{"id":"F2008B00759","name":"Declaration under section 134 of the Superannuation Act 1976 (30/06/1988)","slug":"declaration-under-section-134-of-the-superannuation-act-1976-30-06-1988","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":72065,"registerId":"commonwealth-F2008B00759-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-02","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Declaration under section 134 of the Superannuation Act 1976 (30/06/1988)","content":"---\nmeta-content-style-type: text/css\nmeta-content-type: application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8\nmeta-generator: Aspose.Words for .NET 20.2\ntitle: SUPERANNUATION ACT 1976\n---\n\n?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\" standalone=\"no\"?>\n\nDECLARATION UNDER SECTION 134 OF THE SUPERANNUATION ACT\n\n1976\n\n \n\n \n\nI, Peter Alexander Walsh, Minister for State for Finance,\n\ndo hereby declare, pursuant to section 134 of the\n\nSuperannuation Act 1976 (the Act) that:\n\n \n\n(a)  the superannuation scheme specified in the Schedule to\n\nthis Declaration is an eligible superannuation scheme\n\nfor the purposes of Division 3 of Part IX of the Act;\n\nand\n\n \n\n(b)  specify the first day of July one thousand nine\n\n hundred and eighty-eight, as the day on which this\n\n declaration is to be deemed to have come into force.\n\n \n\n \n\nTHE SCHEDULE\n\n \n\nThe superannuation scheme administered by the Commissioner\n\nfor Superannuation appointed under the Superannuation Act\n\n1986 as amended of the Northern Territory of Australia.\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nDated this  30th day of June  1988.\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nPETER WALSH\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"The Declaration expands the set of schemes treated as \"eligible superannuation schemes\" under Division 3 of Part IX by adding the Northern Territory scheme administered by the Commissioner for Superannuation (The Schedule). It does so with effect from 1 July 1988 (Declaration, para (a) and para (b)). The instrument changes the statutory coverage (scope) of Division 3 by formally including this scheme; the precise legal and fiscal consequences depend on the content of Division 3, which is not reproduced here."},"complexity_factors":["Single declaratory action with one named scheme reduces internal textual complexity.","Dependence on external provisions (Division 3 of Part IX and section 134 of the Act) creates interpretive dependency: understanding full effect requires consulting those provisions.","Use of a retrospective operative date (1 July 1988) introduces a temporal legal effect that may raise interpretive or administrative questions.","Ministerial discretion under section 134 is exercised but the declaration contains no operational details, shifting complexity to downstream application."],"plain_english_summary":"# What this instrument does\n\nThis is a short ministerial declaration made under section 134 of the Superannuation Act 1976. The Minister for State for Finance, Peter Alexander Walsh, declares that the superannuation scheme administered by the Commissioner for Superannuation of the Northern Territory is an \"eligible superannuation scheme\" for the purposes of Division 3 of Part IX of the Superannuation Act 1976 (see paragraph (a) of the Declaration and the Schedule). The declaration is treated as having taken effect on 1 July 1988 (see paragraph (b)).\n\n# Who decides and who is affected\n\n- Decision-maker: the Minister for State for Finance, acting under the authority of section 134 of the Act (Declaration, opening line and para (a)).\n- Entity declared eligible: the Northern Territory superannuation scheme administered by the Commissioner for Superannuation (The Schedule).\n- Those likely affected: any persons or organisations whose legal or regulatory treatment depends on whether a scheme is an \"eligible superannuation scheme\" under Division 3 of Part IX (the Declaration makes the Northern Territory scheme fall within that category). The exact consequences flow from the rules in Division 3 of Part IX of the Act, which are not reproduced in this Declaration.\n\n# How it works mechanically\n\n- The Minister issues a formal declaration under the statutory power in section 134 (Declaration heading and para (a)).\n- The declaration names the scheme in the Schedule and states the operative date as 1 July 1988 (para (b) and The Schedule).\n- From that operative date the named scheme is to be treated as an \"eligible superannuation scheme\" for the purposes identified in the Act (para (a)).\n\n# Implications, incentives and implementation issues (source‑grounded)\n\n- Change in legal status: the Declaration alters the legal categorisation of the named scheme by placing it within the set of schemes covered by Division 3 of Part IX. The downstream legal or financial effects depend on the content of Division 3 of Part IX (Declaration, para (a)).