Significant Event Notice
What is a Significant Event Notice?
A Significant Event Notice is a document advising you of material changes or significant events that could impact your super or pension account. Examples of the sorts of events that would lead to us issuing a Significant Event Notice include changes to fees or charges, changes to insurance cover or premiums, or where investment targets or allocations are altered.
Our obligation
Statewide Super has a legal responsibility to notify members regarding these important changes or events. In addition to a Significant Event Notice, we also include these changes in the relevant Statewide Super Product Disclosure Statements (PDS).
Keeping you informed
We deliver all statements and important updates electronically in a bid to minimise member fees. Look out for these documents via email.
What you need to do
The Significant Event Notice will set out any action you need to take in response to the notice, and therefore you should carefully review the document regarding next steps. We recommend paying close attention to insurance information, as it may be specifically relevant to you.
May 2019 Significant Event Notice
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Changes to insurance and premiums, fees and low balance accounts
We want to make you aware of some important changes that may affect your Statewide Super membership. These changes include updates to insurance, our fees and how we manage low balance accounts. For more information please read the May 2019 Significant Event Notice.
September 2018 Significant Event Notice
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Changes to Investment Options, Insurance Cover and how we disclose fees and costs
The September 2018 Significant Event Notice includes the changes made to Statewide Super’s investment options, insurance cover, complaints procedure and the rules put in place by ASIC relating to how fees and costs are disclosed.
May 2017 Significant Event Notice
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Changes to Transition to Retirement (TTR) pension
Important changes to Transition to Retirement (TTR) pensions
Investment earnings on TTR income streams are currently tax exempt. As a result of the Federal Budget changes announced on 3 May 2016, investment earnings on your TTR will be taxed at a maximum rate of 15% effective 1 July 2017. Statewide Super will be making changes to your account on 1 July 2017 in line with this legislation.
What will be changing?
Based on this legislative change, we need to transfer any TTR investment options from the tax-exempt option(s) to the taxed option(s) effective 1 July 2017. The total dollar value of TTR accounts as at 1 July 2017 will not be affected by this change – however the number of investment units will change due to the difference in the unit prices from the tax-exempt option(s) to the taxed option(s). This change to unit holdings will be visible on Statewide Super Online accounts after 1 July 2017.
Administration Fees
The total administration fees will remain unchanged. However, the method of deducting administration fees will change. The table below illustrates this change.
Fee Current fees New fees from 1 July 2017 Administration fee $78 pa $78 pa Indirect Asset-based admin fee 0.15% pa of your account balance 0.06% pa of your account balance Direct Asset-based admin fee n/a 0.09% pa of your account balance TOTAL $78 + 0.15% pa of your account balance $78 + 0.15% pa of your account balance Indirect fees are deducted from the investment option’s earnings before declaring the unit price and are not visible as a transaction on an account. Direct fees are deducted directly from accounts at the end of each month and will appear on member statements. The $1,000 cap on administration fees will continue to apply for TTR and Retirement Pension accounts. Other fees which are not subject to the $1,000 cap still apply.
All changes to taxation and our fees are reflected in the Statewide Pension PDS effective 1 July 2017, which can be downloaded from our website here.
To learn more about the TTR changes or the impact of other legislative changes on your Statewide Super account, please visit our website here.
Alternatively you can call 1300 65 18 65 and one of our Member Services Officers will be happy to assist you.
December 2016 Significant Event Notice
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Choice Plus Decommission
Choice Plus division is transitioning to the Statewide Super division
At Statewide Super we are dedicated to acting in the best interests of members and this includes keeping your costs low. On 1 January 2017, we will be closing our Choice Plus division and your membership will fall within the lower-cost Statewide Super division. Please be assured you will not be disadvantaged in any way by this transition – the Statewide Super division will provide you with equivalent rights with respect to your benefits and entitlements.
What does this mean for you?
There are very few changes as a result of this transition, outlined below:
Feature
Choice Plus (current division)
Statewide Super (new division)
How this will affect you
Fees
Administration fee: $114 per year
Administration fee: $78 per year
You will save $36 per year in fees.
Other fees – investment fee: 0.02% + asset-based administration fee: 0.06% of your account balance per annum + investment management fees: according to your chosen investment option/s
Other fees – investment fee: 0.02% + asset-based administration fee: 0.06% of your account balance per annum + investment management fees: according to your chosen investment option/s
All other fees will remain unchanged
Investment option
Growth investment option
MySuper investment option
If you are currently invested in the Growth investment option, from 1 January 2017 you will be invested in the MySuper option and this will be reflected on your member statement. The MySuper and Growth investment options have an identical asset allocation.
