Overview

If you started working in the Western Australian (WA) public sector before 16 April 2007, you would have automatically become a member of West State Super, which was the default scheme until that date. Since then, West State Super has been closed to new members.

West State Super is a market-linked, untaxed accumulation super scheme. Here’s a breakdown of what that means:

  • Market linked
    We invest your super into a range of financial assets such as Shares and Bonds. The balance of your super depends on the performance of these assets, along with any contributions, withdrawals or deductions from your account.
  • Untaxed
    Unlike most other Australian super funds, West State Super does not pay income tax on any contributions or on investment earnings that your super account receives while it accumulates. You will only be taxed when you access the money in your account. Untaxed does not mean ‘no tax’, so it can be useful to think of it as deferred tax.
  • Accumulation
    Your account balance can grow over time with a combination of:
    • Your WA public sector employer contributions
    • Your own contributions
    • Any super that you roll in from other funds
    • Any investment returns (positive or negative) on these contributions based on your chosen investment option

Unlike taxed funds, when you make before-tax contributions (such as salary sacrifice), these won’t count towards your annual concessional contributions cap. Your West State Super account allows you to accumulate an untaxed benefit of up to $1.865 million4 and still be concessionally taxed.

Choose GESB if you work outside the WA public sector

If you're a GESB member who works outside the WA public sector, you can choose to have your private sector (non-government) employer contributions paid to a GESB Super account.

If you have a West State Super, Gold State Super or Retirement Income account, we will open a GESB Super account for you when we receive your first non-government employer contribution.

Fill out our Fund nomination form and give it to your non-government employer. You can complete the form online and email it directly to your employer’s payroll office.

Complete online nomination form

You can also fill out the PDF nomination form.

Make the most of our tools, services and expertise

If you'd like to learn more and make informed decisions about how to manage your super and retirement savings, we can help. As a GESB member, you have access to:

At GESB, we have over 85 years’ experience managing the super savings of current and former WA public sector employees.

With around 250,000 members and over $46 billion in funds under management (as at 31 December 2025), we're the largest super fund in WA.*

1 SuperRatings Smart database as at 31 March 2025. Based on an average balance of $50,000, fees for the My West State Super option, the My GESB Super option and the RI Allocated Pension Balanced option are below the industry median. Fees includes administration, investment, and transaction fees and costs. Fees may change periodically.
2 This includes lost and unclaimed account transfers to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).
3 If you are a Gold State Super member and currently employed in the WA public sector, you may be eligible to open a West State Super account, provided you have pre-1 July 1983 service.
4 For the 2025/26 financial year, indexed annually in line with Average Weekly Ordinary Time Earnings, in increments of $5,000 rounded down. The untaxed plan cap applies for each untaxed scheme you are a member of. The cap is a per super fund limit, and it is reduced by the total amount of each untaxed element in the fund that you have received from that fund.
* Research Solutions, Member and employer satisfaction research, 2024 and SuperRatings 2025 Annual Benchmarking Report. Ratings are not the only factor to take into account when deciding whether to invest in a financial product.

Page last updated 11 June 2026

Thank you for printing this page. Remember to come back to gesb.wa.gov.au for the latest information as our content is updated regularly. This information is correct as at 23 June 2026.