\n- Who pays / benefits: the Declaration itself does not specify costs, payments or benefits; it changes the scheme's statutory label. Any fiscal or administrative costs or benefits will arise only via the legal and financial consequences set out in Division 3 of Part IX of the Act. Those consequences are not described in this instrument (Declaration, para (a)).\n- Incentives and behavioural effects: stakeholders (scheme members, administrators, employers, or the Commissioner) may alter behaviour only to the extent Division 3 imposes or enables particular obligations, entitlements, or tax/regulatory treatments on schemes designated as \"eligible\". The Declaration creates the precondition for those effects by changing the scheme's status (Declaration, para (a)).\n- Discretion and administrative action: the instrument records an exercise of ministerial discretion under section 134. The Declaration is an administrative act naming a scheme and an effective date; it does not itself set operational rules for the scheme (Declaration heading and para (a)).\n- Retroactivity: the instrument specifies an operative date earlier than the date of signing (effective 1 July 1988), so its legal effect is to be treated as having commenced on that specified date (para (b)). This creates a retrospective legal status back to the stated date.\n- Compliance burden and implementation risk: the Declaration does not on its face create new procedural requirements to implement the status change. Practical compliance costs or administrative steps will depend on what Division 3 requires of eligible schemes and on how the Commissioner and other agencies apply that Division to the now‑declared scheme (Declaration, para (a); The Schedule).\n\n# Summary statement\n\nMechanically, this instrument adds the Northern Territory Commissioner‑administered superannuation scheme to the class of schemes treated as \"eligible\" under Division 3 of Part IX of the Superannuation Act 1976, effective 1 July 1988. The Declaration is an exercise of ministerial power under section 134; the specific legal and financial consequences flow from the provisions of Division 3 of Part IX, which this Declaration invokes but does not restate (Declaration, para (a); para (b); The Schedule)."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This is a standard ministerial declaration exercising a specific power under section 134 of the Superannuation Act 1976. It performs exactly the function intended by that section: declaring a state/territory superannuation scheme to be eligible for the purposes of Division 3 of Part IX. There is no scope creep or expansion beyond the original statutory purpose."},"complexity_factors":["Extremely short document (approximately 150 words)","No defined terms section - relies on definitions in the parent Act","No conditional logic or exceptions","No cross-references beyond a single reference to section 134 of the Superannuation Act 1976","Simple declarative structure with only two operative paragraphs (a) and (b)","Single schedule with one straightforward description"],"plain_english_summary":"This is a short official declaration made by Peter Walsh, who was the Finance Minister in 1988. It does two simple things:\n\n**What it does:**\n- **Approves a superannuation scheme:** It officially recognises the superannuation (retirement savings) scheme run by the Northern Territory as an \"eligible superannuation scheme\" under the federal Superannuation Act 1976. This means the scheme meets certain standards that allow it to interact with the federal superannuation system.\n- **Backdates the approval:** It sets the effective date as 1 July 1988, even though the declaration was signed on 30 June 1988.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- Public servants in the Northern Territory who were members of this specific superannuation scheme\n- The Commissioner for Superannuation in the Northern Territory (the person running the scheme)\n\n**Why it matters:**\nWithout this declaration, the Northern Territory's superannuation scheme wouldn't have been recognised under federal law. This recognition is important for things like transferring super benefits between schemes, or ensuring that the scheme meets national standards for public sector superannuation. It's essentially a paperwork exercise that enables the Northern Territory to run its own public service super scheme under the federal framework."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/declaration-under-section-134-of-the-superannuation-act-1976-30-06-1988","history":"/api/acts/declaration-under-section-134-of-the-superannuation-act-1976-30-06-1988/history","analysis":"/api/acts/declaration-under-section-134-of-the-superannuation-act-1976-30-06-1988/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/declaration-under-section-134-of-the-superannuation-act-1976-30-06-1988/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/declaration-under-section-134-of-the-superannuation-act-1976-30-06-1988/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/declaration-under-section-134-of-the-superannuation-act-1976-30-06-1988/documents"}}