Indexation

Further information on the Fair Indexation campaign, including the new indexation arrangements for DFRB and DFRDB superannuants that took effect on 1 July 2014, can be found on the ADSO website.

PRIVATE MEMBERS LOBBYING - JIM HISLOP AND HERB ELLERBOCK.

Reduction of DFRDB Benefits.  On 16 February 2017 Herb Ellerbock made a detail submission to expose a gross reduction and denial of recipient benefits in the Defence Force Retirement and Death Benefits (DFRDB) scheme. Some aspects apply equally to recipients in the Defence Force Retirement Benefits (DFRB) scheme.  Read his detailed submission here.  A response from Government was received.and does nothing to suggest the Government will re-visit the issue, and no reference is made to updating the long out of date life tables. Read the considered rebuttal of the Governmen's response here.  It is clear that the issues were not analysed in any objective manner, and simplly relied on the bureaucrats feeding the same rubbish to the Minister that has been the hallmark of this matter for decades.

- an Executive Summary of the submission includes a link to an online presentation and is well worth a look

December 2018 update: since the above submission was released, their position has changed in the light of new evidence... read their latest here.. 

14 January 2019: Read the article in The Australian here !

Please note that their website provides regular Updates on their lobbying and is the best site for updated information

SUPERANNUATION LOSS CALCULATOR

A superannuant can 'Calculate their own Loss', courtesy SCOA.

THE ISSUE IN SUMMARY

A 2001 Senate Review Committee concluded that the original intent of Commonwealth was to provide retirement pay/pensions that maintained purchasing power and that CPI was insufficient to meet that contractual criteria. More than a decade on and they are still "spinning their wheels".

The present military superannuation payment represents an unacceptable minimal level.  Governments must maintain the real value of these payments by adopting an appropriate method of indexation.

Military pensions were originally indexed by the CPI to maintain their value relative to national wages. In the last 15-20 years, national standards of living have increased in real terms, which are not reflected if relying on the CPI in its present form. Acknowledging this, in 1997 the then-Government changed the method of indexing the Aged and Service Pensions from CPI to a combination of CPI and Male Total Average Weekly Earnings (MTAWE) and the present Government further extended this formula to include the "Pensioner and Beneficiaries Living Cost Index" to keep pace with increase in prices and improvements in community living standards.

Military retirement and invalidity pensions now stand out as being more harshly treated than almost every other long-term Commonwealth payment that is subject to regular indexing to maintain its value.

We want the Federal Government to adopt the same percentage increase and the same frequency as used for Age and Service pensions for all components of Military retirement pensions (DFRB/DFRDB/MSBS) including the total reversionary pension for partners of deceased military superannuation pensioners.

Click on this image for a bigger version

Note: In this graph, 'Male Total Average Weekly Earnings' (MTAWE) is the base constant (along the zero line) against which the relative cumulative percentage increase or decrease exists with respect to other classes of Commonwealth pensions or superannuation entitlements as shown.

Links to some Indexation related matters prior to 2014 are below: