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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2008-03-05 Daily Xml
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STATUTES AMENDMENT (POLICE SUPERANNUATION) BILL

Received from the House of Assembly and read a first time.

Second Reading

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Environment and Conservation, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister Assisting the Minister for Health) (21:26): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I seek leave to have the second reading explanation inserted in Hansard without my reading it.

Leave granted.

This Bill seeks to make amendments to the superannuation arrangements for police officers and in particular the arrangements for those police officers who are members of the Police Lump Sum Scheme. This scheme is established under the Police Superannuation Act 1990, and is referred to in that Act as the 'new scheme'.

The Bill also seeks to make changes to the arrangements under the Police Superannuation Act 1990, relating to the administrative arrangements for the supplementary investment accounts, rollover accounts and co contribution accounts established for members of the Police Pension Scheme and the Police Lump Sum Scheme.

This legislation makes amendments to the Police Superannuation Act 1990, which establishes and maintains the Police Pension Scheme and the Police Lump Sum Scheme, and the Southern State Superannuation Scheme 1994, which establishes and maintains the Triple S Scheme. The main feature of this legislation is the proposed transfer of the existing members of the Police Lump Sum Scheme to the Triple S Scheme. The transfer is proposed to take place on 1 July 2008. The Police Lump Sum Scheme is a closed scheme with about 380 remaining active members. The legislation makes no changes to the benefit structure and rules of the Police Pension Scheme.

The Government is proposing to transfer the Lump Sum Scheme members to the Triple S Scheme so as to rationalise the Government's superannuation arrangements, and provide the members with the real possibility of having a larger benefit on retirement. Members are expected to be better off in the Triple S Scheme because of that scheme's more attractive features and options. In Triple S the transferred police officer members will be credited with the actual investment earnings on the balance of their accounts, as opposed to a long term conservative rate of return that makes up the defined benefit in the Police Lump Sum Scheme. As members of Triple S, the transferred police officers will also have greater death and disability insurance cover. The legislation also provides a guarantee that members will not receive a lesser benefit on retirement from Triple S than the benefit that would have been payable from the Police Lump Sum Scheme. The guarantee will be subject to a transferred member continuing to make a member contribution to Triple S at a rate equivalent to that required in the Lump Sum Scheme. These transferred police officers will therefore not be disadvantaged by the transfer and only stand to be better off under the new arrangements. The Police Association has sought this guarantee to be written into the legislation, notwithstanding the retirement benefit comparisons indicating that all members are expected to receive greater benefits from Triple S.

The outcome from the implementation of this legislation is that police officers will be served by two schemes rather than the current three schemes. This has been sought by the Police Association and the Government is pleased to have been able to work with the Association to deliver this outcome.

The legislation effectively dissolves the Police Lump Sum Scheme, after transferring the members of the scheme to Triple S. At the same time as members are transferred, the legislation provides for an amount equivalent to the balance in each member's contribution account, and an amount equivalent to the present value of the employer financed share of the accrued defined benefit, to be transferred and applied to establish a starting balance for each member in Triple S. To ensure the transferring members are not disadvantaged by the transfer taking effect on 1 July 2008, when in accordance with the Enterprise Agreement 2007 there is a general salary increase coming into effect on 3 July 2008, which is the beginning of the first pay period commencing on or after 1 July, the legislation will require the crystallisation of the accrued Lump Sum Scheme benefit to take into account the July 2008 salary increase.

The transferred police officers are becoming members of Triple S with the standard mandatory five units of death and disability insurance, and this cover is being provided without limitation and irrespective of the health of the police officer.

As the transferring members have an existing option to retire and be paid their accrued benefit after age 50, this option is being maintained in the Triple S scheme. In fact the Bill also proposes that the age 50 retirement option will be made available to all police officers who are members of Triple S.

All those members in the Police Lump Sum Scheme who are no longer in employment with the Police Department and have a preserved account will have those preserved accounts also transferred to Triple S. This action is being taken to enable the dissolving of the Lump Sum Scheme.