All other investment options
No change
If you are invested in any option other than Growth, there will be no change to your investment option/s and all asset allocations will remain unchanged.
Financial planning
You may receive a financial planning discount
No change
We will honour your existing arrangements.
Insurance arrangements
You may have special insurance arrangements
No change
We will honour your existing arrangements.
The Choice Plus Growth investment option is known as the MySuper investment option in the Statewide Super division. We are proud to report that our MySuper investment option was the top-performing MySuper investment option nationally* over the three years to 30 June 2016.^
What do you need to do?
You don’t need to do anything. This transition will automatically take place on 1 January 2017 and will be reflected in your next annual statement.
To learn more about the Statewide Super division, we encourage you to read our Product Disclosure Statement which is available on our website at www.statewide.com.au or call our Member Services team on 1300 65 18 65. We’re here to help you.
* SuperRatings Fund Crediting Rate Survey June 2016
^ Past performance is not an indication of future performance.
May 2016 Significant Event Notice
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Insurance Changes
We’ve got a lot of members (around 145,000) and that means we've got buying power that we use to benefit everyone. So the insurance that we offer members (it’s sometimes called group insurance) is generally more cost effective than insurance purchased at an individual level.
The number of people making disability claims has increased over the last few years, and one reason for this is because members have an increased awareness of their insurance benefits. This increase in claims has created a pricing pressure on the insurers that provide group insurance to super funds.
But insurance is important – one in five Australians between the ages of 21 and 64 are expected to experience a catastrophic event at some point in their lives that means they won’t be able to work – either temporarily or permanently. So we’re really serious about providing you with the best possible insurance, and finding a good balance between pricing and benefits.
We’re feeling confident the changes we are making on 1 July 2016 represent good value and that what we’ve got to offer is extremely market competitive.
Here’s a summary of the important changes that Statewide will introduce from 1 June 2016:
- We're changing the name of our insurance from Death and TPD cover to Life and TPD cover.
- We've changed the structure of regular Income Protection premiums to link to members’ ages; in a nutshell, the change has been made to ensure a fairer spread of pricing across age groups, and is in line with the premium structures offered by most other superannuation funds and non-superannuation life insurance products.
- Younger members will start off with fewer default units of Life and Total and Permanent Disablement cover, and their units will increase until they reach the standard default of 4 units at age 26. This change reduces the chance of a younger member’s account balance being eroded by premiums for cover, which they may not need. Members who this change applies to will be given an opportunity to act within a certain time period to maintain their current level of cover.
- Life and TPD insurance cover for members under 26 years of age will automatically increase (to the maximum default level) until they reach age 26, when they will receive the maximum default units of 4 units of cover. It works like this:
- 15 - 18 years of age (1 unit of cover)
- 19 - 21 years of age (2 units of cover)
- 22 - 25 years of age (3 units of cover)
- 26+ (4 units of cover)
- We understand that members with a small account balance, and not receiving regular contributions, may find their balance being eroded by insurance premiums. We’ve introduced a new minimum super account balance threshold for members who have not received an employer contribution for over a year to their Statewide super account, as a means of protecting their balances. Members in this situation with balances of $4,000 or less, will be notified that unless their employer begins contributing regularly to their account or they consolidate super that they may have elsewhere (thus increasing their balance above $4,000), their insurance will be cancelled.
- We’ve changed the timeframe under which we provide a Terminal Illness insurance benefit (of an amount equal to your Life insurance benefit). In circumstances where a member is suffering from an illness that is expected to result in their death, the timeframe will change from 12 months to 24 months (this means they’ll be able to access the benefit sooner).
- We’ve simplified the definition of Total and Permanent Disablement. As well as being easier to understand, it has been strengthened to ensure, in fairness to all members that we’re paying legitimate claims when they’re needed the most. To read the full definition, please click here.
- We recognise that generally people are working to older ages so regular Income Protection cover has been extended from age 65 to age 67. This will affect members who turn 65 after 1 July 2016 and already have regular income protection insurance with Statewide and are currently not receiving an IP benefit. If a member is currently in receipt of an income protection benefit as at 1 July 2016, or they are injured or ill and their benefit waiting period commences prior to 1 July 2016, then their benefit will cease at the earlier of: turning age 65, their return to work, or the expiry of their benefit period (generally 2 years).
- We're changing our insurance offering for White Collar and Professional members. Instead of receiving more insurance cover per unit than the ‘standard’ scale for the same premium, these members will receive the same insurance cover per unit as the ‘standard’ scale, but for discounted premiums. The classifications of White Collar and Professional occupation have also been amended. To read the new classifications in full, please click here. If you think your occupation may meet these criteria and you would like to apply for the discount, please contact our member services team on 1300 65 18 65.
