FAQs
As an incentive to help you save for your retirement, superannuation enjoys concessional rates of tax. The government imposes limits on the amount of contributions you can make to your super each financial year, called contribution caps. Your myGov account displays your unused concessional contribution amounts. It can be tricky to self-monitor the contribution caps as they can vary over time and different rules apply depending on what type of scheme you contribute into. Please seek advice from either your superannuation fund or an independent person qualified to provide financial advice. Fees for providing advice may apply. Salary Packaging, or 'Salary Sacrificing', is the process where a portion of your salary is ‘sacrificed’ in return for other benefits, such as personal contributions towards your superannuation. The salary that you sacrifice comes out of your pay first, before your income is assessed for tax. This means it is paid in pre-tax dollars, reducing your taxable income. Continuing and Fixed Term employees are eligible to salary package personal superannuation contributions. You can salary package additional voluntary payments to superannuation. If you are considering salary packaging, you need to initially seek advice either from your superannuation fund or from an independent person qualified to provide financial advice. Fees for providing advice may apply. Once you have made a decision, contact People and Culture with the details for final arrangements to be made. You can choose how much you opt to pay into your superannuation fund (including nominating all of your pay). Once you have made a decision, contact People and Culture with the details for final arrangements to be made. You can opt for a different personal contribution rate under Contribution Flexibility. You should discuss the impact of this choice on your benefit with your super fund prior to enacting Contribution Flexibility. UNE charges an administration fee for managing salary packaging of superannuation. The fee is equivalent to 2% of the contribution amount per fortnight (to a maximum of $300 per annum). This fee is also a salary sacrificed amount and the fee is deducted from your pre-tax salary. Once UNE has sent your Superannuation payment to your fund it can no longer be adjusted or returned to you.Superannuation
Financial advice
Super Stapling
Super Stapling will only apply to a new staff member if they do not provide their Choice of Fund to UNE. For new staff who are an existing UniSuper Defined Benefit Division (DBD) member, UNE will be required to continue to pay super contributions to UniSuper.
Existing staff members will be affected by Super Stapling if they depart UNE and move to a new job.
As part of the government’s Your Future, Your Super reforms, employees will automatically stay with their existing super fund when changing jobs, unless they actively choose a new fund. Stapling intends to stop the creation of unintended multiple super accounts and the erosion of super balances by stapling your Super to you. Most of the super measures to be implemented in the super reforms were legislated to come into effect from 1 July 2021. The ‘stapling’ requirement came into effect from 1 November 2021. If you have never had a super account before, visit the ATO website for information on Getting Started. You can choose a fund using the Superannuation Choice form provided in your Letter of Offer, or an account will be created with UNE’s Partnered fund; UniSuper. Employers are required to provide this form to employees, but completion of this form is optional for employees If you do not submit the form, UNE will conduct a check with the ATO to see if you have a Stapled Super fund. If you do not have an existing Super fund, an account will be created with UNE’s Default fund; UniSuper. No changes are required for existing employees receiving employer contributions when the stapling rules come into effect. For employees who cease employment after 1 November 2021, the super fund into which the employee was receiving contributions when they ceased employment will usually be the member’s new stapled fund. New employees, if eligible, can opt into the DBD within two years of commencing in their eligible role. This is regardless of whether: To opt in, staff can confirm their eligibility with UniSuper and be issued a DBD opt in form. The employee returns their form to People and Culture, who will confirm the employee is employed in an eligible role and has been in this role for less than 24 months. UNE will then enroll the employee in the DBD. In addition to employees who fall within the current definition of “Superannuable Classifications”, any employees for whom UNE makes employer contributions at a rate of at least 14% or 17% of salary (as applicable to your university) will also be eligible to be enrolled in the Defined Benefit Division provided that: * the employee agrees to make member contributions at a rate of 7% of salary or a lesser rate if they reduce their member contributions in accordance with UniSuper’s rules; * the employee meets any other criteria published from time to time, including that: In making this choice, consider your personal circumstances and decide whether the Defined Benefit Division is right for you. Choice of fund legislation allows UniSuper members to have their contributions paid to a different super fund. Certain exceptions do apply for our Defined Benefit Division (DBD) members. If you’ve been in the DBD for less than 24 months you have a few options: Please contact UniSuper for information If you’ve been in the DBD for more than 24 months: The same rules apply as when you joined, and the choice you made to stay in the DBD, also still applies - you’re generally required to stay in the DBD and have employer contributions paid into it until you cease employment or cease to be employed in a DBD-eligible position. Eligible Employees are able to choose their super fund. Most existing (pre Nov 1) UNE employees are not eligible as they are not “employed under an enterprise agreement or workplace determination made on or after 1 January 2021”. An employee is eligible to choose their super fund if they are: Existing eligible employees can change their choice of fund as often as they like. However, employers may only have to accept a new choice from them once in any 12-month period. Source - ATO website DBD members within their first two years of contributing service can elect to move to Accumulation 2. From there, the member can choose another fund. Existing members that have been in the DBD for more than two years are required to remain in the DBD until they terminate employment or cease to be employed in a DBD-eligible position. If UNE requests a stapled fund, or the ATO provides a stapled super fund response to an employer, the ATO will contact you and advise of the request. You will receive an SMS if you have a valid mobile number in the ATO records and/or a letter (through MyGov or in the mail) advising who has requested the information and more details on the options available to you. Where an employee has multiple existing eligible super accounts, the ATO will apply 'tiebreaker' rules as outlined in the regulations to select the stapled super fund. These rules consider, as applicable: If you are concerned how the tiebreaker rules will be applied, please submit the Super Choice form to nominate your preferred fund. A link to this form was provided in your Letter of Offer. You can see details of your stapled super fund in your MyGov account.
