EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
STATUTORY RULES 1989 NO 161
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 Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation (the Corporation) is an approved authority for the purposes of the Act. Section 12 of the Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation (Conversion into Public Company) Act 1989 (the SMEC Act) provides for the Corporation to be taken to be a company registered under the name Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation Limited (the Company). In accordance with section 2(4) of the SMEC Act, section 12 is to come into operation on a day to be fixed by proclamation. Section 13 of the SMEC Act provides that each person who is a staff member of the Corporation immediately before it is taken to be registered as a company will continue to be employed on the same terms and conditions.
Persons referred to in section 13 of the SMEC Act who were eligible employees for the purposes of the Act and certain new staff of the Company are eligible to contribute under the Act because the Company has been specified as an approved authority for the purposes of the Act by related amendments to the Superannuation (Approved Authorities) Regulations. Those amendments have effect from the date of commencement of section 12 of the SMEC Act.
Certain employees of the Corporation are, however, excluded from becoming, or remaining, contributors under the Act by paragraphs 4(a) and 4(y) of the Superannuation (Eligible Employees) Regulations. It is intended that the same arrangements apply in relation to the Company.
Paragraph 4(a) of the Principal Regulations will continue to operate to ensure that persons who are members of, or who are required to join, a superannuation scheme run by the Company are excluded from becoming or remaining contributors under the Act. Regulation 4 of the amending Regulations amends the Principal Regulations by substituting a revised paragraph 4(y) to ensure that the provisions of the paragraph apply to staff of the Company. The new paragraph 4(y) prescribes as a class of persons for the purposes of paragraph (j) of the definition of “eligible employee” in subsection 3(1) of the Act persons, including persons specified in a direction given under section 11, 12, 13 or 14 of the Act, who are employed by SMEC other than:
(i) persons who:
(A) immediately before the SMEC relevant day, were eligible employees and were, at that time, Directors, officers or employees of SMEC; and
(B) on the SMEC relevant day are, and continue to be, employed by SMEC;
(ii) persons who are, during a period when they are on leave without pay from employment by the Commonwealth or an approved authority other than SMEC, employed by SMEC;
(iii) invalidity pensioners; and
(iv) persons to whom Division 2 or 3 of Part IV of the Public Service Act 1922 applies.
Terms used in the Principal Regulations are defined in regulation 3. Regulation 3 of the amending Regulations amends regulation 3 of the Principal Regulations to include definitions of the terms “SMEC” and “SMEC relevant day” which are used in the revised paragraph 4(y). The term “SMEC” is defined to have the same meaning as in the Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation Act 1970. The term “SMEC relevant day” is defined to mean the day of commencement of section 12 of the Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation (Conversion into Public Company) Act 1989.
By regulation 1 of the amending Regulations, regulation 4 operates on and from the date on which section 12 of the Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation (Conversion into Public Company) Act 1989 comes into operation.