- If a member is injured or becomes ill while overseas and makes a claim for Total and Permanent Disablement or Terminal Illness, our insurer may require the member to return to Australia for assessment. If the member does not return within 6 months of the request, their claim will be closed and they will not be able to be reassessed until the return to Australia and request reassessment in writing.
- We're changing our eligibility requirements for new or increased insurance cover. If you are not in Active Employment for 30 consecutive days, any new or increased cover (including new Life Events Cover, converting units of cover to fixed cover, or reinstatement of cover after cancellation) will be subject to you being in Active Employment for 30 consecutive days. Active Employment means you are employed and either working or capable of working at least 35 hours per week.
- We're changing our eligibility requirements for new members. Members who join Statewide after 1 July 2016 and who are eligible to receive, or have received a lump sum benefit for terminal illness or total and permanent disablement from any source will not be eligible for insurance cover under Statewide.
- We're reducing our Automatic Acceptance Level so that the maximum number of units a member may have is 4 units of cover above default cover.
The new Product Disclosure Statement and Insurance booklet will be available on the Statewide Super website from 1 July 2016.
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Fee Changes
As a profit-for-you industry fund, we are continuously looking at ways we can increase benefits and services to members. As a matter of fact, every decision we make is designed to support our mission of producing better retirement lifestyles.
Technology is changing almost every aspect of everyday life – and we are no exception. Many new product features are continually being introduced and the way some of our tech-savvy members want to talk to us is expanding across a growing range of channels.
Regardless of this increasing rate of change, we realise that many of our members have been with us for a great number of years – and like the way things have always been done. It is our intention to look after the best interests of all our members, regardless of their communication preferences.
With this environment of change in mind, we recognise the need to invest more to deliver a better experience to you. So that we can be in the best position to introduce these improvements, we’ve made some changes that will come into play from 1 July 2016.
It is important you know about the changes, and they are detailed below.
Introduction of Exit Fee
From 1 July 2016, an exit fee will be charged to members who withdraw funds from Statewide.
Going forward, we will charge $50 for full account withdrawals, and $35 for partial withdrawals.
Exit fees will not be charged in the following circumstances:
- Internal transfers (i.e. to a Statewide super or pension account)
- Life insurance benefit paid to beneficiaries
- Total and Permanent Disablement payment
- Terminal illness
- Financial hardship
- Compassionate grounds
- Family Law split payment
- Payments to the ATO for Excess contributions tax, Excess concessional contributions and Division 293 tax, except lost super payments
- Contribution split payments
- Payment from a UK pension account
Introduction of an Investment Fee
An investment fee of 0.02%pa of your account balance will be introduced from 1 July 2016. This is to recover increased costs associated with investing your super. The new investment fee is deducted from the earnings of each of the investment options before the allocation of earnings to accounts through unit prices.
To put this in context – for an account with a balance of $50,000 this equates to an investment fee of $10 a year.
Tax Deduction on Administration Fee
Statewide Super superannuation members pay an administration fee of $1.50 per week. This fee has not increased in over ten years.
Statewide is able to claim a tax deduction of 15% of that fee (which amounts to 22.5 cents per week). For the 2015-16 financial year, Statewide will rebate this to your account. From 1 July 2016, we will retain the tax deduction, however, your annual administration fee of $1.50 per week will remain unchanged.
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Our investment targets, asset allocations and ranges are also changing
From 1 July 2016 we are making the following changes to Statewide Super’s investment options.
We are adjusting the investment objectives for the High Growth and MySuper Investment options in keeping with market expectations, as follows:
High Growth - down by 0.5% from CPI+5% pa to CPI+4.5% pa
- New objective: To achieve returns after tax and fees that exceed CPI + 4.5% per annum over rolling seven-year periods.
MySuper - down by 0.5% from CPI+4% pa to CPI+3.5% pa
- New objective: To achieve returns after tax and fees that exceed CPI + 3.5% per annum over rolling ten-year periods.
Our Investment Team produces a Quarterly Investment Update. To read the latest update from the team click here.
We’ve also made adjustments to our Strategic Asset Allocations (SAA) and Investment Ranges.
A SAA is the percentage of each investment option (like MySuper) that we invest in different asset classes (like cash, bonds or shares) due to our view on calculations of various asset classes.
