DATE OF ISSUE:  2 July 2014

July 2014 - Reassessment of ComSuper and Victoria State Based Superannuation Pensions

Replaces DI No.

N/A

Purpose of instruction	The purpose of this Departmental Instruction is to provide information about advice production from the July 2014 ComSuper and Victoria state based superannuation reassessment.
Background	ComSuper pensions include Commonwealth Superannuation Scheme (CSS), Public Sector Superannuation Scheme (PSS), Defence Force Retirement Scheme (DFRB), Defence Force Retirement and Death Benefit Scheme (DFRDB) and Military Superannuation Benefit Scheme (MSBS) superannuation pensions.  These pensions are adjusted bi-annually in January and July. The cost of living increase to be applied to most ComSuper pensions in July 2014 is 1.3%.  The indexation increase to be applied to DFRB/DFRDB pensions for superannuants aged 55 years and older in July 2014 is 1.5%. The July 2014 ComSuper reassessment run will also include an update to Victoria state based superannuation schemes (Vic ESS Super, Vic VISION Super, Vic Health Super and Vic ESSS Supers).  The increase to be applied to the Victoria state based superannuation pensions in July 2014 is 1.95%.
Processing date	Reassessment processing to reflect the July 2014 increases is scheduled to run overnight on Tuesday, 8 July 2014.  Following completion of processing, the advice data files will be transmitted to the mailing house for printing and lodgment.
Effective date	The effective date of reassessment will be 8 July 2014.  On pension payday 24 July 2014, 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 and/or Victoria state based super, whose pension rate is varied by the reassessment run.  There will be approximately 20,000 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; and A ComSuper advice for clients with both a deductible and non-deductible amount.
Printing and mailing of advice letters	With some exceptions explained below, advice letters will be printed and mailed through the Department's contracted mailing house, Computershare.  All letters will be lodged with Australia Post as a national lodgment by close of business Thursday 17 July 2014.
Advices for Overseas Addressees	Advice letters produced for Tasmanian State Office clients who have an overseas address will be printed, enveloped and sent from the mailing house.
Enclosure (Treatment change) Advice Letters	Enclosure (treatment change) letters will be printed separately at nominated state location printers.  They are to be mailed by close of business Thursday, 17 July 2014. The streamed advice letters should be checked for accuracy, and reconciled against 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 Contact Officers listed below to ensure correct information is provided in the manual replacement advice.
Reduction to Nil Letters	Any Reduction to Nil advice letters will be printed at the nominated printer in 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.  These advices should then be reviewed for appropriate action.
Location of printers	The streamed advices are to be printed at the following printers:

SA	VSSOPR06
TAS	VTSOPR03
WA	VWSOPR01
VIC	VVSOPR02
NSW	N607P
QLD	VQSOPR01

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 Support Location Contacts for the July 2014 ComSuper processing exercise are as follows:

NSW/ACT VIC QLD SA/NT WA TAS

Genia Sacharczuk/Steven Weston Greg Heitsch Stephen Hamill Maria Nasilowski Michelle Pauly/Margarete Mumme Daimeon Horne

Contacts

For Advice issues – Anissa Lam (02) 9213 7169. For Systems issues – Kevin Chapman (02) 6289 6749.

Luke Brown

A/g Assistant Secretary

Income Support & Grants

2  July 2014

ATTACHMENT A

COMSUPER ADVICE FOR CLIENT WITH A 'DEDUCTIBLE AMOUNT'

GPO Box 9998, Brisbane  QLD  4001

Telephone:

Capital city callers: 133 254

Non-Capital city callers: 1800 555 254

123 456 789  044 — Facsimile: (07) 3223 8479

JOHN SMITH

MARY SMITH — 8 July 2014

123 SAMPLE STREET

MODELTOWN  QLD  4010

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 8 July 2014.

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

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

Financial Obligations

You need to tell us within 14 days (28 days if you are living overseas or receive remote area 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,xxx.xx.

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 regarding this letter please contact the Department on the telephone number shown at the top of this letter.  If you prefer to communicate with us by mail, e-mail or in person, please view our website at www.dva.gov.au for contact details.

Yours sincerely,

ALISON STANLEY

Deputy Commissioner

as Delegate of the Secretary and Repatriation Commission

PAYMENT INFORMATION ATTACHMENT

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

Payment for 24 JULY 2014Veteran Partner

Please Note: If you have an overpayment or lump sum advance which is currently being recovered (by deductions from your fortnightly pension), the amount paid into your account may be less than the total fortnightly payment shown above.

BOTH VET AND SPOUSE HAVE INCOME FROM SUPER – THEY

DO NOT HAVE 'DEDUCTIBLE AMOUNT'

GPO Box 9998, Brisbane  QLD  4001

Telephone:

Capital city callers: 133 254

Non-Capital city callers: 1800 555 254

123 456 789  044 — Facsimile: (07) 3223 8479

JOHN SMITH

MARY SMITH — 8 July 2014

123 SAMPLE STREET

MODELTOWN  QLD  4010

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 8 July 2014.

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
JOHN SMITH	ComSuper (DFRDB & MSBS)	$450.95
MARY SMITH	ComSuper (CSS & PSS)	$265.00

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

Financial Obligations

You need to tell us within 14 days (28 days if you are living overseas or receive remote area 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,xxx.xx.

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 regarding this letter please contact the Department on the telephone number shown at the top of this letter.  If you prefer to communicate with us by mail, e-mail or in person, please view our website at www.dva.gov.au for contact details.

Yours sincerely,

ALISON STANLEY

Deputy Commissioner

as Delegate of the Secretary and Repatriation Commission

ATTACHMENT

• Payment Information Attachment

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

GPO Box 9998, Brisbane  QLD  4001

Telephone:

Capital city callers: 133 254

Non-Capital city callers: 1800 555 254

123 456 789  044 — Facsimile: (07) 3223 8479

JOHN SMITH

123 SAMPLE STREET — 8 July 2014

MODELTOWN  QLD  4010

YOUR FILE NUMBER IS QX123456

Dear Mr SMITH,

This is to advise that your T-PENSION-SP-ISS-AP has been reduced.  This change will take effect from 8 July 2014.

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

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

Financial Obligations

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

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 regarding this letter please contact the Department on the telephone number shown at the top of this letter.  If you prefer to communicate with us by mail, e-mail or in person, please view our website at www.dva.gov.au for contact details.

Yours sincerely,

ALISON STANLEY

Deputy Commissioner

as Delegate of the Secretary and Repatriation Commission

ATTACHMENT

• Payment Information Attachment