| Purpose of Instruction | The purpose of this Departmental Instruction is to provide information about advice production from the January 2020 Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation (CSC) and Victoria state based superannuation pension reassessment. |
Background | ComSuper was merged into Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation (CSC) in July 2015. CSC includes Commonwealth Superannuation Scheme (CSS), Public Sector Superannuation Scheme (PSS), Defence Force Retirement and Death Benefit Scheme (DFRDB) and Military Superannuation Benefit Scheme (MSBS) Superannuation pensions. It is adjusted bi-annually in January and July. The cost of living increase to be applied to all CSC pensions in January 2020 is 1.10%. The January 2020 CSC reassessment run will also include an update to Victoria state based superannuation pensions namely Vic Vision and Vic Health. The increase to be applied to all the above Victoria state based superannuation pensions in January 2020 is 0.61%. |
| Processing Date | Reassessment processing to reflect the January 2018 CPI increases is scheduled to run overnight on Monday, 13 January 2020. Following completion of processing, the advice data files will be transmitted to the mailing house for printing and lodgement. |
Effective Date | The effective date of reassessment will be 14 January 2020. On pension payday 30 January 2020, 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 CSC and/or Victoria state based super pension, whose pension rate is varied by the reassessment run. There will be approximately 16,000 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:
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| 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. All letters will be lodged with Australia Post as a national lodgment by close of business Monday, 20 January 2020. |
| 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 Monday, 20 January 2020. 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. |
Location of printers | The streamed advices are to be printed at the following printers: SA VADEPR03 TAS VTSOPR03 WA VADEPR03 VIC VBRIPR15 NSW VNSOPR13 QLD VBRIPR18 |
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 January 2018 CSC processing exercise are as follows: NSW/ACT Simon Towns QLD/VIC Bryon Kelly SA/NT/WA Maria Nasilowski TAS Craig Conway / Rodney Quinn |
Contacts | For Advice issues – Ganes Jagadeeswaran on extension 412310 or Maria Maneze on extension 417247. |
Janice Silby
Assistant Secretary
Income Support Processing Branch
13 January 2020
ATTACHMENT A
COMSUPER ADVICE FOR CLIENT WITH A 'DEDUCTIBLE AMOUNT'
GPO Box 9998, Brisbane QLD 4001
Telephone:1800 555 254
Facsimile: (07) 3223 8479
13 January 2020
123 456 789 044
JOHN SMITH
MARY SMITH
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 14 January 2020.
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 | Commonwealth Super Corp (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. Your application for review may also be lodged online through MyAccount or the DVA website (www.dva.gov.au)
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,
JANICE SILBY
Senior Responsible Officer
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 30 January 2020 | Veteran | Partner |
| TOTAL FORTNIGHTLY PAYMENT | xxx.xx | xxx.xx |
| This is made up of: | ||
| - xxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx | xxx.xx | xxx.xx |
| - xxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx | x.xx | x.xx |
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: 1800 555 254
Facsimile: (07) 3223 8479
13 January 2020
123 456 789 044
JOHN SMITH
MARY SMITH
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 14 January 2020.
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 | Commonwealth Super Corp (DFRDB & MSBS) | $450.95 |
MARY SMITH | Commonwealth Super Corp (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. Your application for review may also be lodged online through MyAccount or the DVA website (www.dva.gov.au)
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,
JANICE SILBY
Senior Responsible Officer
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 30 January 2020 | Veteran | Partner |
| TOTAL FORTNIGHTLY PAYMENT | xxx.xx | xxx.xx |
| This is made up of: | ||
| - xxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx | xxx.xx | xxx.xx |
| - xxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx | x.xx | x.xx |
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.
CLIENT HAS INCOME FROM SUPER WITH A 'DEDUCTIBLE AMOUNT' AND WITHOUT A 'DEDUCTIBLE AMOUNT'
GPO Box 9998, Brisbane QLD 4001
Telephone: 1800 555 254
Facsimile: (07) 3223 8479
13 Janaury 2020
123 456 789 044
JOHN SMITH
123 SAMPLE STREET
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 14 January 2020.
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 | Commonwealth Super Corp (CSS & PSS) | $585.95 | $135.50 | $450.45 |
JOHN SMITH | Commonwealth Super Corp (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. Your application for review may also be lodged online through MyAccount or the DVA website (www.dva.gov.au)
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,
JANICE SILBY
Senior Responsible Officer
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 30 January 2020 | Veteran | Partner |
| TOTAL FORTNIGHTLY PAYMENT | xxx.xx | xxx.xx |
| This is made up of: | ||
| - xxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx | xxx.xx | xxx.xx |
| - xxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx | x.xx | x.xx |
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.