- This table shows the changes to the SAA from 1 July 2016:
New SAA (%) Changes to SAA (%) High growth MySuper Active balanced Conservative balanced Conservative High growth MySuper Active balanced Conservative balanced Conservative Australian Shares 40 31 27 18 10 -4 -2 -3 -1 - International Shares 33 25 23 15 7 4 2 3 1 - Property 7 10 10 10 10 - - - - - Infrastructure 10 10 8 5 3 - - - - - Growth Alternatives 5 4 2 2 3 - - - - 3 Growth Assets 95 80 70 50 33 - - - - 3 Diversified Bonds - 11 20 30 30 0 0 0 -5 -10 Alternative Debt 3 3 5 10 12 0 0 0 5 7 Cash & Equivalents 2 6 5 10 25 - - - - - Defensive Assets 5 20 30 50 67 - - - - -3 TOTAL 100 100 100 100 100 - - - - - An Investment Range is how much we’re allowed to have in each of the asset classes (just in case we want more or less of those cash, bonds or shares).
- The following range changes apply from 1 July 2016 for the Conservative Balanced and Conservative options:
Conservative balanced Conservative Diversified Bonds 10 – 50% 15 – 60% Alternative Debt 0 – 15% 0 – 20% Growth Alternatives No change 0 – 10% - In addition to the above changes, there have also been some changes to our Sustainable Diversified Option. These changes are determined by AMP Capital, who provide the underlying product for the Sustainable Diversified option.
This table shows the Strategic Asset Allocation (SAA) changes and range changes from 1 July 2016:
Asset Class New SAA (%) Change to SAA (%) Updated Range Australian Shares 30 -2 20-40 International Shares 27 +2 15-42 Property 9 -1 0-20 Infrastructure 3 +2 0-7 Growth Alternatives 1 0 0-6 Growth Assets 70 +1 Diversified Bonds 25 -1 0-45 Alternative Debt 0 0 Cash and Equivalents 5 0 0-15 Defensive Assets 30 Total 100 -
We're restructuring
You know us as Statewide Super, but you may or may not remember that Statewide Superannuation Pty Ltd is our trustee. Currently administration services for Statewide Super are outsourced to a related party service provider, Statewide Financial Management Services Ltd. From 1 July 2016, those administration services will be conducted in-house by the trustee.
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Premium tables as at 1 July 2016
Insurance premiums from 1 July 2016
The following tables show the new premiums for insurance as of 1 July 2016.
Weekly premium for standard life and TPD insurance per unit of insured benefit
The weekly cost, or premium, for standard life and TPD is fixed at $1.62 per unit.
Annual premium for fixed life and TPD insurance per $1,000 of insured benefit
Age next birthday Fixed cover rates as of 1 July 2016 Age next birthday Fixed cover rates as of 1 July 2016 Standard $ White collar $ Professional $ Standard $ White collar $ Professional $ 16 1.385 0.769 0.692 44 2.379 1.322 1.190 17 1.385 0.769 0.692 45 2.521 1.401 1.261 18 1.385 0.769 0.692 46 2.681 1.490 1.341 19 1.385 0.769 0.692 47 2.863 1.590 1.432 20 1.385 0.769 0.692 48 3.128 1.738 1.564 21 1.385 0.769 0.692 49 3.448 1.915 1.724 22 1.385 0.769 0.692 50 3.754 2.085 1.877 23 1.385 0.769 0.692 51 4.120 2.289 2.060 24 1.385 0.769 0.692 52 4.446 2.469 2.223 25 1.385 0.769 0.692 53 4.969 2.760 2.484 26 1.385 0.769 0.692 54 5.449 3.027 2.725 27 1.385 0.769 0.692 55 6.257 3.476 3.128 28 1.385 0.769 0.692 56 6.757 3.754 3.379 29 1.385 0.769 0.692 57 7.679 4.265 3.839 30 1.385 0.769 0.692 58 9.385 5.213 4.693 31 1.420 0.789 0.710 59 10.558 5.865 5.279 32 1.456 0.809 0.728 60 12.995 7.218 6.497 33 1.495 0.830 0.747 61 14.078 7.820 7.039 34 1.536 0.853 0.768 62 15.358 8.531 7.679 35 1.579 0.877 0.789 63 16.893 9.384 8.447 36 1.624 0.902 0.812 64 18.770 10.427 9.385 37 1.689 0.938 0.845 65 21.117 11.730 10.558 38 1.760 0.977 0.880 66 21.117 11.730 10.558 39 1.836 1.020 0.918 67 24.133 13.406 12.067 40 1.920 1.066 0.960 68 24.133 13.406 12.067 41 2.035 1.131 1.018 69 24.133 13.406 12.067 42 2.166 1.203 1.083 70 28.156 15.640 14.078 43 2.283 1.268 1.141 Annual premium for fixed life only insurance per $1,000 of insured benefit
