Employers are required to provide a Standard choice form to new employees and to act on their employee’s choice, consistent with the requirements of the Commonwealth’s Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992, Part 3A Division 6.
General information about choice of fund is available from the ATO website, and detailed guidelines for employers and employees are available in Choice of Super Fund in the Western Australian Public Sector.
When can employees choose a super fund?
Show moreEligible new employees to the State public sector, and employees who change agency, must be offered choice of super fund by their employer by being provided with standard choice form within 28 days of starting work. As a guide, employees whose employer contributions are being paid to an accumulation scheme, such as the GESB Super or West State Super schemes administered by GESB, are eligible to choose a fund for their employer’s Superannuation Guarantee contributions. Employers have two months to commence contributions to the employee’s chosen fund. Find out about Employers' choice of fund obligations.
Public sector employees can also choose a different super fund at any time during their employment by completing the Standard choice form, or providing all the necessary information in writing to their HR Officer. Before choosing a different fund, the impact of any exit fees, the potential change of particular insurance entitlements, and a comparison of fees and charges between the funds should be considered carefully, as super is designed to be a long-term investment. Find out about the Standard choice form below.
It is not compulsory to choose a super fund. Employees who do not choose a fund will have their employer’s SG contributions paid to their employer’s default fund. In the State public sector this will often be a super scheme administered by GESB, because GESB is the current default fund for most State Government employers.
Standard choice form
Show moreThe Standard choice form is issued by the Australian Taxation Office for employers and employees:
- download the Standard choice form from the Australian Taxation Office,
- order it online as a paper copy here, or
- phone the Australian Taxation Office’s publications ordering service on 1300 720 092.
Employees can use the form to provide the name and details of their chosen super fund to their employer.
Employers are required to use the form to offer new employees a choice of super fund. Employers must complete the details of their default fund (the super fund they will use to pay contributions for members who do not choose another fund) in Section B before providing the form to an employee.
For the majority of Western Australian public sector employers, the nominated default fund is either the GESB Super or West State Super administered by GESB. The two public sector schemes are deemed to comply with MySuper requirements. The details to be completed by these employers are:
| Super fund name: | GESB |
|---|---|
| Unique superannuation identifier (USI): | 93350173038070 (West State Super) Use for current or former public sector workers who are existing members of West State Super), OR |
| 82144194929050 (GESB Super) Use for all other new employees. | |
| Phone (for the product disclosure statement for this fund): | 13 43 72 |
| Superannuation fund website address | www.gesb.com.au |
When choice does not apply
Show more‘Defined benefit schemes’ such as Gold State Super and the Pension Scheme pay a specified benefit based on a particular level of member contributions. Members of these schemes are not required to be provided with a Standard Choice form. However, Gold State members can choose to withdraw from the scheme by contacting GESB in the first instance.
Permanent employees of the Department of Fire and Emergency Services are not currently eligible to choose their superannuation fund. Their employer contributions are either paid into the Fire and Emergency Services Superannuation Fund, FESS Super, or to a GESB-administered scheme if they are a GESB member who elects to continue with their GESB-administered account.
