The South Australian Superannuation Board (the Board) is a body corporate established pursuant to subsection 6(2) of the Superannuation Act 1988 (the Act). Pursuant to subsection 8(1) of the Act, the Board consists of a presiding member appointed by the Governor, two members elected by the contributors and two members appointed by the Governor on the Minister’s nomination.
The Board is responsible for the administration of two separate superannuation schemes:
The functions and responsibilities in relation to each scheme are established by separate Acts of Parliament as follows.
The Superannuation Act 1988 (the Act) provides for the establishment of an employer sponsored voluntary superannuation scheme to provide superannuation benefits for persons employed by the Government of South Australia and other prescribed persons, and makes provisions for families of such persons. The Act does not apply to Members of Parliament, the judiciary or police officers who are provided for under separate legislation. Pursuant to subsection 7(1) of the Act, the Board is responsible to the Minister for all aspects of the administration of the Superannuation Act except the management and investment of the South Australian Superannuation Fund (the Fund).
The South Australian Superannuation Scheme has the following components:
Old Scheme Division — This relates to the provision of pension based benefits;
New Scheme Division — This relates to the provision of lump sum benefits.
In addition, Employer Contribution Accounts have been established to record the employer contributions towards their share of the emerging liability for benefit payments in relation to the Scheme.
The Superannuation Funds Management Corporation of South Australia, operating under the business name of Funds SA, a body corporate, has statutory responsibility for the investment and management of the Fund. This Fund comprises the contributions of employees and income derived from investment of those funds, less the Fund portion of benefits payable and administration expenses. Funds SA also invests and manages the employer contributions on behalf of the Board.
Both the Old Scheme and the New Scheme Divisions were closed to new membership in May 1986 and June1994, respectively. Consequently, the South Australian Superannuation Scheme is now a ‘closed’ scheme, having been replaced by the Southern State Superannuation Scheme effective 1 July 1995 (refer hereunder for further details).
The Southern State Superannuation Act 1994 (Triple S Act) originally established the Southern State Superannuation Scheme (Triple S Scheme) to provide an employer sponsored contributory superannuation scheme for persons employed in the public sector. The Triple S Scheme replaced the South Australian Superannuation Scheme as the Government sponsored scheme available to public sector employees. Police Officers who commenced employment from 1 July 1995 also became members of the Triple S Scheme.
The Triple S Scheme is both a contributory and non-contributory superannuation scheme as it provides employer benefits for public sector employees who were not actively contributing to an employer sponsored superannuation scheme, in order to satisfy the minimum level required under the Commonwealth Government’s Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992.
The Triple S Act charges the Board with responsibility for the maintenance of:
accounts in the name of all members of the Triple S Scheme;
proper accounts in respect of each financial year relating to the receipt of member contributions and payments to members.
The Southern State Superannuation Fund (Triple S Fund) is established pursuant to the Triple S Act. The Triple S Fund comprises the contributions of employees and rollovers from other superannuation funds or schemes to the Triple S Scheme and income derived from investments of those funds, less the Fund portion of benefits paid. Funds SA is responsible for the investment and management of the Triple S Fund.
The Triple S Act also establishes the Southern State Superannuation (Employers) Fund, which comprises employer contributions and rollovers from other superannuation funds or schemes to the Triple S Scheme and income derived from investment of those funds less the Fund portion of benefits paid, administration expenses and insurance premiums. The Southern State Superannuation (Employers) Fund is also managed and invested by Funds SA.
The Board utilises the services of the Department of Treasury and Finance - Superannuation Office (Super SA) in carrying out its functions. The Superannuation Office maintains individual member records, processes contributions and determines and processes benefit payments. The Board has a service level contract with the Department of Treasury and Finance for the provision of superannuation administration services. The contract includes performance standards for services, management reporting requirements and internal control requirements.
For further information in relation to the investment and management of superannuation monies reference should be made to comments under ‘Superannuation Funds Management Corporation of South Australia’ elsewhere in Part B of this Report.