Superannuation (PSSAP) Unit Pricing Determination 2005

The Determination relies on a small set of structural concepts that determine how unit values operate within PSSAP. Those concepts are defined or explained directly in the text and in the notes attached to the operative section.

• Unitisation and relevant unit. The Determination records that a PSSAP member’s interest is valued in units and that each member’s interest comprises “relevant units” (s 3(1) definitions). The note in s 3(1) explains contributions and transferred amounts buy units, and that a personal accumulation account records units held.
• Buy price and sell price. Section 4(1) establishes that the valuation of a relevant unit is expressed as two numbers, a buy price and a sell price. The unitisation system reflects fund earnings or losses in these prices (s 4(1) Note 1). The Schedules provide discrete buy and sell price data by investment option and date.
• Investment options. The Schedules itemise multiple investment options (for example, Conservative, Balanced 50/50, Trustee Choice, Aggressive, Cash, Bonds / Fixed Interest, Australian shares, International shares (unhedged), International shares (hedged), Property, Sustainable). Those are the price-referenced strata in which units sit and for which prices are specified (Schedule 1).
• Temporal application and price carry-forward. Section 4(3) and 4(4) create a deterministic rule that prices listed for the last day in Schedule 1 will continue to apply until Schedule 2 first specifies a price, and thereafter each Schedule 2 price applies until changed by a later entry in that Schedule. The Schedules need not specify every single calendar day; the instrument explicitly recognises omission of weekends or bank holidays (s 4(1) Note 2; s 4(1) Note).
• Incorporation of external actuarial methodology. The Determination mandates that the buy and sell prices “must be applied in relation to the relevant unit in accordance with the actuarial report” (s 4(2)). That places the actuarial report into the chain of legal or administrative obligation that governs price application and unitisation methodology.

These concepts together constitute the legal mechanics by which the Plan’s unit valuation regime operates. The instrument is not a stand-alone policy statement. It sets numeric prices and points to the actuarial report for valuation methodology, while relying on the Rules and Trust Deed as its legal authority. The principal legal levers available in the Determination therefore are: (a) a discrete price list; (b) an obligation to apply that list in accordance with the actuarial report; and (c) rules for how those prices persist until changed.

The Determination affects several identifiable groups, with differing exposures and duties under the instrument text.

• PSSAP members. Defined expressly in s 3(1) as “PSSAP member”, they hold interests in the Plan that are valued in units. The Determination determines the conversion rate for contributions and transfers into units, and the price at which they may be taken out (s 3(1) notes; s 4(1) and Schedule 1). Economically, the listed buy and sell prices determine the value recorded in each member’s personal accumulation account.
• The Plan administrators and investment operations personnel. The instrument is an administrative pricing direction made under named Rules in the Trust Deed. Administrators are required to apply the buy/sell prices per s 4(2) and must observe the carry‑forward rules in s 4(3) and s 4(4). The header records the decision was taken by a named delegate of the PSS Board, indicating delegated administrative authority exercised inside the fund’s governance structure.
• The PSS Board and its delegate. The PSS Board is the entity whose Rules and Trust Deed provide the legal authority for the delegate’s action. The named delegate executed and dated the Determination on behalf of the PSS Board; therefore the Board and its delegate are the decision makers who set the operative prices.
• Employers and remitters of contributions. The Determination’s notes explain that contributions made to the Plan are used to buy units (s 3(1) note). Employers who remit contributions are therefore operationally affected because their payments will be converted into the number of units at the buy price applicable on the conversion date, which is set by the Determination.
• Auditors, accountants and financial operations staff. Unit values from this Determination will be inputs to accounting, member statements and audit schedules. The Determination instructs that prices be applied in accordance with a named actuarial report (s 4(2)). External assurance and accounting work will need to reconcile administrative application to the actuarial methodology.
• Financial advisers and members’ advisers. Because the price data and available investment options determine valuation outcomes for members, advisers will use the listed prices and the Determination’s rules for timing and carry‑forward to advise clients on flows, switching timing and reporting.
• Beneficiaries in the broad sense of the Trust. The Determination operates within the Trust Deed and Rules regime referenced in s 3(1). Anyone whose legal rights depend on the valuation of a member account , for example in family law proceedings or death benefit determinations , will be impacted by the prices that determine account balances, although the Determination itself does not create or adjudicate those disputes.

