{"id":"industrial-relations-superannuation-regulations-1997","name":"Industrial Relations (Superannuation) Regulations 1997","slug":"industrial-relations-superannuation-regulations-1997","collection":"regulation","jurisdiction":"wa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":178336,"registerId":"wa-industrial-relations-superannuation-regulations-1997-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-05","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Industrial Relations (Superannuation) Regulations 1997","content":"![Crest]()Western Australia\n\nIndustrial Relations Act 1979\n\nIndustrial Relations (Superannuation) Regulations 1997\n\n- **Reprinted under the *Reprints Act 1984* as**\n- **at 12 March 2004**\n\n\nWestern Australia\n\nIndustrial Relations (Superannuation) Regulations 1997\n\nContents\n\n1. Citation 1\n\n2. Commencement 1\n\n3. Interpretation 1\n\n4. Notification by employer 2\n\n5. Nomination of fund 2\n\nSchedule 1 — Forms\n\nNotes\n\nCompilation table 6\n\nDefined terms\n\n  \n\n- Crest **Reprinted under the *Reprints Act 1984* as**\n- **at 12 March 2004**\n\n\nWestern Australia\n\nIndustrial Relations Act 1979\n\nIndustrial Relations (Superannuation) Regulations 1997\n\n##### 1. Citation\n\nThese regulations may be cited as the *Industrial Relations (Superannuation) Regulations 1997* 1.\n\n##### 2. Commencement\n\nThese regulations come into operation on the day on which section 13 of the *Industrial Relations Legislation Amendment and Repeal Act 1995* comes into operation 1.\n\n##### 3. Interpretation\n\nIn these regulations —\n\n  award employee means an employee who is bound by an award, order or industrial agreement which requires the employer to make superannuation contributions for the employee;\n\n  commencement day means the day on which these regulations come into operation;\n\n  fund means a complying superannuation fund or scheme as defined in section 49C of the Act.\n\n##### 4. Notification by employer\n\n(1) The employer of an award employee must give to the employee —\n\n(a) a Notification of Choice of Superannuation Fund form in the form of Form 1 in Schedule 1; or\n\n(b) a written notice setting out all of the information set out in Form 1 in such a way that it is readily comprehensible to the employee.\n\n(2) The Notification or written notice must be given —\n\n(a) if the employee is, on the commencement day, an award employee — as soon as practicable after the commencement day;\n\n(b) if the employee commences employment as an award employee after the commencement day — as soon as practicable after the employment commences; or\n\n(c) if the employee —\n\n(i) becomes an award employee after the commencement day other than by reason of commencing employment; and\n\n(ii) immediately prior to becoming an award employee was not subject to any other award, order or industrial agreement which required the employer to make superannuation contributions for the employee,\n\nas soon as practicable after the employee becomes an award employee.\n\n##### 5. Nomination of fund\n\nAn employee may nominate a fund as the fund to which the employer is to pay superannuation contributions made for the employee by giving notice in writing to that effect to the employer.\n\nSchedule 1 — Forms\n\n[Regulation 4]\n\n| *Industrial Relations (Superannuation) Regulations 1997, reg. 4*<br>Form 1<br>**Notification of Choice of   Superannuation Fund** |\n| --- |\n\n\n**Employer to make superannuation contributions**\n\nYour employer is required by an award, order or industrial agreement to make certain superannuation contributions for you. You may also be able to make contributions of your own.\n\n**Which fund?**\n\nYou are entitled to choose the superannuation fund to which your contributions will be paid. You may choose any fund that is —\n\n• a complying fund for the purposes of the *Commonwealth Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992*; and\n\n• able to accept contributions from your employer.\n\nThe trustee of a fund you wish to join should be able to tell you if the fund complies with these requirements.\n\nUnless and until you nominate a fund, subject to any applicable award, order or industrial agreement, your contributions will be paid to a fund chosen by your employer.\n\n**How to nominate the fund of your choice**\n\nTo nominate the fund of your choice you must give notice in writing to your employer specifying which fund you have chosen.\n\n**Changing funds**\n\nOnce you have nominated a fund you cannot change your nomination and choose a different fund unless your employer agrees. However, your employer cannot unreasonably refuse to agree to a change of fund.\n\n**MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICE**\n\n**Choosing the right fund is a complex decision. Before you nominate a fund read the “Information for Employees” on the back of this form and consult your accountant or an independent financial adviser to make sure it is the best fund for you.