Are you an RBF Defined Benefits superannuation member?

Are you an RBF Defined Benefits superannuation member? Do you know that there are changes coming to your super that you may not agree with? Please read the below and take action by clicking the submit your feedback button at the bottom of this email

In 2017 the Tasmanian Government disbanded the state’s public sector superannuation fund, Retirement Benefits Fund (RBF). At the time, it transferred RBF members with accumulation accounts to Tasplan Superannuation and established a Superannuation Commission to manage the RBF Defined Benefits Scheme.

Following consultation with public sector unions and other stakeholders three Superannuation Commissioners were appointed to manage the scheme. The Chair was Kerry Adby and the Commissioners were Chris Bevan (President of the Tasmanian Association of State Superannuants) and Leigh Mackay (from Ogilvie Jennings). All three had experience with defined benefits superannuation. They were the Trustees of the scheme – responsible for administering the scheme, including around $2.1 billion in contributions, in the best interests of the members of the scheme.

In October 2019, without any communication with stakeholders, the Treasurer decided not to renew the term of the Chair and replaced her with Evelyn Horton. Ms Horton has a wide range of experience in banking and sits on several Boards including some appointed by the Tasmanian Government. Her biography on the Treasury website doesn’t include any reference to experience with defined benefits superannuation schemes, however she was a Director of NULIS Nominees, the NAB’s superannuation Trustee.

In June 2020 Premier Gutwein announced that as part of his COVID-19 recovery plan $200m from the $2.1b managed by the RBF trustees would be made available for investing in Tasmania and the ‘options’ on how this money would be invested would be determined by the Premier’s Economic & Social Recovery Advisory Committee (PESRAC). The aim of the investment would be to ‘increase economic activity, create jobs and strengthen social outcomes’. (see media statement 4 June 2020)

The $2.1 billion managed by the RBF Trustees is a combination of employee contributions, the fortnightly contributions defined benefits members make from their pay each fortnight, the employer contributions made by a few employers and interest earned on investing this money. This money is invested by the Trustees to maximise earnings and the money earned from those investments reduces the amount the State Government needs to allocate each year to fund its unfunded liability. In 2018/19 the after-tax earnings on these investments was 6.47% which reduced the Government’s budget allocation by around $98 million.

It wasn’t clear at the time of the June announcement how the Premier could require the RBF Trustees to invest the money they held on behalf of members of the scheme in the way he proposed. His statement said ‘Treasury will implement arrangements, whereby up to 10 per cent of the Fund’s investments will be invested in Tasmania…’

On 29 August 2020, the Premier announced, again without any consultation, that he would not be renewing the terms of the remaining two Superannuation Commissioners, Chris Bevan and Leigh Mackey, and that effective 1 October 2020, there would be only one Trustee, the relatively newly appointed Chair, Evelyn Horton. This means it will be Ms Horton alone who decides whether $200 million worth of the assets she is now the sole Trustee of, should be invested in a Tasmanian Economic and Social Investment Fund on options identified by PESRAC.

The ANMF has several concerns about these decisions:

The RBF Trustees administer the fund on behalf of its members.
Consultation occurred on the initial appointments and there should have been consultation with fund members and their representatives before the Treasurer decided to change the Trustees
The Trustees are appointed to administer and manage the fund for the sole purpose of ‘providing benefits on retirement to members of the contributory scheme.’ They are responsible for making investment decisions over all the assets they manage consistent with this purpose.

We are not saying anyone’s superannuation entitlements are at risk.

Even if $200 million is taken from the fund, the Government is still responsible for the whole unfunded liability but there are often public criticisms of the superannuation liability and if the Government reduce the funds the Trustee manages then the returns will fall and the Government will need to allocate more money in the budget each year to fund the superannuation of members of the defined benefit scheme as they retire.

Let your Trustee know what you think.

An email contact for for the RBF Trustee is not easily accessible, so we will be sending your feedback by hard mail. Click on the link below, answer a few questions to indicate if you are one of the 5,000 RBF Defined Benefit Contributory members, one of 11,200 people with an interest in RBF (mostly compulsory preserved accounts) or one of the 9,800 RBF pension members and tell us the message you’d like to pass on to your Trustee. We’ll then collate all the responses, deidentify them, and send them to Ms Horton. We’ll also send you any response we receive.

Please contribute your feedback by 19 October 2020 so we can collate and send it.

CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT YOUR FEEDBACK

Updates correct as at 6 October 2020.
Authorised by Emily Shepherd, ANMF Tasmanian Branch Secretary

ASSISTANCE & SUPPORT

Member Support Team: The ANMF Tasmanian Branch is 8000 plus members strong! Supporting nurses, midwives, and care workers as the only union in Tasmania employing nurses and care workers to represent members. This is why our Organisers and Member Support Team are uniquely positioned to understand your experiences, represent you in your workplace, and offer industrial advice that’s relevant to you. Please contact our Member Support Team if you need workplace support, would like to discuss any matters or raise a concern. Alternatively, you can send an email outlining your concerns to our team - membersupport@anmftas.org.au. Email is the preferred and fastest way of contacting the team, however if your matter is urgent, please phone (03) 6223 6777 or 1800 001 241 if you are outside of Hobart.

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