EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

STATUTORY RULES 1989 NO 121

ISSUED BY THE AUTHORITY OF THE MINISTER FOR FINANCE

SUPERANNUATION ACT 1976

SUPERANNUATION (ELIGIBLE EMPLOYEES) REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT)

The Superannuation Act 1976 (the Act) provides a contributory superannuation scheme for Commonwealth employees. Persons eligible to contribute under the Act are referred to in the Act as “eligible employees”.

Section 168 of the Act provides that the Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with the Act, prescribing all matters that the Act requires or permits to be prescribed, or that are necessary or convenient to be prescribed, for carrying out or giving effect to the Act.

By virtue of the definitions of “eligible employee”, “permanent employee” and “temporary employee” in subsection 3(1) of the Act, the term “eligible employee” includes officers and employees for the purposes of the Public Service Act 1922, other persons employed by the Commonwealth and persons employed by an “approved authority”. In accordance with paragraph (j) of the definition of “eligible employee”, the term does not include a person included in a prescribed class of persons. Thus, certain classes of persons may be excluded by regulation from becoming, or remaining, contributors. The classes of persons so excluded are prescribed in the Superannuation (Eligible Employees) Regulations (the Principal Regulations).

The Australian Meat and Live-stock Corporation is an approved authority for the purposes of the Act and persons appointed as officers or engaged as employees of the Australian Meat and Live-stock Corporation are therefore either required or eligible to contribute under the Act. The Managing Director of the Corporation may also be eligible to contribute.

The Corporation will introduce a superannuation scheme for its officers and employees with effect from 1 July 1989. It is intended, as a consequence, that new employees of the Corporation, with certain exceptions, should not be eligible to contribute under the Act. Paragraph 4(a) of the Principal Regulations will continue to operate to ensure that persons who are members of a superannuation scheme run by the Corporation are excluded from becoming or remaining contributors under the Act. The Statutory Rule inserts in the Principal Regulations new paragraphs 4(zh) and 4(zi) which will provide that the following classes of persons are also excluded from becoming contributors under the Act:

(a)         persons who are, immediately before 1 July 1989, officers or employees of the Corporation and not contributors under the Act; and

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(b)         persons appointed or engaged as Managing Directors, officers or employees of the Corporation on or after 1 July 1989 who, immediately before their appointment or engagement, are not contributors under the Act.

The above groups do not include persons:

(i)         who are appointed or engaged while on leave without pay from employment by the Commonwealth or another approved authority;

(ii)        who are invalidity pensioners as defined in regulation 3 of the Regulations; or

(iii)       to whom Division 2 or 3 of Part IV of the Public Service Act 1922 applies.

The amendments operate on and from 1 July 1989.