**\n\n**Back of Form 1**\n\n**Information for Employees**\n\nBefore you nominate a fund there are many things you need to consider to make sure the fund is suitable for you. Some of the things you should consider are —\n\n• the type and level of **benefits** provided by the fund\n\n• the **fees and charges** charged by the fund\n\n• the type and level of **insurance** provided by the fund\n\n• the **preservation** requirements applying to benefits in the fund\n\n• any other restrictions on **access to benefits**\n\n• the trustee’s **procedure for checking that employer contributions** are being made\n\n• whether the fund permits **additional member contributions**\n\n• the fund’s **complaint resolution procedure**\n\n• what sort of **investment options** are available to fund members\n\n• whether the trustee employs fund managers, actuaries, stockbrokers and other **advisers**, and if so who they are, what they do and how much they are paid\n\n• whether there is a **“cooling‑off ” period** for new members\n\n• the **tax** implications of making contributions and receiving benefits\n\n• the quality and frequency of **information** about the fund’s investments and performance provided to fund members by the trustee.\n\nIf you are already in a superannuation fund you should also consider the consequences of changing to a new fund. Some of the things you should consider are —\n\n• whether you can **transfer benefits** from your current fund to the new fund, and whether there are **fees** for doing this\n\n• whether there will be **changes in your contribution and benefit levels**\n\n• whether there are any **fees or charges** to exit from your current fund\n\n• whether changing funds will affect the **preservation** requirements applying to your benefit\n\n• the **tax** implications of changing funds.\n\n**MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICE**\n\n**Choosing the right fund is a complex decision. Before you nominate a fund —**\n\n• **carefully read the member booklet, prospectus or other information provided by the trustee of the fund; and**\n\n• **consult your accountant or an independent financial adviser,**\n\n**to make sure it is the best fund for you.**\n\n[Schedule 1 amended: Gazette 1 Sep 1998 p. 4823.]\n\nNotes\n\n1 This reprint is a compilation as at 12 March 2004 of the *Industrial Relations (Superannuation) Regulations 1997* and includes the amendments made by the other written laws referred to in the following table. The table also contains information about any reprint.\n\nCompilation table\n\n| **Citation** | **Gazettal** | **Commencement** |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| *Industrial Relations (Superannuation) Regulations 1997* | 31 Dec 1997 p. 7609‑11 | 1 Jan 1998 (see r. 2 and *Gazette* 31 Dec 1997 p. 7609) |\n| *Industrial Relations (Superannuation) Amendment Regulations 1998* | 1 Sep 1998 p. 4823 | 1 Sep 1998 |\n| **Reprint 1: The *Industrial Relations (Superannuation) Regulations 1997* as at 12 Mar 2004** (includes amendments listed above) | | |\n\n\nDefined terms\n\n*[This is a list of terms defined and the provisions where they are defined. The list is not part of the law.]*\n\n**Defined term Provision(s)**\n\naward employee 3\n\ncommencement day 3\n\nfund 3\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The regulations remain tightly focused on their original purpose: implementing choice of superannuation fund for award employees in Western Australia. The scope has not expanded beyond the notification and nomination framework established in 1997. The only amendment noted (1998) appears to have been minor technical or formatting changes to Schedule 1."},"complexity_factors":["Only 3 defined terms in the interpretation section (award employee, commencement day, fund)","Straightforward notification requirements with clear timing triggers (commencement day, employment start, becoming an award employee)","Single substantive obligation (notification) plus nomination mechanism","No nested exceptions or complex conditional logic — just three alternative timing scenarios in regulation 4(2)","Short length (6 pages including forms and compilation tables)","Minimal cross-referencing (only references to the parent Act's definition of 'complying superannuation fund' and the amending Act for commencement)","Form 1 provides consumer protection information but this is explanatory rather than legal complexity"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this legislation does:**\n\nThese regulations give Western Australian employees the right to choose which superannuation fund their employer pays contributions into, rather than being forced into the employer's default fund.