DATE OF ISSUE:  06 January 2011

January 2011 – Reassessment of Comsuper, Victorian State and Victorian Vision Superannuation Pensions

Amends DI No.	N/A
Replaces DI No.	N/A

Purpose of instruction	The purpose of this Departmental Instruction is to provide information about the January 2011 reassessment of ComSuper (including Commonwealth Superannuation Scheme (CSS), Public Sector Superannuation Scheme (PSS), Defence Force Retirement a — nd Death Benefit Scheme (DFRDB) & Military Superannuation Benefit Scheme (MSBS)) and the Victorian based (Victorian State, State Employees Retirement Benefits Scheme (SERB) and Vision Super) Superannuation pensions.
Background	ComSuper and the Victorian based superannuation pensions are adjusted bi-annually in January and July.  Since January 2010 ComSuper and the Victorian based superannuation pensions have been adjusted in one processing run. T — he cost of living increase to be applied to the ComSuper pensions in the January 2011 adjustment is 1.30%. The cost of living increase to be applied to the Victorian based pensions in January 2011 is 1.53%.
Processing date	Reassessment processing to reflect the January 2011 CPI increases to ComSuper and the Victorian based superannuation pensions will be conducted over two evenings:   QLD & VIC on Monday, 10 January 2011; and   NSW, TAS, SA & WA on Tuesday, 11 January 2011. Following the completion of the processing, the data file will be transmitted to the mailing house for printing and lodgment with Australia Post of the advices .
Effective date	The effective date of the reassessment will be 11 January 2011. On pension payday 27 January 2011, pensioners will receive a full instalment at the new assessed rate.
Advice letter target audience	A letter will be produced for income support pensioners in receipt of ComSuper (CSS, PSS, DFRDB & MSBS), the Victorian based superannuation pensions (Victorian State, SERB & Vision Super), and whose pension has been varied by the reassessment run.  There will be approximately 22,000 advice letters produced nationally.
Advices content and presentation	The advice will comprise of a 2 page letter and a Payment Information Attachment.  The advice will inform clients of the outcome to their pension reassessment and provide information on gross superannuation income, deductible and/or non-deductible amounts.  The information relating to their super payment is presented in a tabular format. The advice will also provide the client with their Financial Obligations (prescribed rates) and a right of review. Please see Attachment A which shows a sample of:   A ComSuper advice for clients with a deductible amount; and   A ComSuper advice for clients without a deductible amount   A C — omSuper advice for clients with both a deductible and non-deductible amount.
DFISA Payments – Impact on Advices	All DVA age pensioners who are eligible to commence payment of Defence Force Income Support Allowance (DFISA) or whose DFISA payment is varied, continued or cancelled will receive an advice letter following the processing run.
Printing and mailing of advice letters	The advice letters will be printed and mailed through the Department's contracted mailing house, SALMAT.  All letters will be lodged with Australia Post as a national lodgment by COB Friday, 14 January 2011.
Letters for Tasmanian State Office with Overseas Addressees	The advice letters produced for Tasmanian State Office clients who have an overseas address will be printed, enveloped and sent from the mailing house.
DVA – Income Support Contact Officers	A contact person from each location acts as a liaison point for the Advices Team, and to assist with the handling of streamed advices printed at each nominated location printer. The Income Su — pport (IS) Location Contacts for the January 2011 ComSuper processing exercise are as follows: NSW:Genia Sacharczuk VIC:Arthur Morihovitis QLD:Steve Jensen SA:Maria Nasilowski WA:Michelle Pauly TAS:Bryon Kelly
Enclosure (Treatment change) Advice Letters	Following the January 2011 ComSuper processing, the Enclosure (treatment change) letters will be printed at the nominated printer at each state office location. It is requested that the streamed advice letters be checked for accuracy, and reconciled against the reports received in each location to ensure they reflect the correct treatment paragraphs. If any advice with incorrect treatment information is found, please consult with the Income Support System Support Officers to ensure correct information is provided in the manual replacement advice.
Reduction to Nil Letters	A — ny Reduction to Nil advice letters will be printed at the nominated printer for each location.  Staff are required to include a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card (CSHC) claim form, a CSHC fact sheet and a reply paid envelope with the advice letter.
'Held' advices to be forced	As part of the batch processing run any advices in 'held' status will be forced to print.  Forced 'held' advices will print at the nominated printer in each office.
Location of printers	The streamed advices are to be printed at the following printers: NSW - N607P QLD - Q403P SA - S116P TAS - T003P VIC - V011P WA - W014P
Contacts	For Advice issues – Anissa Lam (02) 9213 7169 or Vasu Sarpeshkar (02) 9213 7234. For Systems issues – Kevin Chapman (02) 6289 6749.