The Determination does not name regulators, nor does it impose explicit obligations on external market participants. Its immediate legal force is internal to the Plan governance chain: it is a pricing instrument made under the Plan Rules and Trust Deed (header; s 3(1); s 4(2)). Practical users should therefore treat the Determination as binding on Plan administration and on any process that relies on the Plan’s unit valuations.

The Determination creates specific administrative duties and records certain rights tied to unit valuation. Those duties and rights flow from the operative clauses and the definitions.

Duties (administrative and operational):

• Apply listed prices. Section 4(1) and Schedule 1 impose the duty to use the buy and sell prices set out in the Schedules when ascertaining the value of a relevant unit. The administrator must therefore use these numeric values when converting cash to units and vice versa.
• Apply prices according to actuarial methodology. Section 4(2) requires buy and sell prices to be applied in accordance with the actuarial report defined in s 3(1). This creates a procedural obligation: the numeric prices in the Schedules must be used in the way the actuarial report prescribes. The actuarial report is named and dated and thus forms part of the operational rule-set.
• Record-keeping of units. The s 3(1) note states that “a record is kept of all units held by a PSSAP member: this is the member’s personal accumulation account.” Administering the Plan therefore carries the duty to maintain accurate unit records, including applying the Determination’s prices in those records.
• Carry-forward and continuity rules. Sections 4(3) and 4(4) prescribe how to treat dates not explicitly listed in the Schedules: the last price in Schedule 1 applies to every subsequent day until Schedule 2’s first entry; entries in Schedule 2 apply until superseded. Administrators must therefore implement price continuity consistent with those rules.

Rights (as expressed or implied in the Determination):

• Members’ valuation rights. The text entitles PSSAP members to have their interest valued in units; the Determination provides the unit prices used to calculate those valuations (s 3(1) definitions and s 4(1) schedule). This is a substantive right to have account balances calculated using the posted prices.
• Conversion of contributions into units. Per the explanatory note in s 3(1), contributions and transfers into the Plan are converted into units. The Determination thereby defines the rate at which incoming money becomes a member’s units, giving members a clear conversion mechanism.
• Sale/withdrawal pricing. The presence of a sell price in the schedule means that when units are sold or withdrawn, a specified sell price applies. That is a right to receive the sell price valuation for units disposed of, subject to Plan rules and the actuarial methodology.

What the Determination does not do in this instrument:

• It does not itself create member entitlements outside the valuation mechanism. It is a pricing direction; rights arising under the Trust Deed or the Rules (for example rights to withdraw, tax treatments, vesting, or dispute resolution) are not created or amended by this Determination text.
• It does not set administration fees, nor does it include explicit provisions about switching fees, transaction settlement periods, or other operational mechanics beyond the buy/sell prices and the obligation to apply them in accordance with the actuarial report.

Operationally, the practical duty is that administrators must reconcile cash flows and member transactions against the prices in Schedule 1 and the actuarial report, and must maintain unit records that reflect conversions at the specified buy prices and disposals at the sell prices. Sections 4(2)-(4) and the notes in s 3(1) and s 4(1) are the textual anchors for these duties.

The Determination itself contains no express criminal, civil penalty, or administrative sanction provisions. It is a pricing instrument that prescribes operational prices and directs administrators to apply those prices in accordance with the actuarial report (s 4(2)). The instrument therefore does not identify a standalone enforcement mechanism within its text.

That does not mean absence of enforcement consequences in practice. The Determination operates under the Rules for the Administration of the Public Sector Superannuation Accumulation Plan and the Trust Deed made under section 10 of the Superannuation Act 2005, which are the instrument’s stated legal authority (header; s 3(1) definition of “Rules” and “Trust Deed”). Enforcement and remedies for non‑compliance with pricing directions in practice are therefore likely to arise via:

• the internal governance, compliance and disciplinary mechanisms built into the Rules and Trust Deed (the Determination itself does not reproduce or summarise those enforcement clauses); and
• any supervisory or statutory oversight regime established under the Superannuation Act 2005 or other applicable Commonwealth law, although the Determination does not itself define regulatory enforcement or supervisory powers.

