Redundancy and your Gold State Super

If your role in the WA public sector is made redundant, it’s important to know how this can impact your Gold State Super.

Your entitlement and benefit options will depend on whether you have turned 55 and reached the Commonwealth preservation age.

This page outlines some important information which you should consider if your role has been made redundant.

What happens to my benefit?

If you are made redundant from the WA public sector, you will keep the total benefit built up on your behalf, which could include:

• Contributory Service Benefit - your Gold State Super benefit including your personal and employer contributions
• Transferred Contributions and Interest - your contributions and interest previously transferred from the WA Public Sector Pension Scheme
• Transferred Service Benefit - the extra service benefit (based on past full-time employment) given to you when you transferred from the WA Public Sector Pension Scheme to Gold State Super

Here is a summary of how your age affects your benefit.

Your age determines when you can access your benefit

Under 55 years of age

You can preserve your benefit in Gold State Super until you reach 55.¹ You can also choose to roll over the 'current dollar' value of your benefit to a complying super fund.

There are other circumstances where you may be able to access your benefit if you are under age 55. If you’re eligible, a discount factor will apply. In this case, the Contributory Service Component of your benefit would be subject to a discount factor of 1.75% p.a. for every year you are under age 55.

For more information, call your Member Services Centre on 13 43 72.

55 years of age or over

You will have access to your benefit in full. You can then access a benefit payment, open our Retirement Income Allocated Pension account or roll over your benefit to another complying super fund.

Your automatic insurance cover will end

When you are made redundant from the WA public sector, your insurance cover for Death and Total & Permanent Disablement will end. If you want to replace this, you can arrange for your own insurance cover.

Preserving your benefit in Gold State Super

The way your benefit is preserved depends on your age:

• Your Contributory Service Benefit and Transferred Service Benefit (if applicable) will be preserved in Gold State Super until you reach 55 years of age (or earlier in the case of death or disability)
• Your super will be indexed annually at a salary growth factor equivalent to the Perth Consumer Price Index (CPI)² plus 1% p.a. until you turn 55, and then accrue interest at Perth CPI plus 2% p.a.
• Any Transferred Contributions and Interest can be refunded to you if you are under 55 years of age, or preserved in the fund. If you decide to preserve this portion of your benefit, it will accrue interest annually at Perth CPI plus 2% p.a. Once you reach 55, the option to receive payment of only the Transferred Contributions and Interest is no longer available and the total account balance must be paid

Advantages of preserving your benefit

Choosing to leave your benefit in Gold State Super means:

• You won’t be charged any entry or penalty fees that could apply if you transferred your benefit to another super fund
• Your untaxed benefit will continue to grow until you retire
• Your benefit is not subject to fluctuating market movements

Calculating your benefit

Gold State Super is a defined benefit scheme, which means your retirement benefit is calculated using a formula which considers:

• Your Completed Months of Equivalent Full Time Contributory Service
• Your Average Contribution Rate
• Your Final Remuneration

If you are made redundant, your benefit will be calculated as at your termination date and preserved until you reach age 55.

Example calculation: meet Matthew

Here is an example of how Matthew’s benefit was calculated on the day he was made redundant.

• Matthew joined Gold State Super when he was 33 years old
• The length of his full-time employment was 12 years
• He was made redundant at age 45
• His Average Contribution Rate was 5% (maximum)
• His Final Remuneration at redundancy was $50,000
• His Completed Months of Service is 144 months (12 years x 12 months)

On the day Matthew was made redundant, his benefit was calculated to be $120,000 (before tax). Matthew will be able to access these funds in another 10 years, when he reaches 55 years of age.

1 Important: if you are under 55 and transferred from the WA Public Sector Pension Scheme, you can elect to receive the Transferred Contributions and Interest component of your benefit if you are made redundant. There may be tax implications if you elect to receive this component of your benefit as cash. All other funds must be preserved in Gold State Super until you reach 55 years of age.

2 Perth CPI calculated in accordance with the State Superannuation Regulations 2001.