DATE OF ISSUE: 19 July 1991
AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT ACTUARY
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this instruction is to advise Branch Office staff of the policy to be followed in relation to the use of the Australian Government Actuary (AGA).
BACKGROUND
2.The current policy, as set out in GOSP 5.39.15 is "Where a person purchases an annuity from someone other than a recognised issuer of annuities or enters into an arrangement that is similar to an annuity, attention should be given to whether a person is receiving adequate consideration. It will be necessary to obtain a valuation from the AGA". GOSP 5.39.21 speaks in similar terms about formal surrender of a life interest.
CHANGES
3.The AGA should only be approached to value an annuity or life interest after the following points have been taken into consideration:
.the pensioner is affected under the Assets Test, or
.has assets within $10,000.00 of his Prescribed Assets Limit (PAL).
4.Once these have been established the case should then be referred to the Investment Policy Officer (IPO) to consider whether a valuation by the AGA would be likely to have enough effect on the service pension to cover the costs involved. The Australian Taxation Office has advised that approximately $2,000 is a reasonable fee for this type of valuation.
5.The GOSPs will be amended as part of the rewrite currently being done.
FUNDING
6.As AGA valuations are expected to be extremely rare, no funds will be set aside to cover them. Therefore, each case requiring an AGA valuation will need to be assessed individually and referred to the AGA only if funding is available at that time. Payment would need to be discussed between Central Office and the Branch concerned, however, only in unusual circumstances would Central Office be prepared to pay for such valuations.
CONTACT OFFICER
7.The contact officer for any enquiries regarding the AGA is Ann Molloy, Income Support, Central Office on telephone (06) 289 6440.
PETER HAWKER
NATIONAL PROGRAM DIRECTOR
BENEFITS