State Government's superannuation reform

At GESB, we support the Department of Treasury in implementing changes to super in WA.

WA Treasurer’s Guidelines for Stronger Super - MySuper

The WA Treasurer’s Guidelines for Stronger Super outline how we will comply with the Commonwealth Government’s MySuper principles, with reference to specific Commonwealth legislation prescribed within the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (SIS Act). These guidelines also detail a number of departures from the Commonwealth legislation where we would be unable to meet these provisions. In essence, the guidelines form our MySuper ‘rules’.

MySuper is a simple and cost‑effective super product that was introduced in 2012 as part of the Commonwealth Government’s Stronger Super reforms. MySuper is designed to improve retirement outcomes for members, by providing a default product with a simple set of features, allowing members to compare super funds more easily - based on cost, investment returns and insurance. It also includes new duties for trustees, including a specific duty to deliver value for money, which is measured by long term net returns, making sure the fund has sufficient scale on an annual basis.

We have renamed our default investment plans as ‘My West State Super’ and ‘My GESB Super’ for our West State Super and GESB Super default plans respectively.

Our member information and engagement activities, as well as our investment offerings, are continuously reviewed to ensure they are consistent with MySuper principles.

The WA Treasurer’s MySuper provisions mirror those of the SIS Act and require our Board to affirm annually their assessment of scale, to ensure that MySuper members are not disadvantaged.

Our Board includes a statement of commitment to the principles of HoGA and our compliance with the Treasurer’s guidelines in our annual report.

SuperStream

The WA Government has adopted a State Policy on Superannuation Data Standards to comply with the Commonwealth SuperStream Superannuation Data and Payment Standards (the Standards). The objective of the Standards is to standardise payment methods, as a first step in moving Australian employers to the Australian Taxation Office's (ATO’s) Single Touch Payroll (STP) reporting system, which came into effect on 1 July 2018.

The state policy required WA public sector employers to comply in full with the Standards by 1 July 2017, in respect of accumulation scheme contributions. The current arrangements for processing defined benefit contributions will remain until such time as the ATO finalises standard data specifications for these contributions.

In December 2015, the Commonwealth Government announced business reporting of tax and super will be simplified with the implementation of an STP system. Reporting of super contributions are automatically sent to the ATO when payments are made to super funds.

Choice of Super

On 30 March 2012, Choice of Super was introduced for WA public sector employees. We welcomed the introduction of choice and continue to support members to make informed decisions about their super by providing easy access to financial education and information resources.