Legislative Assembly Members' Pensions Act 1979

(1) On the death of a former member who was receiving a pension under this Part, the spouse of that former member shall be entitled to an annual pension at the rate of:

(a) in the case where the former member had not converted any part of his or her pension entitlement to a lump sum payment:

(i) five-sixths of the pension that would have been payable, from time to time, to the former member but for his or her death; or

whichever is the greater amount; and

(b) in the case where the former member had converted part of his or her pension entitlement to a lump sum payment – five-sixths of the pension that would have been payable, from time to time, to the former member but for his or her death,

but the spouse shall be entitled to no pension if the former member had converted his or her entire pension entitlement to a lump sum payment.

(2) On the death of a member who has been elected on 3 occasions and has served for an aggregate period of 8 years, the spouse of that member shall, be entitled to an annual pension at the rate of:

(a) five-sixths of the pension that would have been payable, from time to time, to the member but for his or her death if he or she had ceased to be a member on the date of his or her death and was entitled to a pension under section 19; or

whichever is the greater amount.

(3) On the death of a member before he or she has been elected on 3 occasions and has served for an aggregate period of 8 years, a pension shall be paid to his or her spouse, at the same rate as that applying under subsection (2) and, for that purpose, the member’s pension calculated under section 19(1) shall be multiplied by 8 and divided by the member’s period of service in years (with a part year being taken into account as a fraction of a whole year calculated on the basis of days).

(4) Subject to subsection (5), where a member dies leaving a dependent child but no spouse, or where a former member who was receiving a pension under this Act dies leaving a dependent child but no spouse, or where the spouse of a deceased person who was before the person's death receiving a pension under this Act dies leaving a dependent child, there is payable to such person or persons as the Commissioner thinks fit, an allowance in respect of such child or children of an amount equal to the following percentage of the pension that was payable to the deceased spouse of the deceased member or former member, or that would have been payable had the person survived the deceased member or former member:

one child – 45%

2 children – 80%

3 children – 90%

4 or more children – 100%

(5) An amount otherwise payable under subsection (4) in respect of a dependent child shall, where the child is a dependent child of a former member or the spouse of a deceased member who has converted a part of his or her or her pension entitlement to a lump sum payment, be reduced by the same proportion as the proportion of the pension entitlement that was converted to a lump sum payment bears to the whole amount of the original pension entitlement of the former member or spouse, as the case may be and, if the whole of the pension entitlement has been converted into a lump sum payment, there should be no entitlement to an allowance under subsection (4).

(6) A dependent child of a member who died in office without leaving a surviving spouse, or a person acting on behalf of such a child, may, within 6 months after the date of death of the member, apply to the Commissioner to have a lump sum equal to 2.5 times the amount of the deceased member's accumulation account distributed for the dependent child's benefit as a lump sum payment in lieu of an allowance under subsection (4) and the Commissioner may, in the Commissioner's absolute discretion, after receiving and considering such actuarial advice, if any, as the Commissioner thinks fit and taking into account whether the payment of an allowance rather than the lump sum benefit would be to the advantage of that or any other dependent child, distribute the lump sum benefit amongst the deceased member's dependent and non-dependent children in such proportion as, in the opinion of the Commissioner, is equitable in the circumstances.

(7) Where an amount in respect of an infant or other person under a legal disability is paid under this section by the Commissioner to a person having the care or control of the infant or other person or the infant's or other person's property, the Commissioner is not bound to see to the application of that amount.

(8) Where at the time of death, a member or former member had more than one spouse, the aggregate amount payable under this section must not exceed the amount that would have been payable if at the time of death there was had only one spouse, and the Commissioner, in the Commissioner's absolute discretion, may apportion any such amount between the spouses as, in the opinion of the Commissioner, is equitable in the circumstances.