1Short title
This Act may be cited as the Parliamentary Superannuation Act 1970 1.
[Section 1 amended: No. 54 of 1980 s. 1.]
This Act may be cited as the Parliamentary Superannuation Act 1970 1.
[Section 1 amended: No. 54 of 1980 s. 1.]
Subject to subsection (2), this Act shall come into operation on the date on which it receives the Royal Assent 1.
Part IV shall be deemed to have come into operation on 1 January 1970.
[3. Deleted: No. 58 of 1986 s. 3.]
The Acts set out in the Schedule are repealed.
In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears —
basic salary —
in relation to any period when the remuneration of members was fixed under the Parliamentary Salaries and Allowances Act 1967 2 — has the same meaning as in section 4 of that Act; and
in relation to any period when the remuneration of members is fixed under the Salaries and Allowances Act 1975 — means the remuneration from time to time specified in any determination made under that Act as the basic salary of Members of Parliament generally;
benefit certificate has the meaning given in the SG(A) Act section 10;
Board means the Parliamentary Superannuation Board established by section 6(1);
closing day means the day on which the Parliamentary Superannuation Legislation Amendment Act 2000 comes into operation;
complying superannuation fund has the meaning given in the SG(A) Act section 7;
election means any election for the Legislative Council or the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia;
Index means the table described as the Consumer Price Index Numbers — All Groups, Perth that is published by the Statistician under the authority of the Census and Statistics Act 1905 (as amended or re‑enacted from time to time) of the Commonwealth;
individual superannuation guarantee shortfall has the meaning given in the SG(A) Act section 19;
member means a member of the Legislative Council or the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia;
pay day means a day on which a fortnightly instalment of pension is payable under this Act;
repealed Act means the Parliamentary Superannuation Act 1948;
salary, in relation to a member —
in relation to any period when the remuneration of members was fixed under the Parliamentary Salaries and Allowances Act 1967 2 — means the member’s basic salary together with any salary of the kind specified in the Third or Fourth Schedule to that Act; and
in relation to any period when the remuneration of members is fixed under the Salaries and Allowances Act 1975 — means the member’s basic salary together with any additional remuneration paid pursuant to a determination made under that Act which is designated in the determination to be salary payable to the member as a Minister of the Crown, as an Officer of Parliament or as the Parliamentary Secretary of the Cabinet;
scheme means the scheme of superannuation and other benefits provided for by this Act other than section 29;
SG(A) Act means the Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992 (Commonwealth);
spouse or de facto partner, in relation to a member or former member, means —
the widow or widower of the member or former member; or
a person who, at the time of the member’s or former member’s death, was a de facto partner of the member;
Tribunal means the Salaries and Allowances Tribunal established by section 5 of the Salaries and Allowances Act 1975.
For the purposes of this Act a member shall be deemed not to have ceased to be a member by reason only of retirement by effluxion of time from the Legislative Council or, as the case may be, the expiration by effluxion of time or dissolution of the Legislative Assembly.
A member of the Legislative Assembly who ceases or ceased to be a member thereof by reason of the dissolution of that House or the expiry thereof by effluxion of time shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, to cease or to have ceased to be a member on the day fixed for the taking of the poll next following the dissolution or expiry.
[(4) deleted]
For the purposes of this Act a de facto relationship is to be regarded as a marriage that took place at the time when that person commenced to be the de facto partner of the member or former member notwithstanding that either that person or the member or former member, or each of them, may during the subsistence of that relationship have been legally married to another person or in another de facto relationship.
If under section 11 contributions have been made to the scheme in respect of a member then for the purposes of this Act the member is deemed to have made the contributions to the scheme.
[Section 5 amended: No. 94 of 1975 s. 3; No. 54 of 1980 s. 3; No. 58 of 1986 s. 4; No. 31 of 1989 s. 4; No. 37 of 2000 s. 5; No. 3 of 2002 s. 90; No. 34 of 2011 s. 4 and 15.]
The procedure for the calling of meetings of the Board and the conduct of meetings shall, subject to this Act, be as determined by the Board.
A quorum for a meeting is 4 Board members.
A decision supported by a majority of the votes cast at a meeting is the decision of the Board.
The chairperson has a deliberative vote and if necessary a casting vote.
[Section 7 inserted: No. 31 of 1989 s. 5; amended: No. 34 of 2011 s. 6.]
The Board may appoint and employ persons to assist it in administering the scheme.