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n\n*   **Award employees** — workers covered by industrial awards, orders, or agreements that require their employer to pay superannuation\n*   **Employers** — who must provide written information about this choice to eligible employees\n\n**How it works:**\n\n*   Employers must give employees a **Notification of Choice of Superannuation Fund** form (or equivalent written notice) at specific times:\n    *   When the rules first start applying to existing employees\n    *   When new employees start work\n    *   When an employee becomes covered by an award that requires super contributions\n*   Employees can **nominate their preferred fund** by giving written notice to their employer\n*   Once chosen, employees **cannot switch funds without employer agreement** — but employers **cannot unreasonably refuse** a request to change\n*   If employees don't choose a fund, the employer picks one (subject to any applicable award rules)\n\n**Why it matters:**\n\nThis puts power in workers' hands to select super funds that suit their needs — considering fees, insurance, investment options, and tax implications — rather than being stuck with whatever fund the employer prefers. The regulations also require employers to provide detailed educational information to help employees make informed decisions.\n\n**Key limitation:**\n\nThese regulations only apply to employees covered by industrial instruments (awards/agreements) that mandate superannuation contributions. They don't create a general right to choose for all workers — that depends on the underlying industrial arrangement."},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"},"summary":{"complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Scope cannot be assessed as the legislative content was not available. No comparison between original intent and current provisions is possible from the retrieved data."},"complexity_factors":["No legislative content was retrievable — only an error page was returned","Complexity cannot be meaningfully assessed without access to the actual text","Score of 1 reflects absence of content, not simplicity of the underlying law"],"plain_english_summary":"**No legislation content could be retrieved.**\n\nThe page for the *Industrial Relations (Superannuation) Regulations 1997* (Western Australia) is no longer available at its original web address. The content of the actual regulations was not accessible — only a system error message was returned.\n\n**What we can infer from the title alone:**\n- These are Western Australian regulations (subordinate laws made under a parent Act) dealing with superannuation (retirement savings) in the context of industrial relations (workplace laws).\n- They likely set out rules about employer obligations to contribute to workers' superannuation funds under WA's industrial relations framework.\n- They would primarily affect employers and employees covered by the WA state industrial relations system.\n\n**What you should do:** Visit the Western Australian legislation website (legislation.wa.gov.au) directly and search for this instrument, or contact the Parliamentary Counsel's Office Helpdesk as suggested on the error page."},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"The instrument was amended in 1998 to update Schedule 1 (Form 1). The core obligations — employer notification duty and employee nomination right — remain but the prescribed form content was altered (see Compilation table and Schedule 1 amendment entry)."},"complexity_factors":["Few, short provisions setting out a single employer notification duty and an employee nomination right (Regs 4–5)","Clear, limited definitions for key terms (‘award employee’, ‘fund’, ‘commencement day’) reduce interpretive load (r.3)","Procedural timing rules for different entry scenarios create modest administrative steps for employers (r.4(2)(a)–(c))","Form requirement or equivalent written notice imposes a compliance format and content standard (r.4(1); Schedule 1)","Cross‑reference to the Commonwealth Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992 for a ‘complying fund’ creates an external legal dependency","A subjective legal standard — employer cannot ‘unreasonably refuse’ a later change of fund — introduces potential dispute and litigation risk over reasonableness"],"plain_english_summary":"These regulations require employers to tell ‘‘award employees’’ about their right to choose a complying superannuation fund and to provide a standard Notification of Choice form (or equivalent written notice). Employees may nominate a fund in writing and employers must pay superannuation contributions to that fund (or to an employer‑chosen fund until a nomination is made). Employers pay contributions; employees choose the fund subject to limited restrictions and timing rules. The rules set how and when notice must be given and what information must be included."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/industrial-relations-superannuation-regulations-1997","history":"/api/acts/industrial-relations-superannuation-regulations-1997/history","analysis":"/api/acts/industrial-relations-superannuation-regulations-1997/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/industrial-relations-superannuation-regulations-1997/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/industrial-relations-superannuation-regulations-1997/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/industrial-relations-superannuation-regulations-1997/documents"}}