Target Market Determinations

The Commonwealth Government’s Design Distribution and Obligations (DDO) requirements came into effect on 5 October 2021.

As part of this, issuers and distributors of financial services products must develop Target Market Determinations (TMDs) for each product. A TMD is a written document that describes the appropriate target market for the product.

As a public sector fund, GESB is not required to issue TMDs.

Why are GESB schemes exempt?

GESB schemes are known as Exempt Public Sector Superannuation Schemes. This is because they are regulated by the WA State Government and not by the Commonwealth Government.

As a statutory authority and a public sector fund, we are currently only authorised to accept members who are employed in the public sector. Therefore, our target market is restricted to current and former public sector employees.

However, we aim to align with Commonwealth Government policy where possible, and when this is in the best interests of our members. As such, we will seek to comply with the DDO requirements at a future date.

Target Market Determinations

TMDs are one of several design and distribution obligations introduced under the Treasury Laws Amendment (Design and Distribution Obligations and Product Intervention Powers) Act 2019 aimed at improving consumer protection and disclosure in financial services.

Under the DDO requirements, a TMD must be produced for each financial product. It is a written document which describes:

• The appropriate target market for the product
• Any conditions and restrictions around how the product can be distributed to customers, to ensure those being marketed are likely to be consumers within the target market
• The events or circumstances that would trigger a review of the target market