The Board may engage under contract for services any professional, technical or other assistance that the Board considers necessary to assist it in administering the scheme.
[Section 8 inserted: No. 37 of 2000 s. 6.]
Part IIA — Scheme participants
[Heading inserted: No. 37 of 2000 s. 7.]
This Act, other than section 29, and the scheme do not apply to or in relation to a person who becomes a member on or after closing day unless immediately before closing day the person was a member.
[Section 9 inserted: No. 37 of 2000 s. 7.]
[10. Deleted: No. 34 of 2011 s. 7]
While a person is a member, contributions shall be made to the scheme in respect of the person of an amount calculated on such basis as is determined from time to time by the Tribunal.
If the contributions in respect of a member are not paid by the State as part of the member’s remuneration they are to be deducted from the member’s salary.
The contributions in respect of a member shall be credited to the Consolidated Account.
[Section 11 inserted: No. 37 of 2000 s. 8(1) 3; amended: No. 77 of 2006 s. 4.]
[12. Deleted: No. 31 of 1989 s. 8.]
In this Part, unless the contrary intention appears —
basic pension in relation to a member who has contributed to the scheme for not less than 7 years, means the amount calculated at the rate of the specified basic percentage of the basic salary payable to the member immediately before ceasing to be a member, together with a further specified percentage of that basic salary for each completed period of one month, up to the specified maximum number of such periods, in excess of that 7 years for which the member has duly contributed to the scheme; and
specified means specified in a determination made under the Salaries and Allowances Act 1975.
Subject to section 20(2) a reference in this Part, however expressed, to a period for which a person made contributions to the scheme means —
any period for which the person made contributions under section 11(1); and
any period for which the person made contributions to the Fund —
under the repealed Act; or
maintained under the Members of Parliament Fund Act 1941 4; or
maintained under this Act before the commencement of the Acts Amendment (Parliamentary Superannuation) Act 1989 1,
and includes, where a person has made contributions in respect of 2 or more separated periods of service as a member, every period for which the person so contributed, irrespective of any pension, refund of contributions with interest or other benefit received upon ceasing to be a member at the termination of any of those periods of service as a member.
A reference in this Part to payment of an amount to or into the scheme is, in respect of a payment made or required to be made after the commencement of the Acts Amendment (Parliamentary Superannuation) Act 1989 1, a reference to payment of that amount to the Consolidated Account.
[Section 13 amended: No. 94 of 1975 s. 5; No. 54 of 1980 s. 5; No. 58 of 1986 s. 6; No. 31 of 1989 s. 9; No. 6 of 1993 s. 11; No. 77 of 2006 s. 4; No. 34 of 2011 s. 15.]
Subject to this Act, every person who, after the coming into operation of the Acts Amendment (Parliamentary Superannuation) Act 1986 1, ceases to be a member and —
has contributed to the scheme for not less than 12 years; or
has contributed to the scheme for not less than 7 years but less than 12 years and —
has attained the age of 55 years upon so ceasing to be a member; or
has so contributed for the duration of not less than 3 complete Parliaments; or
so ceases to be a member upon being defeated at an election; or
so ceases to be a member on the ground of ill health and satisfies the Board that ceasing to be a member on that ground is warranted; or
so ceases to be a member upon resigning or declining to seek re‑election for reasons which, in either case, the Board considers good and sufficient,
is entitled, on ceasing to be a member, to be paid an annual pension at the rate ascertained in accordance with subsection (3a).
Without limiting the other reasons for declining to seek re‑election that the Board may consider good and sufficient for the purposes of subsection (1)(b)(iv), a member has, for the purposes of that provision, good and sufficient reasons for declining to seek re‑election if the member satisfies the Board that —
the member could be reasonably expected to so decline if unable to obtain the endorsement of a political party; and
the member has, after making reasonable endeavours to obtain the endorsement of a political party, been unable to obtain such endorsement; and
the member’s inability to obtain such endorsement does not result from circumstances substantially within the member’s control.
