Assessing superannuation 108-05070010

Due to legal advice from the Department of Social Services (DSS), Services Australia (the agency) must not request or record details of superannuation investments for customers who are below Age Pension age.

Note: If a superannuation investment is recorded for a customer who is below Age Pension age, the details must not be changed after a withdrawal unless shares or managed investments require updating at the same time. Any updates will result in an unnecessary recalculation of all their managed investments and shares, with no legislative basis for such an action.

Overseas superannuation-like investments are treated as overseas managed investments for social security purposes. Some provisions apply. See Foreign income and assets.

Is the owner of an Australian superannuation investment under Age Pension age? See Resources page for more information

• Yes, and they:
• are receiving a disability benefit from it, as a lump sum, or regular payments or both, go to Step 2
• are receiving regular income payments (income stream or annuity) from it, go to Step 2
• have made a withdrawal, update any other changes to their income and assets as required. For more information on early withdrawals, see Assessing withdrawals from superannuation

If the customer is within 13 weeks of reaching Age Pension age, go to Step 2.

In all other cases, do not record details about the superannuation investments if the owner is under Age Pension age. Procedure ends here

• No, go to Step 2

Is the customer only advising about superannuation?

• Yes, go to Step 4
• No, go to Step 3

Discuss all of the income and assets updates the customer would like to make during their contact. For example income stream, shares, foreign income.

Only proceed with the coding if all updates required can be completed.

If there are concerns with the legitimacy of the customer's information, see Coding income and assets for Centrelink payments and services.

This table describes information needed to assess superannuation.

Can the customer provide all the other information needed?

• Yes, go to Step 4
• No:
• further information or documents will be needed before the updates can be done
• check if additional information for the income stream update is also needed
• go to Step 4

Is the customer applying for an exemption for their superannuation investment from the Income and Assets Test assessment?

• Yes: see Exempting superannuation investments. Procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 5

Is the customer receiving a disability benefit from their superannuation fund?

• Yes, go to Step 9
• No, go to Step 6

Is the superannuation investment an SMSF?

• Yes, go to Step 7
• No, go to Step 8

Does the customer own an accumulation account and an income stream account within the same SMSF?

• Yes, assess each of the accumulation and income stream accounts separately. To code:
• the income stream, see Assessing income streams paid from Self-Managed Superannuation Funds (SMSFs) or Small APRA Superannuation Funds (SAFs)
• the accumulation account, go to Step 11
• No, to code:
• an accumulation account only, go to Step 11
• the income stream, see Assessing income streams paid from Self-Managed Superannuation Funds (SMSFs) or Small APRA Superannuation Funds (SAFs)

• Yes, assess each of the accumulation and income stream accounts separately
• No, code the income stream or accumulation account
  For assistance with coding, see:
• Adding or updating an account-based income stream
• Adding or updating a market-linked income stream
• Adding or updating a lifetime income stream
• Adding or updating a life expectancy income stream
• Adding or updating a term income stream
• the accumulation account, go to Step 11

This is also known as Invalidity benefit:

• It is paid when a member satisfies the 'permanent incapacity' condition of release, usually before age 65 and the member may not have reached the normal retirement age
• It is usually paid as a one-off lump sum payment, but it may also be paid as an invalidity lifetime pension.
• If the pension is paid from a defined benefit fund, it is assessed as a defined benefit income stream
• It generally includes the member's accrued superannuation benefit and an insurance benefit

Is the customer receiving a TPD benefit?

• Yes, and it's:
• a one-off lump sum payment, see Assessing withdrawals from superannuation
• lump sum arrears received at the time of starting regular ongoing payments of an invalidity lifetime pension, see Income from personal injury insurance schemes and disability benefits
• an invalidity pension or disability payment paid as a lifetime defined benefit pension or income stream. If unsure check with the Level 2 Policy Helpdesk. To assess the income stream, see Adding or updating a defined benefit or military invalidity pension income stream
• No, go to Step 10

The benefit is also known as:

• Salary Continuance
• Income Protection, or
• Disability Income

It is paid for a temporary and/or partial disability. They are purely insurance payments paid under a contract of insurance between the superannuation fund and the insurance company.

See Income from personal injury insurance schemes and disability benefits.

Procedure ends here.

