QSuper product and legislation changes and how they may impact your employees

These ranges give us the flexibility to make investment decisions that will help us meet our investment objectives as market conditions change.

Before 1 July 2021, it was between 1 and 2 times, or rated low to medium risk. From 1 July 2021, it will be between 2 and 3 times, or medium risk.

Before 1 July 2021, it was less than 0.5 times, or very low risk. From 1 July 2021, it will be between 0.5 and 1 times, or low risk.

The increase in the number of ETFs available in Self Invest means the range of investment management fees that apply for Self Invest ETFs will widen from 0.03-0.59% before 1 July 2021 to up to 1% from 1 July 2021.

All members will be sent the Product and Legislation update May 2021 with a covering letter to provide context via their preferred method of communication.

For any insurance claim where a member has an injury or illness that starts after 30 June 2021, there will be some changes to insurance terms and conditions and some new definitions.

These changes are:

For income protection cover:

• Workers compensation offset – payment changes
• Removal of Graduated Return to Work additional payment
• Removal of CPI increases
• Definition changes for Partial and temporary disablement and Total and temporary disablement.

For TPD cover:

• Definition change for Total and permanent disablement
• Definition change for date of disablement.

For death cover:

• Clarification to when death cover is reduced.

For all types of cover:

• Changes to when a pre-existing exclusion period will apply to a member’s cover.

There are also three new definitions that will apply from 1 July 2021 for:

• Other income
• Workers Compensation benefits
• Medical care.

All members will be sent the Product and Legislation update May 2021 with a covering letter to provide context via their preferred method of communication.

The cost of insurance will not be changing. Some insurance claims terms and conditions, and the addition of definitions only are changing. These may impact your employee’s insurance claim if they have an injury or illness that starts after 30 June 2021.

These changes to our insurance terms and conditions may affect how and when your employee receives an insurance payment, but will not change their level of insurance cover. If your employee has an injury or illness that starts after 30 June 2021, these changes may affect their insurance claim.

QSuper aims to provide appropriate and affordable insurance cover for members. These changes are designed to help us meet this objective.

In terms of making additional contributions to superannuation, there are limits set by the Australian Government on how much a fund member can add. Contributing too much could mean extra tax.

• For before-tax (or concessional) contributions, the caps will increase from $25,000 to $27,500 from 1 July 2021.
• For after-tax (non-concessional) contributions, the cap will increase from $100,000 to $110,000 from 1 July 2021.

Before 1 July 2021, if your total superannuation balance is $1.6 million or more at the prior 30 June, your non-concessional contributions cap is nil. From 1 July 2021 if your total superannuation balance is $1.7 million or more at the prior 30 June, your non-concessional contributions cap is nil.

The transfer balance cap is a limit on the total amount of superannuation that can be transferred into tax-free retirement accounts, such as the QSuper Retirement Income Account and QSuper Lifetime Pension.

Each person will have their own personal transfer balance cap between $1.6 and $1.7 million, depending on their circumstances.

A member under age 65 may be able to contribute up to three times their non-concessional cap at any time in a financial year. This is known as the ‘bring-forward rule’ and means they are bringing forward the cap for up to the next two years.

Under the changes, from 1 July 2021:

• If a member did not trigger a bring-forward arrangement in either 2019-20 or 2020-21 and their total super balance is less than $1.48 million at 30 June 2021, then they may be able to make non-concessional (after tax) contributions up to a maximum of $330,000.
• If a member has between $1.48 million and $1.59 million, then they may be able to contribute up to $220,000. Otherwise the maximum they can put in is $110,000.
• If a member’s total superannuation balance is $1.7 million or more at 30 June 2021, their non-concessional contributions cap is nil.

All members will be sent the Product and Legislation update May 2021 with a covering letter to provide context via their preferred method of communication.