For the purposes of this Act, where —
a Member of the Legislative Council resigns in order to seek election to the Legislative Assembly —
the member shall, whether or not elected to the Legislative Assembly, be deemed to have continued to be a Member of the Legislative Council during the period between the day on which the resignation took effect and the day on which the election for the Legislative Assembly took place if, within 3 months of that lastmentioned day the member pays to the scheme a sum equal to the contributions which would have been required had the member continued to be a Member of the Legislative Council during that period, and the member, if defeated at the election for the Legislative Assembly, shall be entitled to the same pension, if any, to which the member would have been entitled on ceasing to be a Member of the Legislative Council on the day on which the election for the Legislative Assembly was conducted by reason of being defeated at an election conducted on that day; and
if the member dies prior to the day on which the election for the Legislative Assembly takes place, the member shall be deemed to have continued to be a Member of the Legislative Council until death, but for the purposes of calculating the rate at which pension, if any, is payable as from the date of death to the member’s spouse or de facto partner, the member shall be deemed to have died on the day on which the resignation took effect;
and
a Member of the Legislative Assembly does not seek re‑election for that House in order to seek election for the Legislative Council —
the member shall, if elected to the Legislative Council, be deemed to have continued to be a Member of the Legislative Assembly during the period commencing on the day of ceasing to be a Member of the Legislative Assembly and ending on the day of the declaration of the poll on which, by reason of being so elected, the member becomes a Member of the Legislative Council if, within 3 months of that lastmentioned day, the member pays to the scheme a sum equal to the contributions which would have been required had the member continued to be a Member of the Legislative Assembly during that period; and
[(ii) deleted]
the member shall, if defeated at the election for the Legislative Council, be entitled to the same pension, if any, to which the member would have been entitled, if defeated at an election for the Legislative Assembly conducted on the same day as that on which the election for the Legislative Council took place, irrespective of whether such an election for the Legislative Assembly was actually conducted on that day; and
the member shall, in the event of dying before the election for the Legislative Council takes place, be deemed to have continued to be a Member of the Legislative Assembly until death, but for the purposes of calculating the rate at which pension, if any, is payable as from the date of death to the member’s spouse or de facto partner, the member shall be deemed to have died on the day of ceasing to be a Member of the Legislative Assembly.
Subject to this Act —
every person, other than a person referred to in paragraph (b), who has been a member and was, immediately prior to the coming into operation of the Acts Amendment (Parliamentary Superannuation) Act 1986 1, in receipt of pension under this Act, is entitled to be paid an annual pension at the rate ascertained in accordance with subsection (4); and
every person who has been a member and was, immediately prior to 1 January 1970, in receipt of pension payable under the repealed Act, is entitled to be paid an annual pension at the rate ascertained in accordance with subsection (5).
Where a person who ceases to be a member is not, under the provisions of subsection (1), entitled to be paid a pension the person shall be paid an amount equal to twice the sum of the person’s contributions to the scheme under this Act or the repealed Act together with interest thereon at the rate of 10% per annum or at such other rate as may be determined by the Tribunal, less any amount previously refunded under this subsection or any corresponding provision of the repealed Act.
For the purposes of subsection (1), the rate per annum of pension payable to a person entitled to pension under that subsection is the basic pension or, where the total salary paid to that person while that person was making contributions to the scheme was in excess of the total basic salary paid to that person during that time, a higher amount calculated on such basis as is from time to time determined under the Salaries and Allowances Act 1975.
For the purposes of subsection (2)(a), the rate per annum of pension payable to a person entitled to pension under that provision is the rate ascertained in accordance with the formula
[Image unavailable: official WA source graphic]
where —
A is the basic pension of the person; and
B is the total salary paid to that person while that person was making contributions to the scheme; and
C is the total basic salary paid to that person while that person was making contributions to the scheme.
For the purposes of subsection (2)(b), the rate per annum of pension payable to a person entitled to pension under that provision is the rate ascertained in accordance with the formula
[Image unavailable: official WA source graphic]
where —
A is the basic pension of the person; and
B is the total salary paid to that person while that person was making contributions to the scheme; and
C is the total basic salary paid to that person while that person was making contributions to the scheme; and
D is one‑third of the difference between B and C.
Nothing in this section entitles a member to be paid pension in respect of any portion of an annual pension entitlement which has been converted to a lump sum payment under section 16(2).
[Section 14 amended: No. 94 of 1975 s. 6; No. 54 of 1980 s. 6; No. 58 of 1986 s. 7; No. 6 of 1988 s. 5; No. 31 of 1989 s. 10 and 15; No. 37 of 2000 s. 9; No. 3 of 2002 s. 91(1); No. 34 of 2011 s. 8 and 15.]
[15, 15A. Deleted: No. 37 of 2000 s. 10.]
Showing the first 10 of 37 provisions. See all provisions