Amendments to the Government Employees Superannuation Act were detailed in State Parliament today.
Minister Assisting the Treasurer Geoff Gallop said the proposed amendments provided for Government employees to have automatic access to the three per cent non-contributory productivity benefit.
Eligibility for membership of the lump sum GES scheme would also be extended by the proposed changes to the Act.
"Provision for automatic non-contributory membership of the GES scheme will ensure that all Government employees receive their entitlement to the three per cent productivity benefit," Dr Gallop said.
"Contributory and non-contributory membership under the present system is voluntary. This has resulted in up to 20,000 Government employees not receiving the three per cent productivity benefit because they have failed to take up non-contributory membership."
Dr Gallop said the move to extend the eligibility criteria for membership of the lump sum GES scheme reflected the Government's objective to increase the coverage of superannuation.
"The current requirement for Government employees to have 12 months actual or prospective service to be eligible for either contributory or non-contributory membership would be removed," he said.
"The need for part-time employees to work at least 35 per cent of a full-time equivalent position as a condition for non-contributory membership would also be removed by the proposed amendments.
"For contributory membership the 35 per cent rule would be changed to a work requirement of 10 hours per week to mirror the requirement under the Commonwealth Government's Occupational Superannuation Standards legislation."
Dr Gallop said the additional cost of automatic non-contributory membership to the Consolidated Revenue Fund was estimated at about $1.2 million. The unfunded capital cost of the initiative was about $8 million per year.
