Part 6Adjustment of pensions

Part 6—Adjustment of pensions Division 1—Pensioners under repealed Act 32—Pensions to continue Subject to this Act, every pension that was payable under the repealed Act immediately before the commencement of this Act shall continue to be payable under this Act. 33—Spouse pension continued A spouse pension continued under section 32 shall be payable for the life of the spouse. 34—Suspension of certain pensions Where a former member became entitled to a pension under the repealed Act and, by reason of section 14(2) of that Act, that former member was not entitled to receive that pension until he attained the age of 50 years and, immediately before the commencement of this Act— (a) that former member has not attained the age of 50 years; and (b) that former member has not elected to receive a refund of his contributions, that former member shall be entitled to receive a pension for life at a rate equal to the rate that would have been payable if, on the day on which he had been entitled to that pension, he had received that pension. Division 2—Future adjustment 35—Adjustment of pensions (1) The Board must adjust the amount of pensions under this Act from the first payment of pension in each adjustment period to reflect— (a) in the case of an April adjustment period—the percentage variation (rounded to two decimal places) between the Consumer Price Index for the immediately preceding December quarter and the Consumer Price Index for the immediately preceding June quarter; and (b) in the case of an October adjustment period—the percentage variation (rounded to two decimal places) between the Consumer Price Index for the immediately preceding June quarter and the Consumer Price Index for the immediately preceding December quarter. (2) A pension must be adjusted notwithstanding that it is not payable, or part of it is not payable, at the time of the adjustment because it is preserved, reduced (except on account of commutation) or suspended. (3) If on the first day of the relevant adjustment period, the pension has been payable for a period of less than six months, the extent of the adjustment will be reduced to reflect the proportion which the period of payment of the pension bears to six months. (4) To avoid a reduction in pensions the Treasurer may direct that subsection (1) does not apply in relation to a particular adjustment period. (5) In that event an adjustment in the next adjustment period in relation to which subsection (1) applies will be based on the variation between the Consumer Price Index for the June or December quarter (whichever is applicable) immediately preceding that period and the Consumer Price Index for the June or December quarter (whichever is applicable) immediately preceding the adjustment period in relation to which subsection (1) last applied. (6) In this section— adjustment period means the period of six months commencing at the commencement of 1 April and 1 October in each year; April adjustment period means an adjustment period commencing at the commencement of 1 April in any year; the Consumer Price Index means the Consumer Price Index (All groups index for Adelaide); October adjustment period means an adjustment period commencing at the commencement of 1 October in any year.