{"id":"C1961A00086","name":"Superannuation (Pension Increases) Act 1961","slug":"superannuation-pension-increases-act-1961","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"86 of 1961","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":1709,"registerId":"C2012C00783","compilationNumber":"2","startDate":"2012-09-25","status":"InForce","reasons":[{"affect":"Amend","markdown":"sch 1 (item 133) of the [Statute Stocktake (Appropriations) Act (No. 1) 2012](/C2012A00141)","dateChanged":null,"amendedByTitle":null,"affectedByTitle":{"name":"Statute Stocktake (Appropriations) Act (No. 1) 2012","year":2012,"number":141,"titleId":"C2012A00141","provisions":"sch 1 (item 133)","seriesType":"Act","optionalSeriesNumber":null}}],"registeredAt":"2012-11-05T14:31:37.273Z"},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Short title [see Note 1]","content":"#### 1 Short title \\[see Note 1\\]\n\n  This Act may be cited as the Superannuation (Pension Increases) Act 1961.","sortOrder":0},{"sectionNumber":"2","sectionType":"section","heading":"Commencement [see Note 1]","content":"#### 2 Commencement \\[see Note 1\\]\n\n  This Act shall come into operation on the day on which it receives the Royal Assent.","sortOrder":1},{"sectionNumber":"3","sectionType":"section","heading":"Interpretation","content":"#### 3 Interpretation\n\n  (1) In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears:\n\n> actual unit contribution, in relation to a prescribed pensioner, means the number of units of pension in respect of which pension was payable to the pensioner immediately before the commencing date.\n\n> actual unit entitlement:\n\n    (a) in relation to a prescribed pensioner, not being a non‑contributory pensioner, means:\n    (i) the number of units of pension that, at the prescribed time, was, in accordance with the scale set out in subsection (1) of section thirteen of the Superannuation Act 1922 or of that Act as amended and in force at that time, applicable to an annual salary equal to his annual salary at that time; or\n    (ii) his actual unit contribution;\n    whichever is the greater; and\n    (b) in relation to a prescribed pensioner, being a non‑contributory pensioner, means:\n    (i) the number of units of pension that was, in accordance with the scale set out in subsection (1) of section thirteen of the Superannuation Act 1922, applicable to an annual salary equal to his annual salary at the time of his retirement; or\n    (ii) four units of pension;\n    whichever is the less.\n\n> additional unit entitlement, in relation to a prescribed pensioner, means the number of units of pension, if any, by which his adjusted unit entitlement exceeds his actual unit entitlement.\n\n> adjusted unit entitlement, in relation to a prescribed pensioner, means the number of units of pension that, in accordance with the scale set out in subsection (1) of section thirteen of the Superannuation Act 1922‑1954, is applicable to an annual salary equal to his notional annual salary.\n\n> non‑contributory pensioner means a person to whom, immediately before the commencing date, a pension was payable (otherwise than as a widow) by virtue of section nine or section fourteen of the Superannuation Act (No. 2) 1956.\n\n> notional annual salary, in relation to a prescribed pensioner, means such annual salary as the Treasurer, having regard to general increases in the rates of salaries of contributors that occurred after the prescribed time, determines to be the salary that, as at the nineteenth day of April, One thousand nine hundred and fifty‑four:\n\n    (a) in the case of a pensioner who is not a non‑contributory pensioner—corresponded with the annual salary that was payable to him at the prescribed time; or\n    (b) in the case of a pensioner who is a non‑contributory pensioner—corresponded with:\n    (i) the annual salary that was payable to him at the prescribed time; or\n    (ii) the minimum annual salary that, at the commencement of the Superannuation Act 1922, entitled an employee to contribute for four units of pension;\n    whichever is the less.\n\n> prescribed pensioner means:\n\n    (a) a person to whom, immediately before the commencing date, a pension was payable by virtue of that person having been a contributor, being a pension that commenced to be payable before the twentieth day of April, One thousand nine hundred and fifty‑four; or\n    (b) a non‑contributory pensioner.\n\n> the commencing date means the date of commencement of this Act.\n\n> the prescribed amount:\n\n    (a) in relation to a prescribed pensioner, not being a pensioner in relation to whom paragraph (b), (c) or (d) of this definition applies—means the amount of Thirty‑two pounds ten shillings;\n    (b) in relation to a prescribed pensioner whose actual unit contribution is less than his actual unit entitlement, not being a pensioner in respect of whom section fifty‑two of the Superannuation Act 1922 or of that Act as amended applied—means such amount as bears to the amount of Thirty‑two pounds ten shillings the same proportion as his actual unit contribution bears to his actual unit entitlement;\n    (c) in relation to a prescribed pensioner in respect of whom section fifty‑two of the Superannuation Act 1922 or of that Act as amended applied and who had neglected to contribute, or had elected not to contribute, for a unit of pension (including a fraction of a unit of pension) for which he was eligible or required to contribute—means such amount as bears to the amount of Thirty‑two pounds ten shillings the same proportion as his actual unit contribution bears to a number of units of pension equal to the difference