An indexed pension may be payable to a Police Superannuation Scheme (PSS) member who:
- received a hurt on duty (HOD) medical discharge
- received a not hurt on duty (NHOD) medical discharge and had been a member of the scheme for at least 20 years
- retired at or after age 55 (early voluntary or normal retirement) and did not elect to commute their pension to a lump sum.
An indexed pension may also be paid to:
- an eligible spouse as a result of a PSS pension member's death
- a deceased member's spouse or de facto partner, mother, father, children or any relatives who, within the meaning of the Workers Compensation Act 1987, were wholly or partly dependent on the deceased, where the Commissioner of Police determines that the member's death was the result of being HOD
- a dependent child up to 18 years of age, or up to 21 if the child is a full-time student in an approved course of study.
Important note regarding commutation: If you commute part of your pension to a lump sum, any spouse or de facto partner pension payable in the event of your death will be based on the pension being paid at that time. If you commute all of your pension to a lump sum, a spouse or partner pension will not be payable in the event of your death. Please refer to PSS Fact Sheet 6: Death benefits for more information.
Pension payments
To assist you with the planning of your bills around your fortnightly pension payments State Super has created a pension pay day calendar, which you can download at your convenience.
Your pension will be adjusted each year in accordance with the percentage movement in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) (All Groups Index). For more information, please refer to CPI adjustment of your pension.
For more information refer to STC Fact Sheet 11: CPI Adjustment of your pension
Communications to our pension members
If you are under age 60, State Super will send you a PAYG payment summary, which you will need to include with your annual income tax return. For more information, please refer to PAYG payment summary.
All pension members will receive a Pensioner Details Confirmation form in October each year that you must complete and return to the scheme administrator, Mercer, within four weeks. If you do not return the form within the required timeframe and we are unable to contact you, your pension may be suspended.
Completing this form each year reduces the risk of pension overpayments and helps State Super locate potential reversionary beneficiaries.
State Super has a responsibility to protect the assets held in trust for current and future beneficiaries. This includes implementing necessary procedures to ensure, as far as possible, that pensions are paid only to those entitled to them and cease to be paid when a pension member passes away.
Pension suspension
If your pension is suspended, it will be reinstated when Mercer receives a completed Pensioner Details Confirmation form. You will receive pension arrears for the period that your pension was suspended.
If you will be away from home during October in any year, it is important that you let us know in advance by contacting Customer Service on 1300 652 113.
Change of contact or banking details
To minimise the risk of overpayment, State Super will suspend pension payments if any correspondence sent to a pension member is returned unclaimed and we are unable to contact the member. It is therefore important that you notify State Super of any changes to your contact details, including your residential address and telephone numbers.
If your contact details have changed, please complete Pension Form 301: Change of contact details. If your banking details have changed or will soon change, please complete STC Form 207: Change of personal and banking details.