Practical implications for administrators and advisers based on the Determination text:

• There is an implicit compliance obligation to apply the buy and sell prices and to follow the actuarial report; failure to do so would constitute a breach of the administrative direction in the Determination and could have consequences under the Rules or Trust Deed, but those consequences are not specified in the Determination itself (s 4(1)-(4); s 3(1) definitions).
• Where the Determination is misapplied, affected members will have factual grounds to challenge account valuations on procedural or contractual grounds under the Trust Deed and the Rules, but any remedy and the route to enforcement are matters for the Trust Deed, the Rules, or statutory rights under the Act.
• Because the Determination sets prices that determine economic outcomes for member accounts, incorrect application can give rise to financial mismatch and potential exposure for fiduciaries or administrators under the Plan’s governance framework; the Determination’s silence on penalties requires looking to the Rules/Trust Deed and any applicable statutory supervision for the consequences.

If a practitioner needs to advise on enforcement, the correct next step is to locate the Plan’s Rules and Trust Deed provisions cited in the header and in s 3(1) and to review the Superannuation Act 2005 for regulator powers and statutory remedies. The Determination should be treated as a mandatory operational direction inside that governance and statutory framework.

The Determination is expressly framed as an instrument within the Plan’s legal architecture and as such its legal effect is derivative. The header and s 3(1) identify the instrument’s legal provenance: it is made under specified Rules in the Schedule to the Trust Deed, which itself is made under section 10 of the Superannuation Act 2005 (header; s 3(1)). That places the Determination within three concentric layers of legal authority:

• The Superannuation Act 2005 provides statutory underpinning for the Trust Deed (s 10 of the Act referenced in the header). The Determination does not reproduce or restate the Act’s provisions, but it is made pursuant to the Rules and Trust Deed that the Act authorises.
• The Trust Deed contains the Rules for administration including the specific rules invoked as authorising provisions for this Determination: Rules 5.2.1, 5.4.2 and 5.4.3 are named in the header as the decision-making authority. The Determination therefore operates as an instrument authorised under those Rules.
• The Rules themselves will specify operational obligations, powers and procedures for the Plan’s administration that the Determination is required to respect. The Determination references and depends on the actuarial report in s 4(2), which the Rules or Trust Deed may require or permit for unitisation methodology.

Practical interfaces and consequences:

• Accounting and reporting law. The Determination’s prices feed directly into member account balances used in accounts and member statements. Auditors and accountants must account for the application of these prices consistently with accounting standards and the Trust Deed’s valuation rules, and reconcile the actuarial report methodology required by s 4(2).
• Tax and superannuation law. The Determination does not address tax treatment. However, the valuation of member accounts using the Determination’s prices will affect tax-reportable amounts in the hands of members and the fund’s reporting to the ATO. The Determination itself does not purport to alter tax treatment and does not cite taxation statutes.
• Commonwealth statutory supervision. While the Determination is a Plan internal pricing instrument, it forms part of the Plan’s operational records and therefore will be visible to any statutory supervisor under the Superannuation Act 2005 or other relevant Commonwealth supervisory frameworks. The Determination makes no express reference to external regulators, consistent with its role as a Plan-internal instrument.
• Contract and property law. Unitisation creates proprietary interests in the Plan expressed as numbers of units. The Determination specifies the conversion rate for units at given dates; these valuations will be relevant where rights in member accounts are subject to contest or enforcement under general law (for example in property disputes or family law asset division). The Determination does not itself alter underlying contract rights in the Trust Deed.
• External market interfaces. The Determination lists investment option labels that presumably map to underlying asset classes, for example Australian shares, international shares, property and fixed interest. The Determination does not itself obligate external fund managers or counterparties but it will affect cash flows to and from underlying markets when the Plan transacts at the specified prices.

Because the Determination imports the actuarial report (s 3(1) and s 4(2)), any legal questions about valuation methodology or assumptions will need to address that report and the Rules or Trust Deed provisions that require or accept it. The Determination is best read as an operational link between the Plan’s internal governance instruments and the external legal context of the Act and general administrative law principles.