As I mentioned earlier, the Bill also includes a proposal that the responsibilities for the administrative arrangements for the supplementary investment accounts, rollover accounts and co contribution accounts will be transferred to the Triple S Scheme, that is administered by the South Australian Superannuation Board. A member of the Police Pension or Police Lump Sum Schemes would have an investment account where the member is salary sacrificing additional money, or paying additional money from after tax income, into either of the schemes. A member would have a rollover account where they have rolled a lump sum benefit over from some other scheme, and a co contribution account would be established for a member who has received a co-contribution benefit from the Commonwealth Government. Whilst the Police Superannuation Board is currently responsible for administering these accounts, which are accumulation style accounts, it is considered more appropriate for these accounts to be held in the Triple S Scheme where members will be able to select an investment strategy option that meets their individual needs. As the Police Superannuation Board will be left with the administration of the Police Pension Scheme which is a defined benefit scheme, and does not have a need for investment choice options for members of that scheme, it is considered more practical to have the police accumulation style accounts held and maintained by Triple S. As a result, those police officers with a supplementary investment account, a rollover account, or a co contribution account, will have the benefit of being able to choose an investment strategy option of their choice.

The Bill also contains some amendments that address technical matters.

In relation to the technical amendments, an amendment is being made to the provisions in section 4(6b) of the Police Superannuation Act, that deal with the determination of 'salary' for a member who has been seconded to serve with another police force or a prescribed body. The proposed amendment will address a deficiency in the current provisions that do not provide for the recognised salary with the external SAPOL body to have its real value maintained where the person is no longer working for that body at the time when an entitlement is to be paid.

A new provision is also being inserted into the Police Superannuation Act, to provide clarification to the issue of the delegation rights of the Police Superannuation Board. The new provision that is being inserted will make it clear that the Board has the power to delegate any of its powers or functions to any person or body.

A technical amendment is also being proposed to section 50 of the Police Superannuation Act, which is the provision dealing with the Board's powers to resolve any doubts and difficulties. The amendment that is being proposed will bring the provisions of the Police Superannuation Act into line with the recently updated provision dealing with the same matters under the Superannuation Act 1988 and the Southern State Superannuation Act 1994.

The Police Association fully supports these proposals.

I commend the Bill to Members.

Explanation of Clauses

Part 1—Preliminary

1—Short title

This clause is formal.

2—Commencement

This clause provides that operation of the measure will commence on a day to be fixed by proclamation.

3—Amendment provisions

This clause is formal.

Part 2—Amendment of Police Superannuation Act 1990

4—Amendment of section 4—Interpretation

Definitions of a number of terms that are no longer required because of the transfer of new scheme contributors to the Triple S scheme are deleted. Consequential amendments are also made to some existing definitions that are to be retained.

The definitions of old scheme contributor and new scheme contributor are removed because, as a consequence of the amendments being made, the Act will apply to only one type of contributor. A new definition of contributor is substituted.

An amendment to section 4(6b) clarifies the operation of paragraph (d) of that subsection in relation to a contributor who has been seconded to another police force but is not employed in another police force at the relevant time.

5—Insertion of section 9A

This clause inserts a new section.

9A—Delegation by the Board

This section authorises the Board to delegate any of its powers or functions under the Act to any person or body. The section provides that a delegation must be by instrument in writing and may be conditional or unconditional. A delegation does not derogate from the power of the Board to act in a matter and is revocable at will by the Board.

This provision is based on similar sections in the Southern State Superannuation Act 1994 and the Superannuation Act 1988 that authorise the South Australian Superannuation Board to delegate powers or functions.

6—Amendment of section 10—The Fund

Section 10(4) requires the Treasurer to pay periodic contributions reflecting the contributions made by contributors, and co contributions paid in respect of contributors, into the Police Superannuation Fund from the Consolidated Account or from a special deposit account established for the purpose. Section 10 states that the Fund is to be made of three divisions. This clause amends section 10, as a consequence of other amendments, so that the section provides for the Fund to be made up of two divisions, one of which will be for contribution accounts. The other will be proportioned to the aggregate balance of co-contribution accounts to the extent that they hold the amount of any co contributions paid to the Board. As a consequence of these amendments, the Fund will no longer include a division relating to new scheme contributors or a division relating to accounts under Part 5A (which is to be repealed—see clause 18).

7—Substitution of heading to Part 2 Division 3

This clause substitutes a new heading for Division 3 of Part 2 and inserts a new Subdivision heading. These amendments are made as a consequence of the insertion into Part 2 Division 3 of new provisions relating to investment and rollover payments.

8—Amendment of section 13—Contributors' accounts

This amendment is made as a consequence of changes to the Act that mean that there will no longer be two categories of contributor.

9—Insertion of Part 2 Division 3 Subdivision 2

This clause inserts a new Subdivision into Part 2 Division 3 of the Act. The new Subdivision includes provisions relating to the establishment of investment accounts, rollover accounts and co contribution accounts. (Similar provisions currently appear in Part 5A of the Act.)

Subdivision 2—Investment option, rollover payments and co contributions

13A—Investment option

Section 13A authorises the Treasurer to accept monetary payments from a contributor whose employment as a police officer has not terminated.

A monetary payment under the section must consist of a salary sacrifice amount. The Treasurer must pay an amount equivalent to the monetary payment into the Southern State Superannuation (Employers) Fund. Unless the contributor who made the payment is already a member of the Triple S scheme, he or she will be taken to have elected to become a member of that scheme under section 15C of the Southern State Superannuation Act 1994.

13B—Rollover accounts

This section authorises the Board to accept the payment of money for a contributor from another fund or scheme. Money that is rolled over from another fund or scheme is to be paid to the Treasurer who must then pay an amount equivalent to the amount of money rolled over into the Southern State Superannuation Fund.

13C—Co-contribution accounts

This section requires the Board to establish a co contribution account in the name of a contributor for whom a co contribution has been paid to the Board. The account must be credited with the amount of any co contribution paid to the Board in respect of the contributor.

When a co contribution account is credited with the amount of a co contribution, the amount is to be transferred to the South Australian Superannuation Board and credited to a co contribution account maintained in the name of the contributor.

10—Amendment of section 14—Payment of benefits

These amendments are made as a consequence of the repeal of Part 5A, the insertion of section 13C and changes to the Act that mean that there will no longer be two categories of contributor.

11—Amendment of section 16—Contributors

This amendment is made because the Act will no longer apply in respect of police officers who are currently new scheme contributors. A police officer will be required to contribute to the Police Superannuation Scheme only if he or she became a contributor to the Police Pensions Fund before the commencement of the Police Superannuation Act 1990.

12—Amendment of section 17—Contribution rates

This clause amends the section of the Act prescribing the rates of contributions to be made by contributors. Those rates are currently prescribed in Schedule 2. However, because police officers who are currently new scheme contributors will no longer be contributors to the Police Superannuation Scheme, the determination of contribution rates is simplified and Schedule 2 is repealed by clause 29. The provisions of Schedule 2 relating to old scheme contributors are incorporated into section 17, which will now state that a contributor must make contributions to the Treasurer at the rate at which he or she was contributing immediately before the commencement of the Act. If the contributor was a police cadet immediately before the commencement of the Act, he or she is required to contribute at the rate at which he or she would have been contributing to the Police Pensions Fund if he or she had been a police officer immediately before the commencement of the Act.

13—Repeal of Part 4

This clause repeals Part 4 of the Act. Part 4 applies only to new scheme contributors. As those contributors are to become members of the scheme of superannuation established by the Southern State Superannuation Act 1994, there is no need to retain Part 4.

14—Amendment of heading to Part 5

This amendment to the heading to Part 5 is made because there will no longer be two categories of contributor.

15—Amendment of section 27—Application of Part to police cadets

This amendment is also made because there will no longer be two categories of contributor. Part 5 of the Act will apply to all contributors.

16—Amendment of section 31—Invalidity

The amendment made by this clause clarifies the operation of section 31, which applies to a contributor whose employment terminates on the ground of invalidity before the contributor reaches the age of 60.

17—Amendment of section 34—Resignation and preservation of benefits

Under section 34 of the Act, a contributor who has resigned from employment and elected to take an amount equivalent to the total balance of his or her contribution account is also entitled to a superannuation payment under section 34(1a). The contributor may elect to preserve the payment or to carry the payment over to another fund or scheme.

Under section 34(1a)(c) in its current form, if the contributor elects to preserve the payment, the payment will be preserved in the Police Superannuation Scheme. This clause substitutes a new paragraph (c). Under the new provision, the payment will be transferred to the credit of the contributor in an account in the name of the contributor in the Triple S scheme. The amount of the payment to be transferred will be determined under the section as if the payment were to be made to the contributor on the day that the transfer takes place and will be taken to be a preserved employer component under section 32 of the Southern State Superannuation Act 1994.

An additional provision inserted into section 34(1a) provides that a contributor who fails to inform the Board in writing within three months of his or her resignation whether he or she elects to preserve the payment or carry it over to another fund or scheme will be taken to have elected to preserve the payment.

18—Repeal of Part 5A

Part 5A, which includes provisions relating to investment accounts, rollover accounts and co contribution accounts, is repealed. Those provisions have been recast because investment, rollover and co contribution payments are to be transferred to the Southern State Superannuation Scheme. The recast sections are inserted by clause 9 into Part 2 of the Act.

19—Repeal of heading to Part 5B Division 1

20—Amendment of section 38J—Reduction in contributor's entitlement

21—Repeal of Part 5B Division 2

22—Repeal of heading to Part 5B Division 3

23—Repeal of section 38O

24—Repeal of heading to Part 5B Division 4

These amendments to Part 5B of the Act, the purpose of which is to facilitate the division under the Family Law Act 1975 of superannuation interests between spouses who have separated, remove provisions that operate only in relation to new scheme contributors.

25—Repeal of sections 47 and 47A

This clause repeals sections 47 and 47A of the Act. Section 47 authorises the Board to provide annuities on terms and conditions fixed by the Board. Section 47A authorises the Board to accept money from police superannuation beneficiaries for investment with the Superannuation Funds Management Corporation of South Australia.

26—Amendment of section 49—Confidentiality

Section 49 of the Act currently prohibits members or former members of the Board or the board of directors of the Superannuation Funds Management Corporation of South Australia (the Corporation), or a person employed or formerly employed in the administration of the Act, from divulging information as to the entitlements or benefits of any person under the Act except in certain circumstances. This clause amends subsection (1) by extending the prohibition to information of a personal or private nature. This amendment is consistent with an amendment recently made to the corresponding sections of the Superannuation Act 1988 and the Southern State Superannuation Act 1994.

27—Amendment of section 50—Resolution of difficulties

The amendments made by this clause are consistent with amendments recently made to the corresponding sections of the Superannuation Act 1988 and the Southern State Superannuation Act 1994. The section as amended will authorise the Board to give directions if the Board is of the opinion that the provisions of the Act do not address particular circumstances that have arisen. The directions must be reasonably required to address the circumstances (but only insofar as the Board determines it to be fair and reasonable in the circumstances). Any such direction will have effect according to its terms. (The section already authorises the Board to give directions reasonably required if any doubt or difficulty arises on the application of the Act to particular circumstances.)

Under new subsections inserted into section 50, the Board may, in certain circumstances, extend a time limit or waive compliance with a procedural step. The section lists matters that the Board must have regard to in determining whether to extend a time limit or waive compliance with a procedural step. If such action is taken by the Board, the Board's report to the Minister for the year in which the action occurs must include details of the action.

28—Amendment of Schedule 1—Transitional provisions

This clause inserts a definition of old scheme contributor for the purposes of the transitional provisions because the term is no longer used in the main body of the Act and the definition has therefore been removed from the interpretation provision.

29—Repeal of Schedule 2

Schedule 2, which prescribes contribution rates, is repealed because those rates are to be prescribed by section 17. (See the amendments made to that section by clause 12.)

Part 3—Amendment of Southern State Superannuation Act 1994

30—Amendment of section 3—Interpretation

This clause inserts a number of new definitions into the interpretation provision of the Southern State Superannuation Act 1994.

A police member is a member of the scheme who is a police officer or police cadet. However, police officers and cadets who are members by virtue of section 14(10a) or 15C (that is, they are members of the Police Superannuation Scheme for whom a contribution, co contribution or rollover benefit has been paid to the Board) are not police members for the purposes of the Act.

A definition of retirement age is also inserted. For a member who is a police officer, the age of retirement is 50. For other members and spouse members, 55 is the retirement age.

31—Amendment of section 4—The Fund

This amendment is made as a consequence of the fact that co contribution amounts paid in respect of members of the Police Superannuation Scheme are to be transferred to the Board.

