Commonwealth Consolidated Acts

JUDGES' PENSIONS ACT 1968 - SECT 4

             (1)  In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears:

"appropriate current judicial salary" , in relation to a Judge who has retired or died, means:

                     (a)  in the case of a Judge other than a Judge referred to in paragraph (b), (c), (d) or (e)--salary at the rate that would be payable to the Judge if he or she had not retired or died; and

                     (b)  in the case of a Judge who was:

                              (i)  the Chief Judge of the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration;

                             (ii)  the Chief Judge of the Australian Industrial Court;

                            (iii)  the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea; or

                            (iv)  the Chief Justice of Papua New Guinea;

                            the salary for the time being payable to the Chief Judge of the Federal Court of Australia; and

                     (c)  in the case of a Judge who was the Deputy Chief Justice of Papua New Guinea--salary at a rate equal to the mean of the rates of the salaries referred to in paragraphs (b) and (d); and

                     (d)  in the case of a Judge who was:

                              (i)  a Judge, other than the Chief Judge, of the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration;

                             (ii)  a Judge, other than the Chief Judge, of the Australian Industrial Court;

                            (iii)  a Judge of the Federal Court of Bankruptcy; or

                            (iv)  a Papua New Guinea Judge, other than a Judge referred to in paragraph (b) or (c);

                            the salary for the time being payable to a Judge, other than the Chief Judge, of the Federal Court of Australia; and

                     (e)  in the case of a Judge who was a Presidential Member of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission--the salary that would be payable to the Judge if section 79 of the Workplace Relations Act 1996 (as in force immediately before the repeal of that section) continued to apply in relation to the Judge.

"child" means a child or an adopted child:

                     (a)  who is under the age of 16 years; or

                     (b)  who:

                              (i)  has reached the age of 16 years but is under the age of 25 years; and

                             (ii)  is receiving full‑time education at a school, college or university.

"child of a marital or couple relationship" , in relation to a marital or couple relationship, means:

                     (a)  a child born of the marital or couple relationship; or

                     (b)  a child adopted by the people in the marital or couple relationship during the period of the relationship; or

                     (c)  someone who is, within the meaning of the Family Law Act 1975 , a child of both of the people in the marital or couple relationship.

"eligible child" , in relation to a Judge or retired Judge who has died, has the meaning given by section 4AA.

"Judge" means:

                     (a)  a Justice or Judge of a federal court (other than the Federal Magistrates Court);

                     (b)  a person who, by virtue of an Act, has the same status as a Justice or Judge of a court referred to in paragraph (a); or

                    (ba)  a person who was a Judge of the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory immediately before the commencement of the A.C.T. Supreme Court (Transfer) Act 1992 ; or

                     (c)  a Papua New Guinea Judge.

"marital or couple relationship" has the meaning given by section 4AB.

"Papua New Guinea Judge" means a Judge of the Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea who was first appointed as such a Judge before 1 December 1973.

"partner" : a person is the partner of another person if the two persons have a relationship as a couple (whether the persons are the same sex or different sexes).

"period of exempt service" :

                     (a)  in relation to a Judge who has prior judicial service--means any period in that service in respect of which no superannuation contributions surcharge was assessed to be payable on the Judge's surchargeable contributions under the Superannuation Contributions Tax (Assessment and Collection) Act 1997 ; or

                     (b)  in relation to a person:

                              (i)  who is a Judge because of paragraph (b) of the definition of Judge in this subsection; or

                             (ii)  who, being a presidential member of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, is taken to be a Judge for the purposes of this Act because of repealed section 16 of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975 (including that section as it continues to apply because of item 34 of Schedule 1 to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal Amendment Act 2005 );

                            and the period of whose service as a Judge began before 21 August 1996--means the part of that period of service before that date.

"period of service as a Judge" has a meaning affected by subsection (2).

"prior judicial service" , in relation to a Judge or retired Judge, means:

                     (a)  service as a Judge or acting Judge of a court of a State or of the Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea;

                    (ab)  service as a Judge or acting Judge of the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory, including that Court as in existence at any time before the commencement of the Northern Territory Supreme Court (Repeal) Act 1979 ;

                    (ac)  service as a Judge or acting Judge of the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory;

                     (b)  service, including acting service, in a State office the holder of which may qualify for a pension or retiring allowance under the law of a State relating to pensions or retiring allowances payable to retired Judges;

                     (c)  service in the office of Coal Industry Tribunal referred to in the Coal Industry Act 1946‑1966 ; or

                     (d)  service before the commencement of the Northern Territory Supreme Court Act 1961 as the Judge or an acting Judge of the Northern Territory;

being service prior to his or her appointment as a Judge or, if he or she has been appointed as a Judge more than once, before the last such appointment, but does not include service as a Justice of the Peace or Magistrate.

"qualifying period for a pension" , in relation to a person who has served as a Judge, has the meaning given by subsection (3).

"relevant pension" , in relation to a Judge who has died, means the pension that would have been payable to the Judge if the Judge had retired on the date of his or her death and, in a case where subsection (1) of section 6 would not have been applicable in relation to that retirement, the Attorney-General had certified that that retirement was due to permanent disability.

"retired Judge" means a person who has been a Judge and is or has been in receipt of a pension under this Act.

"retires , in relation to a Judge, means ceases to be a Judge otherwise than by death, and retirement" has a corresponding meaning (see also sections 4B and 5).

"salary" means salary at the rate determined under the Judicial and Statutory Officers (Remuneration and Allowances) Act 1984 and the Remuneration Tribunal Act 1973 :

                     (a)  excluding any allowances that are paid in lieu of any other entitlement; and

                     (b)  if any arrangements have been entered into for any amount of the rate of remuneration (other than an allowance covered by paragraph (a)) to be provided in the form of another benefit--including that amount.

"Scheme" means the scheme constituted by this Act for the provision of retirement and other benefits to and in respect of Judges.

"spouse" has a meaning affected by section 4AC.

"superannuation contributions surcharge" has the same meaning as in the Superannuation Contributions Tax (Assessment and Collection) Act 1997 .

"Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea" includes a court having, after the attainment by Papua New Guinea of the status of an independent sovereign state, unlimited jurisdiction in civil or criminal matters in that state.

"surcharge debt account" , in relation to a person who has served as a Judge, means the surcharge debt account that was kept for the person (while he or she was serving as a Judge) under section 16 of the Superannuation Contributions Tax (Assessment and Collection) Act 1997 .

             (2)  If a Judge has had prior judicial service, the period of that service is to be added to, and is taken to be part of, the period of his or her service as a Judge.

             (3)  The qualifying period for a pension , in relation to a person who has served as a Judge, is:

                     (a)  if the period of the person's service as a Judge started when the person was not yet 50--a period equal to the number of years worked out by using the formula:

                     (b)  if the period of the person's service as a Judge started after the person had turned 50 but before he or she had turned 60--a period of 10 years; or

                     (c)  if the period of the person's service as a Judge started after the person had turned 60--a period equal to the number of years worked out by using the formula:

where:

"age at start of period" means the person's age at the start of the period of his or her service as a Judge.