The Determination records its creation date and commencement date and provides a blank Schedule intended to be populated by later amendments, but it contains no recorded amendments within the text. The specific textual facts are:

• The instrument is dated 27 July 2005 and the signature block shows LJMcCracken as delegate of the PSS Board (header).
• Section 2 states the Determination commences on 27 July 2005.
• Schedule 1 contains a series of dated buy and sell prices covering 1 July 2005 through 22 July 2005 for various investment options; s 4(1) Note 2 explicitly describes Schedule 1 as covering “the initial period of the PSSAP Scheme, commencing on 1 July 2005.”
• Schedule 2 is empty and the Schedule notes “Items in this Schedule will be inserted by future amendments of this Determination.” The Determination therefore anticipates later instrument amendments to insert further dates/prices into Schedule 2.

What the Determination does not contain about amendments:

• The Determination does not itself describe the amendment process, who may make amendments, or the form and publication requirements for future amendments. The header indicates authority under Rules 5.2.1, 5.4.2 and 5.4.3; those Rules in the Trust Deed are therefore the natural place to look for rules on amendments and delegated authority.
• No subsequent amending instrument is included in the document text provided. The document therefore records an intention and an infrastructure for future amendments (Schedule 2), but contains no historical record of any amendments having been made.

Practical points for practitioners:

• To determine the full amendment history, and whether subsequent buy/sell prices supersede the Schedule 1 entries (including whether Schedule 2 has entries now), a practitioner should obtain: (a) the current consolidated Determination (including any amendments published after 27 July 2005); (b) the Plan’s Rules and Trust Deed provisions governing amendment; and (c) any public or internal amendment registers maintained by the PSS Board or Plan administrator.
• The carry-forward rules in s 4(3) and s 4(4) are the only temporal amendment mechanics specified in the Determination itself: the last Schedule 1 price applies until Schedule 2’s first entry; thereafter Schedule 2 prices apply until changed. That creates a discontinuity in how the Determination expects future entries to be rolled out and suggests a two-stage schedule design (initial Schedule 1, future Schedule 2).
• The Determination’s commencement date and the Schedule 1 dates are not strictly coterminous: Schedule 1 covers the initial period commencing 1 July 2005 but the instrument itself commences 27 July 2005 (s 2; s 4(1) Note 2). That raises the textual fact that the Determination, as a posted administrative instrument dated 27 July, sets prices for prior dates. To understand the legal acceptability of that retroactive operational effect, look to the Rule and Trust Deed authority cited in the header.

In short, the document contains only the original Determination and an explicit slot for future amendments, but no later amendments are recorded in the supplied text. Any analysis of amendment practice or history must therefore go to the Plan’s amendment records and the Trust Deed/Rules for the amending procedure authorised by the PSS Board.

The Determination text does not record any litigation, disputes, or case law. There are no judicial decisions, tribunal findings, or appeals stated or cited in the document. The Determination therefore carries no litigation annotation within its text.

Practical guidance for research and risk assessment:

• Because the Determination affects unit valuations and member account balances, it is a plausible focal point for disputes about valuation methodology, timing of conversion of contributions, unit pricing errors, or alleged misapplication of the actuarial report. The Determination does not itself include dispute resolution or appeals processes; those would be in the Rules and Trust Deed. For litigation risk assessment, a practitioner must review the Trust Deed, the Rules, the actuarial report (referenced in s 3(1) and required by s 4(2)), and any Tribunal or court records relating to the PSS/CSS Boards or PSSAP cases.
• To locate any litigation that might have referenced this Determination, search administrative and judicial databases for disputes involving the PSSAP, the PSS Board, or named delegates in the relevant timeframe. The Determination itself does not supply cross‑references to cases.
• If a member challenged an account valuation that relied on these buy and sell prices, the primary facts the court would likely examine are: (a) whether the prices in Schedule 1 were correctly applied on the relevant dates, (b) whether the actuarial report’s methodology was followed as required by s 4(2), and (c) whether the Rules and Trust Deed authorised the Determination and its effective dates. Those are textual anchors in the Determination.

Because the supplied document shows no litigation history, any practitioner advising on dispute likelihood or precedent must conduct external searches of court, tribunal and administrative records and examine the Rules and Trust Deed for mandatory internal remedies and dispute-resolution pathways.