32—Amendment of section 7—Contribution, co-contribution and rollover accounts

The amendments made by this clause to section 7 will have the effect of requiring the Board to maintain a rollover account in the name of a member of the Police Superannuation Scheme for whom an amount of money rolled over from another fund or scheme has been accepted by the Police Superannuation Scheme and paid to the Treasurer under section 13B of the Police Superannuation Act 1990. The rollover amount must be credited by the Board to the account. The Board will also be required to maintain a co contribution account in the name of a member of the Police Superannuation Scheme for whom the amount of a co contribution has been transferred from that scheme to the Board. The Board is required to credit the account with the amount of any co contribution paid to the Board in respect of the member.

33—Amendment of section 9—The Southern State Superannuation (Employers) Fund

The amount of any payment to the Treasurer for a member of the Police Superannuation Scheme under section 15C(2) is to be paid into the Southern State Superannuation (Employers) Fund.

34—Amendment of section 14—Membership

Section 14 of the Act, which relates to membership of the Triple S scheme, is amended by this clause so that a person who is a new scheme contributor within the meaning of the Police Superannuation Act 1990 immediately before Part 4 of that Act is repealed will be a member of the Triple S scheme.

A member of the Police Superannuation Scheme who has made an election under section 15C(1), or is taken to have made an election under that subsection, is a member of the Triple S scheme.

Also, if a contribution, co contribution or benefit rolled over from another superannuation fund or scheme is paid to the Board for a person who is a member of the Police Superannuation Scheme but not, at the time of the payment, a member of the Triple S scheme, the person will become a member of the Triple S scheme by virtue of section 14(10a) when the Board receives the payment.

35—Insertion of section 15C

This clause inserts a new section.

15C—Salary sacrifice and voluntary contributions by members of Police Superannuation Scheme

Section 15C(1) provides that a police officer who is a contributor to the Police Superannuation Scheme may elect to become a member of the Triple S scheme in order to establish an entitlement to the employer component of benefits by way of salary sacrifice.

36—Amendment of section 16—Duration of membership

This clause amends section 16 of the Act so that a person who is a member of the Triple S scheme solely by virtue of being a member of the Police Superannuation Scheme for whom payments have been transferred to the Board will cease to be a member of the Triple S scheme when the balance of each of his or her accounts has been paid.

37—Insertion of section 20

A new defined term is inserted for the purposes of Part 3 Division 2.

20—Interpretation

This section defines prescribed member to mean a police member, or a member prescribed, or of a class prescribed, for the purposes of the definition.

38—Amendment of section 21—Basic invalidity/death insurance

As a consequence of this amendment, a police officer who is a member of the Triple S scheme will not be entitled to basic invalidity/death insurance.

39—Amendment of section 22—Application for voluntary invalidity/death insurance

40—Amendment of section 23—Variation of voluntary insurance

These amendments are made as a consequence of the insertion of new provisions relating to the provision of voluntary invalidity/death insurance to prescribed members (including police members).

41—Insertion of sections 23A and 23B

Clause 41 inserts 2 new sections.

23A—Voluntary invalidity/death insurance—prescribed members

Section 23A provides that prescribed members have such voluntary invalidity/death insurance as is prescribed by regulation and are liable for premiums in respect of that insurance fixed by or under the regulations. A prescribed member may apply to the Board for additional voluntary invalidity/death insurance.

An application under the section is to be made in a manner and form approved by the Board, and an applicant is required to provide the Board with prescribed information as to the state of his or her health. The Board may require an applicant to provide satisfactory evidence of the state of his or her health.

The Board is authorised to refuse an application, or to grant an application on conditions authorised by the regulations, if it appears to the Board that an applicant's state of health is such as to create a risk of invalidity or premature death, or that an applicant has in the past engaged in an activity of a prescribed kind that increases the risk of invalidity or premature death, or that an applicant is likely in the future to engage in such an activity.

A regulation made for the purposes of the section may make different provision according to the various classes of members, matters or circumstances to which the regulation is expressed to apply.

23B—Variation of voluntary insurance—prescribed members

Under section 23B, a prescribed member may apply to the Board to increase or decrease the level of his or her voluntary invalidity/death insurance. However, a prescribed member cannot apply to reduce his or her insurance below the level applicable to the member prescribed under section 23A.

42—Amendment of section 25—Contributions

Section 25(3) is amended by this clause to change a reference to 'police officer' to 'police member' because the subsection is not to apply to police officer members of the Triple S scheme who are not police members. Subsection (3a) is recast to make it clear that subsection (3) does not apply to police cadets.

