SUPPORT OUR ‘FAIR GO’ CAMPAIGN

TO

HAVE THE GOVERNMENT REMEDY OUR UNFAIR MILITARY

SUPERANNUATION INDEXATION FORMULA

WHAT DO WE WANT?

All we want is a fair go!

The RAR Association as a major partner in the Alliance of Service and Ex-Service Organisations¹ is appealing to everyone in the whole Defence community of serving and former service men and women, and their families, to support our campaign for superannuation pension justice.

We want the Government to remedy the unfair and discriminatory features of our military superannuation schemes, especially the grossly unfair indexation formula, and have the Opposition and other parties support us in their election policy platforms.

We want the same indexation formula as the Age/Service pension so that our superannuation pension purchasing power is protected over time.

WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?

Members of our DFRDB and MSBS military superannuation schemes are unfairly treated when compared with all other Australians.

We paid a higher compulsory percentage of our pay than public servants. We receive a lower average super pension than public servants.

Our super pensions are taxed until the day we die. The vast majority of Australians pay no tax on their super pensions after age 60.

Our surviving spouses receive 62.5% of their loved one’s DFRDB pension when the latter dies. Surviving spouses of pre-2004 Federal MPs receive 83%.

Our super pensions are indexed using an outdated formula that erodes our pension purchasing power. The decade-old Age and Service pension indexation formula, rightly, protects the purchasing power of those pensions.

WHAT’S THE STORY?

Our indexation formula, based solely on CPI, no longer meets the original intention of retaining pension purchasing power. Military super pensions do not keep up with the cost of living. Even the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) says that “CPI is not a purchasing power or cost of living measure.”

The Government recognised this fact in 1997 and abandoned the Age/Service Pension CPI indexation formula alone. The formula now includes a wages based measure (Male Total Average Weekly Earnings (MTAWE)) and more recently included the Pensioner & Beneficiary Living Cost Index (PBLCI) in the formula to in effect adjust these pensions by whichever is the greater.

The Commonwealth superannuation scheme for pre-2004 Federal MPs uses a wage based indexation formula that is more generous than MTAWE.

A comparison of these three different indexation formulae over the last 20 years clearly shows the obvious unfairness of CPI, which does not protect pension purchasing power.

After 20 years using CPI to index a $20,000 commencing pension, the recipient receives $7,000 per annum less than they would have received had their pension been indexed in the same way as the Age & Service pensions

The continued use of the CPI indexation formula for military superannuation pensions is blatant discrimination against servicemen and women, their families, and those they leave behind. And ask yourself: If the Government can afford fair indexation for 3.3 million welfare pensioners, and very generous indexation for its own MPs, why can it not afford fair indexation for 64 thousand military superannuation pensioners?

HOW TO HELP?

You can help in three ways, by:

1. Donating to our Campaign. We need to fund the campaign (estimated at $80,000) from donations and other revenue raising means. All donations will be receipted, (unfortunately they are not tax deductible) and only acknowledged publicly on our web site by the donor if requested. Unused funds at the campaign’s end will be donated to a facility that cares for veterans and veterans’ families Donations can be made by:

• Cheque or Money Order to: The RAR Association National.

Enoggera Mail Centre

Gallipoli Barracks

Enoggera, Qld 4051

• or Bank transfer to The RAR Association National Account

BSB: 064 140

Account Number: 10138062

Reference: Fair Go

2. Volunteering to assist our Task Groups to be established within your electorate. Details will follow. Please let me know at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if you can help.

3. Spreading the word to your warrior mates and friends, encouraging all of them to submit their email address to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it so that we can keep them informed of progress.

“The spirit, which grows up …… is a comradeship almost spiritual in its strength and intensity. It springs from hardships shared equally, risks run by all in common and its power exceeds most of the emotions that an ordinary man will ever know. The care of soldiers for one another, their sure and calm dependence on each other, are hard to understand by anyone who has not known it.” Osmar White, a war correspondent, an extract from his book, Green Armour, about our fighting men on the Kokoda Track .

 

IT’S TIME! It’s time to rekindle that spirit and support our ‘Fair Go’ Campaign.

Ted Chitham

RARA Campaign Director

Note 1: The Alliance comprises DFWA, ANA, RAAFA, and RARA, along with the Australian Special Air Service

Association (ASASA) and the Australian Army Apprentices Association