The Determination contains several textual features that create operational or legal surprises if practitioners assume daily pricing, immediate effect, or self-contained authority. These are concrete “gotchas” drawn from the instrument’s wording and the Schedules.

1. Commencement date versus price effective dates. Section 2 states the Determination commences on 27 July 2005, yet Schedule 1 explicitly covers an “initial period … commencing on 1 July 2005” (s 4(1) Note 2 and Schedule 1 header). That means the Determination, although commencing on 27 July, lists prices that apply to dates earlier in July. Practitioners should not assume the Determination only affects valuations from the commencement date forward. You must reconcile the instrument’s commencement with the Schedule’s effective dating when reconstructing historical valuations or advising on retrospective adjustments.

2. The price carry-forward rules are asymmetric and may bite. The last prices in Schedule 1 apply “to every subsequent day until the first buy or sell price is specified in Schedule 2” (s 4(3)). Once Schedule 2 receives its first entry, its entries apply until changed (s 4(4)). That design creates a cliff: Schedule 1 remains operative until Schedule 2 is first amended. If the administrator expects daily prices to be refreshed automatically, they will be mistaken. Administrators must treat the absence of Schedule 2 entries as an instruction to carry forward Schedule 1 prices.

3. Prices need not be specified for each calendar day. The Determination expressly notes that a buy price and sell price are not necessarily determined for each day and Schedules may not refer to weekends or bank holidays (s 4(1) Note 2 and the separate s 4(1) Note). Operationally, you must apply the carry-forward rules to any date not specifically listed and cannot assume a missing date means the Plan forgot to price that day.

4. The actuarial report is the mandated methodology but is external. Section 4(2) commands that buy and sell prices “must be applied … in accordance with the actuarial report.” The report is defined in s 3(1) and named and dated. The Determination does not reproduce the methodology, assumptions, rounding rules, or allocation rules in the actuarial report. Therefore: (a) administrators must obtain and follow the actuarial report to ensure compliance; (b) auditors must reconcile the numeric prices to the report’s method; and (c) disputes about how to apply a listed price are likely to require reference to the actuarial report.

5. The buy/sell spread is explicit and variable across options and dates. The Schedules list a buy price and a sell price for each option on each date. The spread between buy and sell is therefore built into the valuation mechanics. Practitioners should not assume a single mid-market price is used; for example on 1 July 2005 the Cash option shows identical buy and sell prices, whereas Australian shares show a larger spread (Schedule 1, Item 1). That means contribution conversions and withdrawals are subject to asymmetric values; advisers and members may be materially affected by which side of a transaction they undertake.

6. Schedule 2 is empty but signalled as the target for future amendments. The instrument presumes precinct for later entries in Schedule 2 and sets rules for their application (s 4(3)-(4)). If administrators later populate Schedule 2, the carry-forward rules will switch the operative schedule. Practitioners must check for later versions and not rely on Schedule 1 indefinitely.

7. No enforcement or penalty provisions in the Determination. The instrument imposes duties to apply prices and follow the actuarial report but does not specify sanctions for non‑compliance (s 4(2)-(4)). Recovery or remedies for errors will be governed by the Rules and Trust Deed or by statutory remedies outside the Determination. This means compliance steps must include controls to prevent mispricing rather than expecting the Determination to set out a remedial regime.

8. The Determination does not specify settlement mechanics or treatment of intra-day flows. The instrument sets prices by date but does not specify cut-off times, aggregation rules, or settlement lag that determine whether a given contribution on a date receives that date’s buy price. The actuarial report may fill that gap; the Determination alone does not. Practitioners must find those operational rules in the Rules or actuarial report.

9. Delegation and authority are implicit rather than exhaustively set out. The header records the delegate and the Rules authorising the action. The Determination itself does not reproduce the delegation instrument or the full text of Rules 5.2.1, 5.4.2 and 5.4.3. A challenge to authority will require examining the Rule text and any formal delegation record.

10. Valuation labels map to underlying asset classes but do not describe portfolio composition. The Determination lists investment option names but does not define their benchmarking, permitted holdings, or liquidity profiles. Liquidity mismatches between underlying investments and the price schedule are not addressed in the Determination text and will matter operationally if members request redemptions.