Under proposed subsection (4a), the regulations may require that specified members, or members of a specified class, contribute at a prescribed rate. Different rates may be prescribed by the regulations in respect of different members and different classes of member.

43—Amendment of section 26A—Interpretation

This consequential amendment will have the effect of allowing members in respect of whom payments are being made to the Treasurer under new section 15C (see note to clause 35) to apply to the Board to make payments for the benefit of his or her spouse.

44—Amendment of section 26J—Benefits for spouse members

This amendment is made because of the insertion into the Act of a definition of retirement age.

45—Amendment of section 27—Employer contribution accounts

Section 27 is amended by this clause because of the payment of employer contributions on behalf of contributors to the Police Superannuation Scheme who become members of the Triple S scheme under new section 15C.

46—Amendment of section 31—Retirement

47—Amendment of section 32—Resignation

These amendments are made because of the insertion into the Act of a definition of retirement age.

48—Amendment of section 33A—Disability pension

As a consequence of this amendment, the Board will be required to consult with the Police Superannuation Board before authorising the payment of a disability pension to a police officer.

49—Amendment of section 34—Termination of employment on invalidity

As a consequence of this amendment, the Board will be required to consult with the Police Superannuation Board before authorising the payment of a benefit following termination of employment for invalidity to a police officer.

50—Amendment of section 35—Death of member

This amendment to section 35 is made so that a contributor to the Police Superannuation Scheme who is a member of the Triple S scheme by virtue of section 14(10a) or 15C is not entitled to a benefit under the section.

51—Amendment of section 36—Information to be given to certain members

Section 36 as amended by this clause will require the Board to advise a person who becomes a member of the Triple S scheme by virtue of section 14(10a) or 15C of his or her membership of the scheme. The Board will also be required to provide the person with information, including any prescribed information, as to the management and investment of his or her payments and the benefits to which he or she is entitled under this Act.

52—Amendment of Schedule 3—Transitional provisions

This clause inserts a number of transitional provisions connected to the transfer of new scheme contributors to the Police Superannuation Scheme to the Triple S scheme.

14—Interpretation

This clause includes definitions of various terms used in the transitional provisions. The prescribed date is the date on which Part 4 of the Police Superannuation Act 1990 is repealed by the Statutes Amendment (Police Superannuation) Act 2007.

15—Accounts for certain police officers

New clause 15 applies in relation to persons who become members of the Triple S scheme by virtue of section 14(2a) of the Act, which says that a person who was a new scheme contributor within the meaning of the Police Superannuation Act 1990 immediately before the repeal of Part 4 of that Act will be a member of the Triple S scheme.

The clause provides that the Board is to establish an employer contribution account and a member's contribution account in the name of each such member. The balance of the contribution account will be an amount equivalent to the amount standing to the credit of the member's contribution account maintained under the Police Superannuation Act 1990. The balance of the member's employer contribution account will be determined in accordance with subclause (4) (which operates subject to subclause (7)).

If the Police Superannuation Board is maintaining an investor's account, a rollover account or a co contribution account in the name of the member, the Board is to establish a rollover account in the name of the member. The balance of the rollover account will be the aggregate balance of the amount standing to the credit of the member's investment account, rollover account and co-contribution account immediately before the prescribed date. However, if the member has an investment account that consists of a salary sacrifice amount, that amount is to be credited to the member's employer contribution account.

If the member's accrued superannuation benefits, or a payment to which the member is entitled, have been preserved under Part 4 of the Police Superannuation Act 1990, a rollover account will be established in the name of the member and an amount equivalent to the accrued benefits or payment will form the balance of the account. The amount of the preserved benefit will be calculated on the basis of the payment to which the member would be entitled if the payment were being made to him or her on the day on which Part 4 of the Police Superannuation Act 1990 is repealed. The provisions of section 32(6), which describe what happens where a member has preserved a component of his or her benefits, will then apply in relation to the amount.

An application made by the member for a disability pension under the Police Superannuation Act 1990 that has not been determined before Part 4 of that Act is repealed will be taken to be an application for a disability pension under the Southern State Superannuation Act 1994.

