pdfFiller/uslegalforms copies) — use current HSTF132 01/26 ISS2 to avoid rejection. (6) HESTA was NOT on the FAAA/Chant West 'Adviser-Ready Fund' list (April 2026, only 12 funds accredited).

If they go quiet

Lodge via the online complaint form at hesta.com.au (linked from hesta.com.au/about-us/contact-us/complaints), by phone 1800 813 327 (8am-8pm AET Mon-Fri), or in writing to Locked Bag 35007, Collins St West VIC 8007 (general correspondence address; no dedicated complaints email address is published — unverified whether hesta@hesta.com.au complaints are routed to IDR). Published commitments: resolution within 45 days for standard superannuation complaints, 90 days for death benefit distribution matters. Escalation: AFCA — afca.org.au, info@afca.org.au, 1800 931 678, GPO Box 3 Melbourne VIC 3001.

Under s1017C of the Corporations Act, a trustee must make reasonable efforts to comply with an information request within one month. If HESTA exceeds its own published standard, a formal internal-dispute-resolution complaint starts a 45-calendar-day clock under ASIC Regulatory Guide 271 — with AFCA as the next stop.