Each of these points is explicitly supported by the Determination text (see s 2; s 3(1); s 4(1)-(4); Schedule 1 and Schedule 2 note). Practitioners responsible for account administration, member advice or compliance should treat the above as concrete implementation risks and check the Rules, Trust Deed and the named actuarial report for the missing operational detail.

This section gives practical, source-anchored steps administrators, auditors and advisers should follow to comply with the Determination’s obligations and to manage operational risk. Each step is tied to the Determination’s provisions.

1. Obtain and hold the actuarial report. Section 4(2) makes application of buy and sell prices contingent on application “in accordance with the actuarial report.” The report is defined and dated in s 3(1). Administrators must obtain the named report, incorporate its methodology into operational procedures, and ensure staff apply rounding, valuation and allocation rules from that report when converting cash to units and valuing accounts.

2. Implement the Schedule price list exactly and program carry-forward logic. Use Schedule 1 as the initial price table for each listed date and investment option (s 4(1) and Schedule 1). Build the s 4(3) and s 4(4) carry-forward logic into systems: last price in Schedule 1 applies to all subsequent days until Schedule 2 receives its first entry; once Schedule 2 entries exist each entry applies until superseded. Do not assume prices refresh daily if not listed; the Determination allows missing calendar dates (s 4(1) Note).

3. Apply buy and sell prices to the correct transactions. The s 3(1) note explains contributions and other transfers in are used to buy units. Administrators must ensure conversion uses the buy price applicable on the transaction date as determined by the Schedules and actuarial report methodology. For withdrawals or redemptions, apply the sell price in the same dated manner. Document cut-off rules and time-of-day conventions , these are not in the Determination and may be in the Rules or actuarial report.

4. Maintain and reconcile member personal accumulation accounts. The Determination’s s 3(1) note codifies the personal accumulation account as the record of units. Keep an auditable trail showing: cash in; date used for conversion; buy price applied; units credited; any fees or adjustments; and the actuarial report reference. Reconcile daily to ensure that prices applied match Schedule entries and the actuarial methodology.

5. Treat spreads transparently in member communications and advice. The Schedules show buy and sell disparities by option and date. Communicate to members and advisers which price applies to contributions, switches, and redemptions and disclose that spreads may vary by investment option and date (Schedule 1; s 4(1) Note 1).

6. Control delegated authority and change control. The Determination was signed by a named delegate under Plan Rules (header). Maintain a delegation register, and ensure any future amendments to Schedule 2 are made under the same formal delegation procedures established by the Rules and Trust Deed. Preserve documentation of who authorised any later Schedule 2 entries.

7. Check for and apply future amendments. Because Schedule 2 is reserved for future amendments, incorporate a periodic check for amended Determinations and update systems promptly. The carry-forward rules (s 4(3)-(4)) mean that once Schedule 2 is populated, its entries will become the operative price set.

8. Audit and compliance testing against the actuarial report. Design audit tests that verify: (a) buy/sell prices used in accounting systems match the Determination Schedules for assigned dates; (b) application of those prices is consistent with the actuarial report methodology required by s 4(2); and (c) carry-forward rules are implemented per s 4(3)-(4). For any discrepancies, document corrections and potential member notifications.

9. Reconcile with Trust Deed and Rules for any operational gaps. The Determination does not set out settlement timings, cut-offs, or fee regimes. For those operational gaps, obtain and rely on the Rules and Trust Deed provisions invoked in the header and in s 3(1). Where the Determination and Rules appear inconsistent, escalate for legal review and resolution under Plan governance.

10. Member-facing processes for disputes and retrospective adjustments. Because the Determination includes prices that predate the instrument’s commencement, prepare a procedural workflow to handle historical valuation queries. Maintain clear records showing the date of contribution, the price applied, and reference to this Determination and the actuarial report. If members query retrospective application, governance should be ready to explain the Plan’s authority to set earlier effective pricing as per the Schedule (s 2; s 4(1) Note 2).

These steps are designed to implement the Determination in a way that is faithful to its express drafting. They avoid assuming any enforcement or amendment mechanism not present in the text and rely on the Rule and Trust Deed frameworks identified in the Determination header and s 3(1) where the Determination itself is silent.