{"id":"F2005B01321","name":"Superannuation (Productivity Benefit) (Qualified Employees and Alternative Arrangements) Declaration No. 1","slug":"superannuation-productivity-benefit-qualified-employees-and-alternative-arrangements-declaration-no-","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"224 of 1993","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":32515,"registerId":"commonwealth-F2005B01321-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-01","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Superannuation (Productivity Benefit) (Qualified Employees and Alternative Arrangements) Declaration No. 1","content":"![](image.001.png)\n\nStatutory Rules 1993 No. 2241\n\n\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\n\nSuperannuation (Productivity Benefit) (Qualified Employees and Alternative Arrangements) Declaration No. 1\n\nI, RALPH WILLIS, Minister for Finance, acting under subsections 3F (1) and 4A (1) and (2) the Superannuation (Productivity Benefit) Act 1988, make the following Declaration.\n\nDated 9 August 1993.\n\nRALPH WILLIS\n\nMinister for Finance\n\n\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\n\nCitation\n\n1. This Declaration may be cited as the Superannuation (Productivity Benefit) (Qualified Employees and Alternative Arrangements) Declaration No. 1.\n\nCommencement\n\n2. This Declaration is taken to have commenced on 1 July 1992.\n\nInterpretation\n\n3. In this Declaration, unless the contrary intention appears:\n\n“Act” means the Superannuation (Productivity Benefit) Act 1988;\n\n“retire” includes cease (otherwise than by death) to hold office;\n\n“superannuation benefits” includes pensions and allowances.\n\nQualified employees—class of persons\n\n4. For the purposes of subsection 3F (1) of the Act, the class of persons, each of whom:\n\n(a) holds office as the Governor-General; or\n\n(b) is a judge for the purposes of the Judges’ Pensions Act 1968;\n\nis a class of persons who are qualified employees.\n\nDeclared class of qualified employees\n\n5. For the purposes of subsection 4A (1) of the Act, the class of qualified employees, each of whom is a member of the class of persons mentioned in clause 4, is a class of employees who are neither fund employees nor interim arrangement employees.\n\nSpecified arrangements for declared class\n\n6. (1) For the purposes of subsection 4A (2) of the Act, the arrangements specified in this clause are to apply to the class of qualified employees mentioned in clause 5.\n\n(2) Subject to subclauses (3), (6) and (7), where a person who was a member of that class has retired from that class, there is payable, in accordance with subclause (7), an amount of benefit equal to the amount of the interim benefit that would have been payable to the member under section 8A of the Act if he or she had been an interim arrangement employee.\n\n  \n(3) The amount of benefit payable to or in respect of a person under subclause (2) is to be reduced by the amount (if any) of superannuation benefits that is payable to the person or, if the person dies before the date of payment of the amount, to or in respect of the spouse or dependants of the person:\n\n(a) in the case of a person who, immediately before his or her retirement, held the office of Governor-General—under the Governor-General Act 1974; or\n\n(b) in the case of a person who, immediately before his or her retirement, was a judge for the purposes of the Judges’ Pensions Act 1968—under that Act.\n\n(4) Subject to subclauses (5), (6) and (7), in the case of the death of a person who, at the date of his or her death, was a member of that class of qualified employees, there is payable, in accordance with subclause (7), the amount of benefit that would have been payable under subclause (2) (without reduction under subclause (3)) if the person had retired from that class on that date.\n\n(5) The amount of benefit payable under subclause (4) is to be reduced by the amount (if any) of superannuation benefits that is payable to or in respect of the spouse or dependants of the person mentioned in that subclause:\n\n(a) in the case of a person who, immediately before his or her death, held the office of Governor-General—under the Governor-General Act 1974; or\n\n(b) in the case of a person who, immediately before his or her death, was a judge for the purposes of the Judges’ Pensions Act 1968—under that Act.\n\n(6) If an amount of benefit is reducible under subclause (3) or (5), the amount must not be paid until the administrator of the superannuation benefits payable under Governor-General Act 1974 or the Judges’ Pensions Act 1968, as the case requires, has made a determination to the effect that no further superannuation benefits are payable under the relevant Act:\n\n(a) to that person; or\n\n(b) to or in respect of the spouse or dependants of that person;\n\nas the case requires.\n\n(7) An amount payable under subclause (2) or (4) is payable:\n\n(a) in the case of an amount payable under subclause (2):\n\n(i) if the person mentioned in that subclause is alive at the date of payment of the amount—to that person; or\n\n(ii) in any other case:\n\n(A) if there is a surviving spouse of the person mentioned in that subclause—to that spouse; or\n\n(B) if sub-subparagraph (A) does not apply and there are surviving dependants of the person mentioned in that subclause—to those dependants; or\n\n(C) in any other case—to the personal representatives of the person mentioned in that subclause;\n\n(b) in the case of an amount payable under subclause (4):\n\n(i) if there is a surviving spouse of the person mentioned in that subclause—to that spouse; or\n\n(ii) if subparagraph (i) does not apply and there are surviving dependants of the person mentioned in that subclause—to those dependants; or\n\n(iii) in any other case—to the personal representatives of the person mentioned in that subclause.