Parliamentary Superannuation Board Annual Report

To: Hon. Stephen Mullighan MP, Treasurer

This annual report will be presented to Parliament to meet the statutory reporting requirements of Parliamentary Superannuation Act 1974 and the requirements of Premier and Cabinet Circular PC013 Annual Reporting.

This report is verified to be accurate for the purposes of annual reporting to the Parliament of South Australia.

Submitted on behalf of the Parliamentary Superannuation Board by:

Hon. Terry Stephens MLC
President of the Legislative Council

Overview: about the agency

Our strategic focus
Our organisational structure
Changes to the agency
Legislation administered by Super SA on behalf of the Board
Other related agencies (within the Minister’s area/s of responsibility)
Financial performance
Financial performance at a glance
Other financial information

Public complaints

Number of public complaints reported
Additional metrics
Service improvements
Compliance statement

Appendix: Audited financial statements 2021-22

Our strategic focus

Our Purpose 

To administer the Parliamentary Superannuation Scheme

This report covers the Parliamentary Superannuation Fund established under the Parliamentary Superannuation Act 1974 (Act), and the three schemes that make up the Fund. The Parliamentary Superannuation Fund has the following three schemes:

• The PSS1 scheme, which was closed to new members from 24 August 1995
• The PSS2 scheme, which commenced on 24 August 1995 and was closed to new members from 18 March 2006
• The PSS3 scheme, for Members of Parliament elected on or after 18 March 2006.

Our organisational structure 

The Parliamentary Superannuation Board is comprised of three members, being:

• The Member of Parliament holding the office of President of the Legislative Council
• The Member of Parliament holding the office of Speaker of the House of Assembly
• A person appointed by the Governor on the nomination of the Treasurer.

As at 30 June 2022, the Board comprised the following persons:

Member	Hon. T Stephens MLC	President of the Legislative Council (appointed 3 May 2022)
Member	Hon. D Cregan	Speaker of the House of Assembly (appointed 12 October 2021)
Member	Ms T Pribanic	Deputy Under Treasurer, Department of Treasury and Finance

Ms Dascia Bennett, Chief Executive, Super SA, is the Executive Officer to the Board.

Attendance at Board and Committee meetings

Name	Parliamentary Superannuation Board
	Eligible to attend	Attended
Hon T Stephens	0	0
Hon D Cregan	2	1
Ms T Pribanic	3	3
Hon J Dawkins *	3	3
Hon J Teague *	1	1

*Appointed for part of the financial year

Changes to the agency

During 2021-22 there were no changes to the agency’s structure and objectives as a result of internal reviews or machinery of government changes.

Our Minister

The Hon. Stephen Mullighan MP, Treasurer, oversees the administration of the superannuation legislation for which the Parliamentary Superannuation Board is responsible. 

Legislation administered by Super SA on behalf of the Board

The Parliamentary Superannuation Board is responsible for administering the Parliamentary Superannuation Act 1974.

The Government of South Australia and Commonwealth Government have entered into a Heads of Government Agreement which recognises that public sector schemes are exempt from the Commonwealth’s Superannuation Industry (Supervision) (SIS) Act 1993. Each scheme is, however, deemed to be a complying fund in terms of the SIS Act, for superannuation guarantee purposes under the Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992 and for income tax purposes under the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936.

In terms of the Agreement, the South Australian Government has made a commitment to use best endeavours to ensure that the exempt public sector schemes conform to the principles of the Commonwealth’s retirement income policy objectives.

Other related agencies (within the Minister's area/s of responsibility)

Super SA

Section 11 of the Parliamentary Superannuation Act 1974 enables the Parliamentary Superannuation Board to make use of the staff or facilities of an administrative unit of the SA Public Sector, with the approval of the Minister of that administrative unit. Super SA, a branch of the Department of Treasury and Finance, provides administrative services to the Board.

The annual budget for the operation of the Parliamentary Superannuation Board is presented to the Board for its approval. 

The Board’s service level contract with the Chief Executive of the Department of Treasury and Finance sets out specific performance standards.

Funds SA

Funds are managed by specialist investment manager, Superannuation Funds Management Corporation of South Australia (Funds SA). Funds SA manages investments in accordance with section 13 of the Parliamentary Superannuation Act 1974 and the provisions of the Superannuation Funds Management Corporation of South Australian Act 1995. 

The current Memorandum of Agreement between Funds SA and Super SA was executed in February 2022. Funds SA provides this service under legislation. 

 

Financial performance at a glance

The value of funds under management as at 30 June 2022 was $269 million. During the year, Defined Benefit members (that is, the PSS1 and PSS2 members) contributed $147,000 towards the cost of their accruing benefits. As required under the Act these contributions were paid to the Treasurer for crediting to the Fund.