Age next birthday Fixed cover rates as of 1 July 2016 Age next birthday Fixed cover rates as of 1 July 2016 Standard $ White collar $ Professional $ Standard $ White collar $ Professional $ 16 0.666 0.370 0.333 44 1.144 0.636 0.572 17 0.666 0.370 0.333 45 1.213 0.674 0.606 18 0.666 0.370 0.333 46 1.290 0.717 0.645 19 0.666 0.370 0.333 47 1.377 0.766 0.689 20 0.666 0.370 0.333 48 1.504 0.837 0.753 21 0.666 0.370 0.333 49 1.658 0.922 0.829 22 0.666 0.370 0.333 50 1.805 1.004 0.903 23 0.666 0.370 0.333 51 1.981 1.102 0.991 24 0.666 0.370 0.333 52 2.138 1.189 1.069 25 0.666 0.370 0.333 53 2.389 1.329 1.195 26 0.666 0.370 0.333 54 2.621 1.458 1.311 27 0.666 0.370 0.333 55 3.009 1.674 1.505 28 0.666 0.370 0.333 56 3.250 1.807 1.625 29 0.666 0.370 0.333 57 3.693 2.054 1.847 30 0.666 0.370 0.333 58 4.513 2.510 2.258 31 0.683 0.380 0.341 59 5.077 2.824 2.540 32 0.700 0.390 0.350 60 6.249 3.476 3.126 33 0.719 0.400 0.360 61 6.770 3.766 3.386 34 0.739 0.411 0.369 62 7.385 4.108 3.694 35 0.759 0.422 0.380 63 8.124 4.519 4.064 36 0.781 0.434 0.391 64 9.027 5.021 4.515 37 0.812 0.452 0.406 65 10.155 5.648 5.079 38 0.846 0.471 0.423 66 10.155 5.648 5.079 39 0.883 0.491 0.442 67 11.606 6.455 5.805 40 0.923 0.513 0.462 68 11.606 6.455 5.805 41 0.979 0.544 0.490 69 11.606 6.455 5.805 42 1.042 0.579 0.521 70 13.540 7.531 6.773 43 1.098 0.611 0.549 Cost per week for Regular Income Protection Insurance
Standard occupation White Collar occupation Professional occupation Age next birthday Cost per unit per week $ Age next birthday Cost per unit per week $ Age next birthday Cost per unit per week $ 16 - 30 0.313 16 - 30 0.250 16 - 30 0.209 31 0.371 31 0.297 31 0.247 32 0.429 32 0.343 32 0.286 33 0.498 33 0.399 33 0.332 34 0.556 34 0.445 34 0.371 35 0.603 35 0.482 35 0.402 36 0.672 36 0.538 36 0.448 37 0.730 37 0.584 37 0.487 38 0.788 38 0.631 38 0.525 39 0.846 39 0.677 39 0.564 40 - 67 0.916 40 - 67 0.733 40 - 67 0.610 Annual premium for long term income protection per $1,000 of insured benefit
Age next birthday Male $ Female $ Age next birthday Male$ Female $ 16 6.650 12.774 41 20.523 49.542 17 6.504 12.583 42 22.574 54.083 18 6.314 12.378 43 24.786 58.829 19 6.240 12.276 44 27.173 63.751 20 6.152 12.202 45 29.664 68.805 21 5.977 11.807 46 32.359 73.888 22 6.094 12.305 47 35.157 79.059 23 6.065 12.671 48 38.072 84.156 24 6.152 13.125 49 41.119 89.269 25 6.240 13.565 50 44.166 94.074 26 6.358 14.019 51 47.300 98.688 27 6.504 14.561 52 50.435 102.951 28 6.782 15.352 53 53.585 106.877 29 7.149 16.392 54 56.676 110.275 30 7.588 17.637 55 59.635 113.088 31 8.101 19.131 56 62.433 115.226 32 8.789 20.962 57 64.732 116.149 33 9.536 22.954 58 66.388 115.754 34 10.415 25.269 59 66.886 113.322 35 11.426 27.920 60 65.831 108.561 36 12.583 30.806 61 62.213 100.036 37 13.843 33.985 62 55.123 87.013 38 15.279 37.413 63 42.789 67.267 39 16.861 41.207 64 0.000* 0.000* 40 18.604 45.235 65 0.000* 0.000* * At this age your regular Income Protection already provides the maximum cover relevant to your age.
Cost per week for Choice Plus Income Protection Insurance
Standard White Collar Professional Unit cost 0.958 0.766 0.638