Maralyn Newman

A/g National Manager

Income Support

   January 2011

ATTACHMENT A

• COMSUPER ADVICES FOR CLIENT WITH A 'DEDUCTIBLE AMOUNT'

GPO Box 9998, Brisbane  QLD  4001

Contact:              Brisbane Office

Telephone: Macarthur Tower

              259 Queen Street

              Brisbane QLD 4000

123 456 789  044              Postal Address:

JOHN SMITH              GPO Box 9998 Brisbane QLD 4001

MARY SMITH

29 MARGARET STREET              Telephone:

IPSWICH   QLD   4010              Capital city callers: 133 254

              Non-Capital city callers: 1800 555 254

              Facsimile: (07) 3223 8479

              11 January 2011

              YOUR FILE NUMBER IS QX123456

Dear Mr and Mrs SMITH,

This is to advise that your T-PENSION-SP-ISS-AP has been reduced.  This change will take effect from 11 January 2011.

Payment Information
Details of your payments are provided in the Payment Information Attachment.

Superannuation Pension Reassessment
Your superannuation fund has notified Veterans' Affairs of the new income details for your superannuation pension.  The new income details are shown in the table below.  This income is used to work out the rate of your T-PENSION-SP-ISS-AP.

Name	Description	Gross Income	Deductible Amount (tax free component)	Assessed Income
JOHN SMITH	ComSuper (CSS & PSS)	$585.95	$135.50	$450.45

Financial Obligations

You need to tell us within 14 days (28 days if you are living overseas or receive remote are allowance) if your combined gross income from all sources is more than $xxx.xx per fortnight or the value of your combined assets is more than $xxx,000.00.

Your Right of Review
If you do not agree with this variation to your pension, you may apply to have it reviewed by a Review Officer at this office.  If you do decide to apply, you must do so within three months of being advised of this decision.  Such a request for review must be in writing, and must set out your reasons for seeking this review.

If you have any questions about any of the above matters please contact this office at the address or telephone number shown at the top of this letter.

Yours sincerely,

ALISON STANLEY

Deputy Commissioner

As Delegate of the Secretary and Repatriation Commission

PAYMENT INFORMATION ATTACHMENT

The Department now calculates service pension payments on a daily basis.  This means that your fortnightly pension payment is made up of 14 days of entitlement of pension.  Therefore, when there is a change to your circumstances on any particular day in the fortnight - your pension will be adjusted from that day.  For that reason your pension payment may be different for one or two paydays after a reassessment.

Payment for 27 JANUARY 2011Veteran Partner

• CLIENT DOES NOT HAVE A 'DEDUCTIBLE AMOUNT'  - BOTH VET AND SPOUSE HAVE INCOME FROM SUPER

GPO Box 9998, Brisbane  QLD  4001

Contact:              Brisbane Office

Telephone: Macarthur Tower

              259 Queen Street

              Brisbane QLD  4000

123 456 789  027              Postal Address:

JEFFREY LYONS              GPO Box 9998 Brisbane QLD 4001

LUCY LYONS

30 ELIZABETH STREET              Telephone:

TOOWOOMBA   QLD   4010              Capital city callers: 133 254

              Non-Capital city callers: 1800 555 254

              Facsimile: (07) 3223 8479

              11 January 2011

              YOUR FILE NUMBER IS QX123456

Dear Mr and Mrs LYONS,

This is to advise that your service pension has been reduced.  This change will take effect from 11 January 2011.