The costs of administering the three Parliamentary Superannuation schemes are met from the Parliamentary Superannuation Fund. For the 2021-22 financial year, total administration costs were $285,000. This includes the Service Level Contract administration fee and audit charges.

An assessment of the government’s liability for the defined benefit Parliamentary schemes was carried out in respect of members and existing pensioners as at 30 June 2022. The liability was assessed as being $185.6 million in respect of existing pensioners, which compares to $161.4 million as at 30 June 2021. The liability in respect of active members was $10.7 million, compared to $28.5 million as at 30 June 2021.

The Parliamentary Superannuation Fund is established under the Parliamentary Superannuation Act 1974, and the Fund holds both the member and employer (Government) contributions. The intention of the Act indicates the defined benefits for PSS1 and PSS2 members, be fully funded on an annual basis.
The costs to the Fund of benefits paid under the Act during 2021-22 were $13.7 million in respect of the defined benefit scheme and $3.9 million in respect of PSS3 members.

 

Other financial information

The Superannuation Funds Management Corporation of South Australia (Funds SA) manages the investments for each scheme in accordance with section 13(3) of the Parliamentary Superannuation Act 1974.

Each year the Parliamentary Superannuation Board is required by the Act to determine the rate of return to be credited to member accounts, which is based on the investment earnings achieved by Funds SA, the fund’s investment manager. Funds SA separately reports on its operating costs in its annual report to the Treasurer. Funds SA costs are deducted before Funds SA investment unit prices/earning rates are declared. 

Information provided by Funds SA on market and investment trends can be found on the Super SA website at www.supersa.sa.gov.au. Further information on investment choice is included in the PSS3 Member Booklet.

Other information

Membership within the Parliamentary schemes has moved marginally during the 2021-22 year, with no remaining PSS1 members and three PSS2 active members at 30 June 2022. The number of active PSS3 active members increased to 66 over the 2021-22 year. The total number of preserved members across the schemes is currently 19 (previously 9 as at 30 June 2021).

There were no new spouse pensions commencing in 2021-22, and one death of a Parliamentary scheme pensioner during the year.

A breakdown of the pensioner membership as at 30 June 2022 is shown below (membership as at 30 June 2021 is shown for comparison).

Pension category	2022	2021
Retirement	109	104
Spouse	19	19
Child / student	2	2
Associate	3	3
Total	133	128

Public complaints

Number of public complaints reported

Complaint categories	Sub-categories	Example	Number of Complaints 2021-22
Professional behaviour	Staff attitude	Failure to demonstrate values such as empathy, respect, fairness, courtesy, extra mile; cultural competency	0
Professional behaviour	Staff competency	Failure to action service request; poorly informed decisions; incorrect or incomplete service provided	0
Professional behaviour	Staff knowledge	Lack of service specific knowledge; incomplete or out-of-date knowledge	0
Communication	Communication quality	Inadequate, delayed or absent communication with customer	0
Communication	Confidentiality	Customer’s confidentiality or privacy not respected; information shared incorrectly	0
Service delivery	Systems/technology	System offline; inaccessible to customer; incorrect result/information provided; poor system design	0
Service delivery	Access to services	Service difficult to find; location poor; facilities/ environment poor standard; not accessible to customers with disabilities	0
Service delivery	Process	Processing error; incorrect process used; delay in processing application; process not customer responsive	0
Policy	Policy application	Incorrect policy interpretation; incorrect policy applied; conflicting policy advice given	0

Policy	Policy content	Policy content difficult to understand; policy unreasonable or disadvantages customer	0
Service quality	Information	Incorrect, incomplete, out dated or inadequate information; not fit for purpose	0
Service quality	Access to information	Information difficult to understand, hard to find or difficult to use; not plain English	0
Service quality	Timeliness	Lack of staff punctuality; excessive waiting times (outside of service standard); timelines not met	0
Service quality	Safety	Maintenance; personal or family safety; duty of care not shown; poor security service/ premises; poor cleanliness	0
Service quality	Service responsiveness	Service design doesn’t meet customer needs; poor service fit with customer expectations	0
No case to answer	No case to answer	Third party; customer misunderstanding; redirected to another agency; insufficient information to investigate	0
		Total	0

Additional metrics	Total
Number of positive feedback comments	0
Number of negative feedback comments	0
Total number of feedback comments	0
% complaints resolved within policy timeframes	N/A

Data for previous years is available here

Service improvements

N/A

Compliance statement

Super SA is compliant with Premier and Cabinet Circular 039 – complaint management in the South Australian public sector	Yes
Super SA has communicated the content of PC 039 and the agency’s related complaints policies and procedures to employees	Yes

 

View the Audited financial statements 2021-22