EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
STATUTORY RULES 1984 NO: 241
ISSUED BY THE AUTHORITY OF THE MINISTER FOR FINANCE
SUPERANNUATION ACT 1976 - SUPERANNUATION (RETIRING AGE) REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT)
Section 168 of the Superannuation Act 1976 (the Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with the Act, prescribing all matters which the Act requires or permits to be prescribed or which are necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the Act.
Sub-section 3(1) of the Act defines “minimum retiring age” as 60 years or such lesser age as, under regulations made under the Act, is the minimum retiring age applicable to a person or class of persons.
A contributor with more than one year’s contributory service who retires voluntarily on or after attaining age 60, is entitled to be paid an age retirement pension in accordance with Division 1, and, if appropriate Division 3, of Part V of the Act. A contributor who, under his terms and conditions of employment, is able to retire voluntarily after attaining an age less than 60 is entitled upon such voluntary retirement, to be paid an early retirement pension in accordance with Division 2, and, if appropriate Division 3, of Part V, provided that lesser age has been prescribed in the Superannuation (Retiring Age) Regulations as the minimum retiring age in respect of the class of persons within which the contributor falls.
Prior to 1 July 1984, Secretaries of Departments (then known as Permanent Heads of Departments) were entitled to receive early retirement superannuation pensions if retirement occurred at ages 55 to 59 through the prescription in the Superannuation (Retiring Age) Regulations of a minimum retiring age of 55 years for persons who, in accordance with the provisions of the Commonwealth Employees (Redeployment and Retirement) Act 1979 (the CE(RR) Act), had a minimum retiring age of 55 years. However, those provisions of the Public Service Reform Act 1984 that came into operation on 1 July 1984 amended the CE(RR) Act with effect from that date to remove Secretaries of Departments from the scope of that Act. Those provisions also amended the Public Service Act 1922 with effect from 1 July 1984 to include a new Division 8A in Part 111 of that Act which provides a minimum retiring age of 55 years for Secretaries of Departments other than those appointed on a fixed term basis.
The Regulations amend the Superannuation (Retiring Age) Regulations to prescribe a minimum retiring age for the purposes of the Act of 55 years for Secretaries of Departments other than those appointed on a fixed term basis. This would continue the entitlement that existed prior to 1 July 1984 for such persons to receive early retirement superannuation pensions where they took advantage of the early retirement provisions of their conditions of service by retiring voluntarily at ages 55 to 59.
Regulation 5 of the Superannuation (Retiring Age) Regulations already specifies age 55 as the ‘minimum retiring age” for the purposes of the Act in relation to certain persons and classes of persons.
The Regulations operate from the date of gazettal.