Payment Information
Details of your payments are provided in the Payment Information Attachment.

Superannuation Pension Reassessment
Your superannuation fund has notified Veterans' Affairs of the new income details for your superannuation pension.  The new income details are shown in the table below.  This income is used to work out the rate of your T-PENSION-SP-ISS-AP.

Name	Description	Assessed Income
JEFFREY LYONS	ComSuper (DFRDB & MSBS)	$450.95
LUCY LYONS	ComSuper (CSS & PSS)	$265.00

Financial Obligations

You need to tell us within 14 days (28 days if you are living overseas or receive remote are allowance) if your combined gross income from all sources is more than $xxx.xx per fortnight or the value of your combined assets is more than $xxx,000.00.

Your Right of Review
If you do not agree with this variation to your pension, you may apply to have it reviewed by a Review Officer at this office.  If you do decide to apply, you must do so within three months of being advised of this decision.  Such a request for review must be in writing, and must set out your reasons for seeking this review.

If you have any questions about any of the above matters please contact this office at the address or telephone number shown at the top of this letter.

Yours sincerely,

ALISON STANLEY

Deputy Commissioner

As Delegate of the Secretary and Repatriation Commission

PAYMENT INFORMATION ATTACHMENT

The Department now calculates service pension payments on a daily basis.  This means that your fortnightly pension payment is made up of 14 days of entitlement of pension.  Therefore, when there is a change to your circumstances on any particular day in the fortnight - your pension will be adjusted from that day.  For that reason your pension payment may be different for one or two paydays after a reassessment.

Payment for 27 JANUARY 2011 Veteran Partner

• CLIENT HAS INCOME FROM SUPER WITH A 'DEDUCTIBLE AMOUNT' AND WITHOUT A DEDUCTIBLE AMOUNT

GPO Box 9998, Brisbane  QLD  4001

Contact:              Brisbane Office

Telephone: Macarthur Tower

              259 Queen Street

              Brisbane QLD 4000

123 456 789  015              Postal Address:

PETER CLARK              GPO Box 9998 Brisbane QLD 4001

11 LONSDALE STREE

BRISBANE  QLD  4000              Telephone:

              Capital city callers: 133 254

              Non-Capital city callers: 1800 555 254

              Facsimile: (07) 3223 8479

              11 January 2011

              YOUR FILE NUMBER IS QX123456

Dear Mr CLARK,

This is to advise that your service pension has been reduced.  This change will take effect from 11 January 2011.

Payment Information
Details of your payments are provided in the Payment Information Attachment.

Superannuation Pension Reassessment
Your superannuation fund has notified Veterans' Affairs of the new income details for your superannuation pension.  The new income details are shown in the table below.  This income is used to work out the rate of your T-PENSION-SP-ISS-AP.

Name	Description	Gross Income	Deductible Amount (tax free component)	Assessed Income
JOHN SMITH	ComSuper (CSS & PSS)	$585.95	$135.50	$450.45
JOHN SMITH	ComSuper (DFRDB & MSBS)	$846.44	$0.00	$846.44

Financial Obligations

You need to tell us within 14 days (28 days if you are living overseas or receive remote are allowance) if your gross income from all sources is more than $xxx.xx per fortnight or the value of your assets is more than $xxx,000.00.

Your Right of Review
If you do not agree with this variation to your pension, you may apply to have it reviewed by a Review Officer at this office.  If you do decide to apply, you must do so within three months of being advised of this decision.  Such a request for review must be in writing, and must set out your reasons for seeking this review.

If you have any questions about any of the above matters please contact this office at the address or telephone number shown at the top of this letter.

Yours sincerely,

ALISON STANLEY

Deputy Commissioner

As Delegate of the Secretary and Repatriation Commission

PAYMENT INFORMATION ATTACHMENT

The Department now calculates service pension payments on a daily basis.  This means that your fortnightly pension payment is made up of 14 days of entitlement of pension.  Therefore, when there is a change to your circumstances on any particular day in the fortnight - your pension will be adjusted from that day.  For that reason your pension payment may be different for one or two paydays after a reassessment.

Payment for 27 JANUARY 2011