Employers First v Tolhurst Capital Ltd

Employers First, the Principal Employer of the Employers' Federation of New South Wales Superannuation Plan, appealed a decision of the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal which found that the Trustee of the Plan had breached the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 by failing to pay the applicant a lump sum retirement benefit. The Tribunal had ordered the Trustee to pay the applicant an amount equal to the accumulation (net of contributions tax) of superannuation guarantee contributions in respect of the applicant up until 25 May 1998, plus interest at the Plan's crediting rates from time to time up until the date of payment. The appeal was heard in the Federal Court of Australia.

The court was required to determine whether the Tribunal erred in concluding that the Trustee had breached the SIS Act by not paying the applicant a lump sum retirement benefit and whether the Tribunal properly exercised its discretion in ordering the Trustee to make a payment to the applicant. The court also needed to consider whether the Trustee had been directed by the applicant to pay a lump sum retirement benefit calculated otherwise than pursuant to rule 4 of the Rules of the Plan.

The court found that the Tribunal had erred in concluding that the Trustee had breached the SIS Act. The court held that the Trustee had not been directed by the applicant to pay a lump sum retirement benefit calculated otherwise than pursuant to rule 4 of the Rules of the Plan. The court found that the Tribunal had not properly exercised its discretion in ordering the Trustee to make a payment to the applicant. The court set aside the Decision Record and remitted the matter to the Tribunal for reconsideration.

The court ordered that the proceeding be stood over for the purpose of making orders giving effect to these reasons for judgment, including orders as to costs. The parties were required to provide an agreed minute of the orders to be made, including orders as to costs, or if agreement had not been reached, the minutes of orders for which they would respectively contend and brief outlines of submissions in support of the orders.