Victorian Consolidated Legislation

Emergency Services Superannuation Act 1986 - SECT 4

Application of Act

4. Application of Act



(1) A person who is an employee and is entitled to any benefits from-



   (a)  the State Superannuation Fund; or





   (b)  the Hospitals Superannuation Fund; or



* * * * *



   (d)  any approved superannuation arrangement-

may, within the period or periods determined by the Board, choose to
contribute to the Scheme.

(1A) A person who is an employee but is not as at the day on which section
3(d) of the Superannuation Acts (Amendment) Act 1988 comes into operation
entitled to any benefits from a superannuation fund or arrangement to which
subsection (1) applies may within the prescribed period under the Emergency
Services Superannuation (Election to Contribute) Regulations 1988 or a
subsequent period determined by the Board choose to contribute to the Scheme.

(1B) Despite paragraph (e) of the definition of employee in section 3, an
officer of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment who is
transferred to an office which was held by a person or a class of persons
declared for the purposes of that paragraph may within the period of 3 months
after that transfer elect to continue to be a member of the State
Superannuation Fund.

(1BA) If an officer to whom subsection (1B) applies-

   (a)  does not make an election under that subsection; and

   (b)  subsequently ceases to hold the office referred to in that subsection;
        and

   (c)  continues to be eligible to be a member of a public sector
        superannuation scheme-

the officer may within the period of 3 months after ceasing to hold that
office elect to continue to contribute to the Scheme or to transfer to the new
scheme under the State Superannuation Act 1988.

(1C) For the purposes of the definition of employee in section 3, a person who
is appointed under an Act to an office for a fixed term of years is to be
taken to be employed permanently.

(1D) Despite paragraphs (a), (c) and (d) of the definition of employee in
section 3, a person who becomes an employee by being appointed to the office
of-

   (a)  Chief Commissioner of Police; or

   (b)  President of the Metropolitan Fire Brigades Board; or

   (c)  Chairman of the Country Fire Authority; or

   (d)  Deputy Chairman of the Country Fire Authority-

is not to be taken to be an employee unless he or she chooses to contribute to
the Scheme within 3 months of being appointed to that office.

(1E) For the purposes of the definition of salary in section 3-

   (a)  in the case of the contributor who is on leave of absence without pay
        or less than full pay and is not acting as a full-time officer of a
        union or employee organisation, salary means the salary that the
        contributor would have received had the contributor not been on leave
        of absence without pay or less than full pay and not been acting as a
        full-time officer of a union or employee organisation, or such greater
        salary as is paid to the contributor by any other employer and
        approved by the Board;

   (b)  in the case of the contributor who is an employee of a union or
        employee organisation, the salary that the contributor would have
        received had the contributor not been an employee of a union or
        employee organisation, or such greater salary as is paid to the
        contributor by the union or employee organisation and approved by the
        Board;

   (c)  in the case of a part-time contributor, salary means the salary which
        would be payable at that time to a person in similar employment on a
        full-time basis;

   (d)  if a contributor's salary is reduced, and the Board agrees that the
        reduction is not to be taken into account, salary means the greater
        of-

   (i)  the salary of the contributor immediately prior to the reduction; and

   (ii) the actual salary;

   (e)  in the case of a contributor who receives payments under section
        20F(17) or 20F(18), salary includes those payments;

   (f)  on and from 1 January 1994, the salary used to determine the accrued
        benefit of a former contributor is the salary averaged over a period
        of 2 years prior to the date of termination of service calculated-

   (i)  in relation to a contributor with less than 2 years of service, an
        amount calculated in accordance with the formula-

where-

"A" is the aggregate salary paid to the contributor in respect of the
contributor's period of service;

"B" is the total number of days in that period;

   (ii) in relation to a contributor with 2 years or more of service, an
        amount equal to one-half of the contributor's aggregate salary for the
        period of service of 2 years ending on the contributor's last day of
        service- and if the period of recognised service includes a period of
        leave without pay, there is deemed to have been payable to that
        contributor during that period of leave without pay, salary at the
        rate payable to the contributor immediately before the period of
        leave, or such higher salary as has been approved by the Board for the
        purposes of this subsection.

(2) A person who is employed by the Ambulance Service-Victoria within the
meaning of the Ambulance Services Act 1986 or any other declared ambulance
service and is not a contributor to the Hospitals Superannuation Fund may,
within the prescribed period under the Emergency Services Superannuation
(Transfer Period) Regulations 1987 or a subsequent period determined by the
Board, choose to contribute to the Scheme.

(3) A person becomes a contributor to the Scheme-

   (a)  if the person becomes an employee on or after the date on which this
        Act comes into operation, on the commencement of that employment; or

   (b)  if the person is a transferred officer, when that person chooses to
        contribute to the Scheme.

(4) A police recruit cannot become a contributor to the Scheme.

(5) A person who is a contributor to the Metropolitan Fire Brigades
Superannuation Fund immediately before section 4 of the Emergency Services
Superannuation (MFBSF Transfer) Act 1991 comes into operation is deemed on
that commencement to have chosen to contribute to the Scheme.

(6) A person to whom subsection (5) applies is entitled to elect to contribute
to make the same contributions and receive the same benefits that he or she
would have been entitled to make and receive as a contributor to the
Metropolitan Fire Brigades Superannuation Fund.

(7) A person who is not an operational staff member cannot become a
contributor to the Scheme on or after 1 January 1994 except as a member of the
ESSPLAN Scheme.



(8) A returning member who is an operational staff member cannot become a
contributor.



(9) Despite anything to the contrary in this section, an eligible beneficiary-

   (a)  may become a member of the ESSPLAN Scheme in accordance with section
        21B(1)(c);

   (b)  who becomes a member of the ESSPLAN Scheme in accordance with section
        21B(1)(c) is not a contributor to the Scheme.