For a self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) or small APRA fund (SAF), the customer must provide:

• the latest annual member statement, and
• the annual financial returns for their superannuation fund

Note:

• if the customer indicates that the balances held within the fund have significantly changed since the statements were issued, then request supporting documents showing the change. For example, bank statements, share portfolios, etc. depending on the changes notified
• if the overall balance of the fund significantly changes this may also alter the balances of each member's holdings. In this case further evidence must be supplied outlining the percentage of ownership (if applicable) and, if necessary, refer to LPS

For other superannuation investments (non-SMSF or SAF), the customer must provide an investment certificate or statement showing the following:

• the name of the fund manager
• full name of the investment product
• APIR codes
• the value of the investment or the number of units owned (if a unitised product)

Most providers issue an annual statement. The customer must provide the most recent statement. Only request further documents where:

• the statement is more than 12 months old at time of claim lodgement, and
• the customer confirms a more recent statement is available
• the annual statement does not include information required for coding, such as investment options and the number of units

Is the customer able to provide the required information?

• Yes, go to Step 1 in Table 2
• No, go to Step 12

Advise the customer all information is required before any change can be made, to ensure they receive correct entitlement

• Request all of the information they must provide. See Requesting information (CLK)
• Use Mail Forms if a form needs to be sent
• If information is needed from the customer's superannuation fund, send a request for information via an OLA letter (QSS40). Do not send faxes or emails
• Procedure ends here until documents are returned

Does the customer have a SMSF or a SAF?

• Yes, go to Step 3
• No, go to Step 2

The customer must provide the latest annual investment certificate or statement. Only request further documentation where:

• the statement is more than 12 months old at the time of claim lodgement, or the document does not contain the required information. For example, the number of units for a unitised product, and
• the customer confirms a more recent statement is available

Advise the customer the value of the superannuation product will be assessed as a financial asset and the deeming provisions applied.

Note: if the customer is still employed and is unable to access their superannuation until they cease working for that employer or exit the superannuation fund/scheme, they can apply for an exemption of their superannuation investment from the Income and Assets Test. See Exempting superannuation investments.

Managed investment products are recorded in the Managed Investment database. The system automatically calculates the income and assesses the asset value of the investment where required.

For assistance with coding, see:

• Managed investments - adding a new investment
• Managed investments - updating existing investments

The FINS Bulletin contains coding instructions for individual superannuation funds (for example, Q-super REST and HESTA) if you are unable to find these funds with a name search. Do not code these products using MIUS.

Procedure ends here.

For SMSFs or SAFs where a customer or their partner is of Age Pension age, the customer or their partner who are members of the SMSF or SAF must provide their annual member statement, end of year financial statements along with the annual tax returns for the fund.

Does the customer have their latest annual member statements?

• Yes, go to Step 4
• No, request from the customer, see Requesting information (CLK):
• financial statements and tax returns for the fund
• their and partner's (if appropriate) annual member statement

When the customer provides the documents, scan them for processing.

Superannuation cannot be jointly owned. The member statement must show the balance for each member:

• check the value of the customer's and their partner's member statements, and
• the annual financial for unallocated reserves as these are also assessed as superannuation assets

Unallocated reserves

• Amounts should first be attributed to each member based on the contribution each member has made towards the accumulated reserves. That is, those members with more assets in the fund are likely to have made a larger contribution to generating the unallocated reserves. This may change over time where members make contributions or withdrawals.
• Where it is not possible to attribute the reserves on the basis of each member's interest in the fund, the unallocated reserves will be attributed equally to each member of the fund

Update the self-managed superannuation fund on the customer's record on the Unregistered Managed Investments (MIUS) screen with the member balance including any unallocated reserves and record details on a DOC. For assistance with coding on the MIUS screen, see:

Managed investments - adding a new investment

• Managed investments - adding a new investment
• Managed investments - updating existing investments

When the asset value has been coded, in Customer First, create a manual review on the Review Registration (RVR) screen and complete the fields as follows:

• Service Reason: customer's payment type
• Review Reason: INV (Investments/Bonds/Shares)
• Due Date: 12 months from latest statement
• Source: INT
• Date of Receipt: today's date
• Notes: 'Request the latest financial statements for <insert product reference number> and review the member’s balance of the SMSF.'
• Keywords: SMSFMIS
• Workgroup: leave blank
• Position: leave blank
• Transfer to Region: leave blank

The review will mature on the Due Date coded in the RVR activity. Workload Management will allocate the review for manual action.