The member will be taken for the purposes of section 25 of the Southern State Superannuation Act 1994 to have made an election to make contributions as a deduction from salary at a percentage equal to the rate at which he or she was required to contribute under the Police Superannuation Act 1990.

When a member to whom clause 15 applies retires from employment, he or she is entitled to the benefits payable to him or her under section 31 of the Southern State Superannuation Act 1994 or, if they would be greater, to benefits determined in accordance with the prescribed method. This provision applies to the member only if he or she has continued to make contributions until his or her retirement as a deduction from salary at a percentage equal to the rate at which he or she was required to contribute under the Police Superannuation Act 1990.

When benefits determined in accordance with the prescribed method are to be paid to a member, the Treasurer must pay into the Southern State Superannuation (Employers) Fund from the Consolidated Account the amount by which the amount of benefits payable to the member exceeds the amount of benefits to which he or she would have been entitled under section 31.

16—Police officers in receipt of disability pension

If a member to whom clause 14 applies is temporarily or permanently incapacitated for work immediately before he or she become a member of the Triple S scheme, and is in receipt of a disability pension under section 24 of the Police Superannuation Act 1990, section 24 will be taken to continue in force in relation to the pension and the member will not be entitled to a disability pension under the Southern State Superannuation Act 1994.

If, immediately before the repeal of Part 4 of the Police Superannuation Act 1990, a police officer is temporarily or permanently incapacitated for work and entitled to a disability pension that is suspended because he or she is in receipt of paid leave or workers compensation, the provisions of clause 15 will operate in relation to the member from the day on which he or she ceases to be entitled to paid leave, workers compensation or a disability pension. Until that day, the Police Superannuation Act 1990 will be taken to continue in force in relation to the member.

17—Children in receipt of pension

A child in receipt of a pension under section 26 of the Police Superannuation Act 1990, which is to be repealed, will continue to receive the pension during periods of dependency as if the Police Superannuation Act had not been amended.

18—Accounts for certain contributors to Police Superannuation Scheme

This clause makes provision for the establishment of a rollover account in the Triple S scheme in the name of a person for whom the Police Superannuation Board is, immediately before the repeal of Part 5A of the Police Superannuation Act 1990, maintaining an account under that Part. The balance of the new rollover account will be an amount equivalent to the aggregate balance of the amount standing to the credit of the person's investment account, rollover account and co contribution account. (However, if the balance of an investment account includes a salary sacrifice amount, that amount will be credited to an employer contribution account established in the name of the member.) If the account in the Police Superannuation Scheme was a rollover account or a co contribution account, he or she will be taken to be a member of the Triple S scheme by virtue of section 14(10a) of the Southern State Superannuation Act 1994. If the account was an investment account, he or she will be taken to have elected to become a member of the Triple S scheme under section 15C(1).

19—Amounts preserved for certain contributors to Police Superannuation Scheme

This transitional provision is necessary as a consequence of amendments to be made to section 34(1a) of the Police Superannuation Act 1990. The Board is to establish a rollover account in the name of each person for whom a payment is preserved under that section, or for whom benefits are preserved under section 34(1)(b), immediately before the prescribed date. The balance of the rollover account will be an amount equivalent to the superannuation payment to which the person would be entitled under section 34 if the payment were to be made on the prescribed date. The provisions of section 32(6), which describe what happens where a member has preserved a component of his or her benefits, will then apply in relation to the amount. The person will be taken to be a member of the Triple S scheme.

20—Balances of accounts

This clause makes provision for payments from, and reimbursement of, the Consolidated Account or special deposit account in relation to the creation of new accounts as required for the purposes of the transitional provisions.

21—Investment of transferred money

For the purposes of determining a rate of return under section 7A or 27 in respect of an account established pursuant to the transitional provisions, the Board and the Corporation are to determine the relevant class of investments, or combination of classes of investments, on the basis that the relevant member has not nominated a particular class or combination.

22—Administration costs associated with transition

Costs associated with administrative acts required under the transitional provisions are to be recoverable from the Police Superannuation Fund.

23—Other provisions

This transitional provision authorises the making of regulations of a saving or transitional nature consequent on the enactment of the Act.

Schedule 1—Statute law revision amendment of Police Superannuation Act 1990

Schedule 1 makes various statute law revision amendments of the Police Superannuation Act 1990.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. J.M.A. Lensink.

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