\n\n\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\n\nNOTE\n\n> Note: 1. Notified in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette on 13 August 1993.","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This Declaration exercises the existing power in the Superannuation (Productivity Benefit) Act 1988 to identify classes of qualified employees and specify alternative arrangements. It narrows application to two specific office‑holder classes (Governor‑General and judges) and prescribes coordination with their existing pension laws; it does not expand the Act’s substantive purpose beyond what the Act allows. The instrument changes how benefits are calculated for that narrow class (by providing a top‑up reduced by existing pensions) but does not materially broaden the overall scope of the legislative scheme."},"complexity_factors":["Short instrument: 6 substantive clauses plus a short interpretation and commencement clause","3 statutory definitions in the interpretation clause (clause 3)","Cross‑references to external Acts and specific sections: Superannuation (Productivity Benefit) Act 1988 (ss 3F and 4A, s 8A), Governor‑General Act 1974, Judges’ Pensions Act 1968","Nested conditional logic in clause 6 with multiple subclauses (6(2)–6(7)) handling retirement, death, reductions, withholding pending determinations, and priority of recipients","Retrospective commencement date (clause 2) adds a temporal effect to be checked against records","Requirement for inter‑administrator determinations (clause 6(6)) creates procedural dependencies outside the instrument"],"plain_english_summary":"This ministerial declaration treats the Governor‑General and federally appointed judges as \"qualified employees\" for the Productivity Benefit scheme, so the Commonwealth must pay a top‑up equal to the interim benefit on their retirement or death.  \n\nPayments are reduced by any pension or allowance already payable under the Governor‑General Act 1974 or Judges’ Pensions Act 1968, and may be withheld pending that scheme’s determination—affecting those officeholders, their survivors, pension administrators and the Commonwealth’s budget."},"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"},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This Declaration remains tightly focused on its original purpose: addressing the interaction between the new compulsory superannuation system and existing pension arrangements for constitutional office-holders. It covers exactly two categories of office-holders (Governor-General and judges) and implements the specific transitional mechanism contemplated by the parent Act. There is no scope creep beyond this narrow, technical adjustment."},"complexity_factors":["Multiple cross-references to three other Acts (Superannuation (Productivity Benefit) Act 1988, Governor-General Act 1974, Judges' Pensions Act 1968)","Nested conditional logic in subclauses (2)-(7) with multiple layers of exceptions and reduction rules","Complex payment hierarchy in subclause (7) with cascading priorities (spouse → dependants → personal representatives)","Coordination of benefits mechanism requiring administrative determination before payment (subclause 6)","Retrospective commencement date (1 July 1992) creating potential back-dating complications","Dual calculation methods (retirement vs death benefits) with different reduction rules"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this legislation does:**\n\nThis Declaration creates a special superannuation (retirement savings) arrangement for two very specific groups of high-ranking officials: the **Governor-General** and **federal judges**.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- The Governor-General of Australia\n- Judges covered by the Judges' Pensions Act 1968\n\n**Why it matters:**\n\nIn 1992, Australia introduced compulsory superannuation for most workers (the \"Superannuation Guarantee\"). However, the Governor-General and judges already had their own generous pension schemes. This Declaration ensures they don't miss out on the new productivity benefit, but also don't get paid twice.\n\n**How it works:**\n- These officials are treated as \"qualified employees\" under the Superannuation (Productivity Benefit) Act 1988\n- When they retire or die, they (or their families) receive a benefit calculated as if they were covered by the interim arrangements in that Act\n- **Crucially**, this amount is **reduced** (set off) against whatever pension they already receive under the Governor-General Act 1974 or the Judges' Pensions Act 1968\n- The benefit only gets paid once the administrator of their main pension scheme confirms no more payments are due\n- If the official dies, the benefit goes to their spouse, dependants, or estate (in that order of priority)\n\n**In short:** This is a technical \"top-up\" mechanism ensuring these constitutional office-holders receive equivalent treatment to other employees under the new superannuation system, while preventing double-dipping into multiple pension schemes."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/superannuation-productivity-benefit-qualified-employees-and-alternative-arrangements-declaration-no-","history":"/api/acts/superannuation-productivity-benefit-qualified-employees-and-alternative-arrangements-declaration-no-/history","analysis":"/api/acts/superannuation-productivity-benefit-qualified-employees-and-alternative-arrangements-declaration-no-/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/superannuation-productivity-benefit-qualified-employees-and-alternative-arrangements-declaration-no-/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/superannuation-productivity-benefit-qualified-employees-and-alternative-arrangements-declaration-no-/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/superannuation-productivity-benefit-qualified-employees-and-alternative-arrangements-declaration-no-/documents"}}