{"id":"F2008B00219","name":"Superannuation (Productivity Benefit) (Qualified Employees) Declaration No. 1","slug":"superannuation-productivity-benefit-qualified-employees-declaration-no-1","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"322 of 1990","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":72965,"registerId":"commonwealth-F2008B00219-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-02","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Superannuation (Productivity Benefit) (Qualified Employees) Declaration No. 1","content":"![](image.001.png)\n\nStatutory Rules 1990 No. 3221\n\nSuperannuation (Productivity Benefit)  \n(Qualified Employees) Declaration No. 1\n\nI, RALPH WILLIS, Minister of State for Finance, hereby make the following Declaration under subsection 3F (1) of the Superannuation (Productivity Benefit Act 1988.\n\n> Dated 6 October 1990.\n\nRALPH WILLIS\n\nMinister of State for Finance\n\n\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\n\nCitation\n\n1. This Declaration may be cited as Superannuation (Productivity Benefit) (Qualified Employees) Declaration No. 1.\n\nCommencement\n\n2. This Declaration takes effect from 1 January 1988.\n\nDeclared class of persons\n\n3. For the purposes of subsection 3F (1) of the Superannuation (Productivity Benefit) Act 1988, the members of the staff of the Central Land Council established under section 21 of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 are a class of persons who are qualified employees.\n\n> Note: NOTE\n\n> Note: 1. Notified in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette on 17 October 1990.","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"This declaration changes legal coverage by adding a specific class (staff of the Central Land Council under section 21 of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976) to the category of \"qualified employees\" under the Superannuation (Productivity Benefit) Act 1988 (section 3). It is also retroactive: it takes effect from 1 January 1988 despite being made on 6 October 1990 (section 2), so the operative scope of the Act is expanded with retrospective effect for that earlier period."},"complexity_factors":["Referral to and reliance on other statutes (Superannuation (Productivity Benefit) Act 1988 and Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976) requires cross-referencing to determine full legal effect (see instrument header and section 3).","Retroactive commencement (takes effect from 1 January 1988 while declared on 6 October 1990) adds administrative complexity for backdating records and payments (section 2 and instrument header).","Narrow, specific class definition (staff of the Central Land Council under s21) reduces scope breadth but requires precise identification of affected individuals (section 3).","Ministerial exercise of statutory power (subsection 3F(1)) concentrates decision-making and means legal effect depends on delegated discretion rather than on procedural rules in the declaration (instrument header).","The declaration is strictly classificatory and omits operational detail (no formulae, no payment rules), so determining concrete effects requires consulting the primary Act, adding a step to implementation."],"plain_english_summary":"What this instrument changes, mechanically:\n\n- It declares that a specific group of people — \"the members of the staff of the Central Land Council established under section 21 of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976\" — are a class of persons who are \"qualified employees\" for the purposes of the Superannuation (Productivity Benefit) Act 1988 (the Act). (see section 3).\n- The declaration was made by the Minister of State for Finance (Ralph Willis) on 6 October 1990 and is given effect from 1 January 1988 (see heading and section 2).\n\nWho it affects and why it matters:\n\n- Who: staff of the Central Land Council as described in section 21 of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 (section 3).\n- Legal effect: by assigning that class the label \"qualified employees\" under subsection 3F(1) of the Superannuation (Productivity Benefit) Act 1988, the declaration changes which persons fall within the Act’s rules for \"qualified employees.\" The exact consequences (for example, any entitlements, obligations, or payments that flow from being a \"qualified employee\") are determined by the terms of the Superannuation (Productivity Benefit) Act 1988 and are not specified in this short declaration itself (see instrument header and section 3).\n\nOfficial claim and practical implications:\n\n- The instrument is presented as a Declaration made under subsection 3F(1) of the Act (instrument header). That is, the Minister is using a statutory power to identify a class of persons as \"qualified employees.\" This is a statement of legal classification rather than a restatement of the substantive provisions of the superannuation Act.\n\nTesting the claim against practical implementation factors (source-based):\n\n- Retroactive effect: the declaration takes effect from 1 January 1988 despite being made on 6 October 1990 (section 2). This creates a retroactive legal change for the specified class and may require administrative steps to apply or correct records, payments or entitlements back to that date.