between the number of units of pension ascertained in relation to him for the purposes of sub‑paragraph (i) of paragraph (a) of the definition of actual unit entitlement in this subsection and the number of units determined in relation to him for the purposes of paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section fifty‑two of the Superannuation Act 1922 or of that Act as amended; and\n    (d) in relation to a prescribed pensioner whose pension became payable under the proviso to section twenty‑nine of the Superannuation Act 1922 or of that Act as amended, or under section sixty M, or paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section sixty O, of the Superannuation Act 1922‑1924 or of that Act as amended—means such amount as bears to the amount that would, but for this paragraph, be applicable in relation to him under this definition the same proportion as the amount of annual pension that was payable to him immediately before the commencing date bears to the amount of annual pension that would have been so payable to him if, upon retirement, he had become entitled to receive a pension under section twenty‑nine of the Superannuation Act 1922, or of that Act as amended, according to the number of units of pension for which he was contributing at the time of his retirement.\n\n> the prescribed time:\n\n    (a) in relation to a prescribed pensioner who retired before the twelfth day of June, One thousand nine hundred and forty‑seven, not being a non‑contributory pensioner—means the time immediately before he ceased to pay contributions or he attained the maximum age for retirement, whichever first occurred; and\n    (b) in relation to any other prescribed pensioner—means the time immediately before his retirement.\n  (2) Expressions used in this Act that are also used in the Superannuation Act 1922‑1959 have in this Act, unless the contrary intention appears, the same respective meanings as they have in that Act, but subsection (2) of section thirty‑six of that Act shall not be taken as applying for the purpose of ascertaining the annual salary of a person for the purposes of this Act.\n  (3) For the purposes of this Act, the annual salary that was payable at any relevant time to a prescribed pensioner who, at that time, was paid salary at a rate other than an annual rate of salary shall be ascertained as prescribed for the purposes of section twenty of the Superannuation Act 1922‑1959.","sortOrder":2},{"sectionNumber":"4","sectionType":"section","heading":"Increases in certain pensions","content":"#### 4 Increases in certain pensions\n\n  (1) Where the adjusted unit entitlement of a prescribed pensioner exceeds his actual unit entitlement, the pensioner is, subject to this section, entitled to an increase in the amount of the annual pension that is payable to him, being an increase equal to the product of the prescribed amount applicable in relation to him and a number equal to the number of units of pension included in his additional unit entitlement.\n  (2) Where the pension payable to a prescribed pensioner was increased in pursuance of section eleven of the Superannuation Act 1957, the pensioner is not entitled to an increase under the last preceding subsection in the amount of the annual pension that is payable to him except to the extent that the amount of the increase in the annual pension to which, but for this subsection, he would be entitled exceeds the amount by which the amount of annual pension payable to him was increased in pursuance of section eleven of the Superannuation Act 1957.\n  (3) Where a person would, but for section sixty‑five of the Superannuation Act 1922‑1959, be a prescribed pensioner for the purposes of this Act, the rate of pension on which that person was retired shall, for the purposes of that section, be deemed to be the rate at which pension would have been payable to him after the commencing date if he had been a prescribed pensioner.\n  (4) Where, immediately before the commencing date, a pension was payable to a person by virtue of that person being the widow of:\n    (a) a pensioner who, if he had not died and had been in receipt of pension immediately before the commencing date, would have been entitled to an increase in that pension under subsection (1) of this section; or\n    (b) a person who died before retirement but who, if he had retired on the day on which he died and had been in receipt of pension immediately before the commencing date, would have been entitled to an increase in that pension under that subsection;\n  the widow is, subject to this section, entitled to an increase in her pension, being an increase equal to five‑eighths of the increase in pension to which her husband would have been entitled under that subsection.\n  (5) Where, immediately before the commencing date, subsection (1) or (3) of section sixty‑six of the Superannuation Act 1922‑1959 applied to a pension payable to a person, the pension payable to that person at that time shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to be the pension that would have been payable to that person if that subsection had not applied to the pension, but any increase in a pension to which a person is entitled under this section is subject to the operation of that section and, for the purposes of that section in its application to that pension, the increased pension shall be deemed to be payable under that Act.\n  (6) The increases in pensions provided for by this section do not apply to or in relation to:\n    (a) a pension in respect of a child;\n    (b) a pension that became payable under section fifty‑seven of the Superannuation Act 1922 or of that Act as amended, not being a pension for which contributions were made to a State Fund as defined in section one hundred and one of the Superannuation Act 1922‑1959; or\n    (c) a pension that became payable under section fifty‑three or fifty‑eight of the Superannuation Act 1922 or of that Act as amended.","sortOrder":3},{"sectionNumber":"6","sectionType":"section","heading":"Payment of pension increases","content":"#### 6 Payment of pension increases\n\n  (1) The reference in subsection (1) of section ten of the Superannuation Act 1922‑1959 to benefits under that Act shall be read as including a reference to increases in pensions payable by virtue of section four of this Act and a reference to pensions payable by virtue of section five of this Act.\n  (3) The reference in subsection (1) of section one hundred and forty‑five of the Superannuation Act 1922‑1959 to the amount paid by the Commonwealth to the Superannuation Fund under that Act in respect of a person shall be read as including a reference to an amount paid by the Commonwealth to the Superannuation Fund under the last preceding subsection in respect of that person.","sortOrder":4},{"sectionNumber":"7","sectionType":"section","heading":"Application","content":"#### 7 Application\n\n  (1) Increases in pensions payable by virtue of section four of this Act have effect from and including the first fortnightly payment of pensions made after the commencing date.\n  (2) Pensions payable by virtue of section five of this Act are payable from and including the first fortnightly payment of pensions made after the commencing date.","sortOrder":5}],"analysis":{"summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act appears to remain entirely within its original narrow purpose: delivering a one-off pension increase to eligible Commonwealth superannuation pensioners. There is no evidence of scope creep or expansion beyond this single, time-specific objective. The legislation has not grown to cover new classes of recipients, new benefit types, or broader superannuation policy matters."},"complexity_factors":["Very short Act — only 5 operative sections (with a gap suggesting one section was repealed)","Limited defined terms in the interpretation section (Section 3)","Narrow, single-purpose scope with no broad policy framework","Minimal cross-referencing — likely references the parent Superannuation Act but does not build complex conditional logic on top of it","No nested exceptions or elaborate eligibility criteria visible in the structure","Straightforward payment mechanics in Section 6"],"plain_english_summary":"## Superannuation (Pension Increases) Act 1961\n\nThis is a **short, focused piece of Commonwealth legislation** from 1961 that does one specific thing: it **increases the pension payments** received by certain retired Commonwealth public servants (and potentially their dependants) under the superannuation (retirement savings) scheme that existed at the time.\n\n### Who does it affect?\n- **Retired Commonwealth government employees** who were already receiving a pension under the Commonwealth superannuation scheme\n- **Dependants** (such as widows or children) of deceased Commonwealth employees who were receiving ongoing pension payments\n\n### What does it do?\n- **Boosts existing pension amounts** — it tops up the pensions that eligible retirees were already receiving, presumably to help them keep pace with the rising cost of living in the early 1960s\n- **Sets out how those increases are paid** — Section 6 deals with the practical mechanics of how the extra money is delivered to pensioners\n- **Applies the changes** — Section 7 specifies who and what the Act applies to, ensuring the right people receive the increase\n\n### Why does it matter?\nThis Act reflects a common legislative practice of the era: rather than building automatic cost-of-living adjustments (indexation) into pension laws from the start, Parliament would periodically pass **one-off \"pension increase\" Acts** to give retirees a pay bump. This was a manual, ad hoc approach to what modern superannuation and pension laws handle automatically.\n\n> **In plain terms:** If you were a retired Commonwealth public servant in 1961, this law gave you a pay rise on your pension. It's a narrow, time-specific Act that granted a one-time uplift to a defined group of pensioners."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":8,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation appears focused on its original purpose of providing pension increases to pre-1954 retirees. The scope is tightly constrained to adjusting existing entitlements rather than expanding the superannuation system. However, the complexity of definitions suggests the original simple intent (give older pensioners a raise) became complicated by the need to accommodate various categories of pensioners under the existing legislative framework."