\n- Who decides: the declaration is a ministerial exercise of a statutory power (made under subsection 3F(1) of the Act), so the decision to classify the group is concentrated in the Minister’s hands (instrument header and section 3).\n- Information required / compliance burden: the declaration itself sets out only the class. Any operational changes (identifying affected staff, calculating any retrospective amounts, and updating payroll or records) depend on the primary Act and on administrative action by the responsible bodies; those operational burdens are not specified here but follow from the retroactive commencement (section 2) and the class definition (section 3).\n- Discretion and legal scope: the instrument exercises delegated statutory discretion to define coverage under the Act (instrument header). The declaration does not specify how the Act’s substantive rules will be applied in individual cases; those details remain in the Act.\n- Effects on private parties and markets: the declaration changes which private individuals (Central Land Council staff) are within the legal category the Act governs. Any downstream effects on wages, employer costs, or contract terms are not stated in this document and would depend on the operative provisions of the Superannuation (Productivity Benefit) Act 1988.\n\nConcentrated vs diffuse impacts and implementation risk:\n\n- Concentrated beneficiaries: the declared benefit (the label of \"qualified employees\") is limited to a clearly specified, narrow class (staff of the Central Land Council) (section 3). Any benefits or obligations therefore fall on a concentrated group.\n- Implementation risk: because the declaration is retroactive, agencies responsible for applying the Act will need to check historical employment records and may need to make retrospective adjustments. The declaration does not itself create procedural rules for doing so (section 2 and section 3).\n\nTechnical notes and references:\n\n- Citation: indicated as Superannuation (Productivity Benefit) (Qualified Employees) Declaration No. 1 (section 1).\n- Commencement: takes effect 1 January 1988 (section 2).\n- Declared class: members of staff of the Central Land Council established under section 21 of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 are declared a class of persons who are qualified employees (section 3).\n\nIn short: this is a focused ministerial declaration that, with retrospective effect from 1 January 1988, classifies Central Land Council staff as \"qualified employees\" under the Superannuation (Productivity Benefit) Act 1988. The declaration performs only a definitional function; the substantive legal consequences for entitlements or obligations flow from the primary Act and are not set out in this document."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This declaration serves its original narrow purpose exactly as intended. It was designed to declare specific employees as qualified for the productivity benefit, and it does precisely that for one named organisation. There is no evidence of scope creep or expansion beyond the original intent."},"complexity_factors":["Extremely short document (only 3 operative sections)","No defined terms section","No cross-references beyond a single citation to the parent Act","Simple declarative structure: 'X are qualified employees'","No conditional logic, exceptions, or procedural requirements","Single purpose: naming one specific organisation's staff as eligible"],"plain_english_summary":"This is a short legal declaration made by the Finance Minister in 1990 that determines who qualifies for a specific superannuation (retirement savings) benefit.\n\n**What it does:**\nIt declares that staff members of the **Central Land Council** are \"qualified employees\" under the Superannuation (Productivity Benefit) Act 1988.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- Employees of the **Central Land Council** — an organisation established under the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 that represents Aboriginal people in Central Australia regarding land rights.\n- These employees now become eligible for the \"productivity benefit\" — a specific superannuation arrangement for certain Australian Government employees.\n\n**Why it matters:**\nThis declaration extends a particular retirement benefit scheme to a specific group of Indigenous land council staff. Without this declaration, these employees would not have been covered by the productivity benefit superannuation scheme. It effectively brings these employees into the same retirement benefits framework as other qualified Commonwealth employees.\n\n**Key detail:** Despite being made in October 1990, it applies retrospectively from **1 January 1988** — meaning the benefit covers employees from that earlier date."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/superannuation-productivity-benefit-qualified-employees-declaration-no-1","history":"/api/acts/superannuation-productivity-benefit-qualified-employees-declaration-no-1/history","analysis":"/api/acts/superannuation-productivity-benefit-qualified-employees-declaration-no-1/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/superannuation-productivity-benefit-qualified-employees-declaration-no-1/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/superannuation-productivity-benefit-qualified-employees-declaration-no-1/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/superannuation-productivity-benefit-qualified-employees-declaration-no-1/documents"}}