},"complexity_factors":["9 defined terms in section 3(1), many of which are circular or interdependent (e.g., 'adjusted unit entitlement' depends on 'notional annual salary', which depends on Treasurer determinations)","Nested conditional definitions: 'actual unit entitlement' has separate branches for contributory vs non-contributory pensioners, with sub-branches using 'whichever is greater/less' logic","Four-tiered definition of 'the prescribed amount' with complex fraction calculations and cross-references to specific sections of the Superannuation Act 1922","Heavy cross-referencing to repealed/amended legislation: Superannuation Act 1922, Superannuation Act 1922-1954, Superannuation Act 1922-1959, Superannuation Act (No. 2) 1956, Superannuation Act 1957","Temporal complexity with multiple cutoff dates: 19 April 1954, 12 June 1947, 'the commencing date', 'the prescribed time'","Section 4 contains multiple exceptions and deeming provisions that override the main entitlement in specific circumstances","Mathematical formulas requiring proportional calculations (e.g., 'bears to... the same proportion as')","Missing section 5 referenced in sections 6 and 7 but not included in the provided text, suggesting the extract is incomplete"],"plain_english_summary":"This 1961 law gives a one-off pension increase to retired Australian public servants (and their widows) who started receiving their pensions before April 1954. \n\n**What it does:**\n- **Calculates a \"top-up\"** by comparing what a pensioner was actually receiving against what they *would* have received if their salary had kept pace with general pay rises since they retired.\n- **Pays the difference** as an increase to their fortnightly pension, using a formula based on \"units of pension\" (a way of measuring superannuation entitlements under the old system).\n- **Protects widows** by giving them five-eighths of the increase their deceased husband would have received.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- \"Prescribed pensioners\" — mainly retired Commonwealth public servants who were already on the pension before 20 April 1954.\n- Some \"non-contributory pensioners\" — people who received pensions without having contributed to the fund (under special transitional rules).\n- Widows of eligible deceased pensioners.\n\n**Who misses out:**\n- Children's pensions\n- Certain disability pensions paid under specific sections\n- Anyone whose pension was already increased under a 1957 law (they only get a top-up if this new calculation gives them more)\n\n**Why it matters:**\nThis was a cost-of-living adjustment for older retirees who had been left behind by wage growth. It recognised that people who retired in the 1920s-1940s were receiving pensions based on salaries from decades earlier, and adjusted their entitlements to reflect more modern salary levels."},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"Unauthenticated. Configure AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY or use a provider module. Learn more: https://ai-sdk.dev/unauthenticated-ai-gateway","source":"analysis-cron"},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":7,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"This Act expands the scope of Commonwealth superannuation benefits by creating a new entitlement to pension increases for a defined class of pre‑1954 pensioners and certain non‑contributory pensioners (s3, s4). It imposes new payment obligations on the Commonwealth via the Superannuation Fund (s6) and introduces administrative and discretionary mechanisms—notably the Treasurer's power to set a notional salary used in calculations (s3)—and takes effect from the first fortnightly pension payment after commencement (s7)."},"complexity_factors":["Numerous technical definitions and interdependent terms (e.g. `actual unit entitlement`, `adjusted unit entitlement`, `prescribed amount`) requiring precise numeric comparisons (s3).","Multiple proportional calculation rules for the `prescribed amount` with different sub‑paragraphs applying in distinct factual scenarios (s3 definition of \"the prescribed amount\").","Extensive cross‑references to the Superannuation Act 1922‑1959 and to specific sections and scales in that Act, requiring reading across statutes (s3(2); s3 definitions referencing s13 and s52 of the Superannuation Act 1922).","Discretions vested in the Treasurer to determine the `notional annual salary`, which affects entitlement calculations (s3 definition of `notional annual salary`).","Exceptions and limits on increases (e.g. prior increases under Superannuation Act 1957, exclusions for child and certain other pensions) that alter applicable outcomes (s4(2), s4(6)).","Special rules for widows and deemed pension rates for persons affected by other sections of the Superannuation Act, increasing administrative complexity (s4(4), s4(5)).","Payment and funding mechanics require treating these increases as benefits payable under existing Superannuation Act payment provisions, creating liaison with the Superannuation Fund accounting (s6).","Temporal application rules and reliance on historical salary scales and dates (e.g. prescribed time, nineteenth April 1954), which add evidentiary and record‑keeping burdens (s3, s7)."],"plain_english_summary":"This Act gives extra pension increases to certain Commonwealth superannuation pensioners whose `adjusted unit entitlement` is greater than their `actual unit entitlement`, by adding units multiplied by a prescribed amount. It targets pensions that began before 20 April 1954 and some non‑contributory pensioners (s3, s4). The Commonwealth pays the increases via the Superannuation Fund; the Treasurer determines a `notional annual salary` used in the calculation, and increases take effect from the first fortnightly payment after commencement (s3, s6, s7)."},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/superannuation-pension-increases-act-1961","history":"/api/acts/superannuation-pension-increases-act-1961/history","analysis":"/api/acts/superannuation-pension-increases-act-1961/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/superannuation-pension-increases-act-1961/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/superannuation-pension-increases-act-1961/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/superannuation-pension-increases-act-1961/documents"}}