Providing members with better retirement outcomes
We have a range of different super products
5 things you can do now to get your super started
As one of Australia’s largest super funds UniSuper offers a range of benefits
No matter what stage of life you are at, we are here to help.
Compare UniSuper with other super and pension funds
Get your super together and you could save in fees.
Extra super contributions could pay off over the long term.
5 things you can do to help you grow your super.
Boost your joint retirement income with a spouse account.
Nominate who benefits from your super when you die.
TTR lets you access your super while you're working
Understanding how much you'll need to retire comfortably
5 things you can do now to help you plan for retirement
Professional help for your finances
Frequently asked questions
Important information about pensions
All about our pensions’ features and benefits
Things you can do as you leave the workforce or wind back your work hours
Answers to commonly asked retirement questions
Find out how our investment options have performed
Information about the fundamentals of investing
Your guide to choosing and managing your investment options
Information about the team trusted to manage your super
The beliefs that guide how we invest your money
Find out what’s happening in investment markets each month.
All about receiving personal financial advice and what to expect
Information about receiving financial advice through UniSuper
Commonly asked questions about receiving personal financial advice
Call or email us to find out how we can help you
A list of our seminars and webinars available for members
Watch one of our tutorials online
A list of important websites
Information to help you understand topics related to super and retirement.
A list of definitions related to super
UniSuper members can automatically receive insurance cover
Insurance cover can give some financial support in difficult times
You may be able to get income protection cover through UniSuper
Insurance isn’t always just about cover for when times get tough
You may be able to transfer cover to UniSuper
See also:
Accumulation 1 is an ‘accumulation-style’ account within UniSuper.
Typically an Accumulation 1 account is made up of:
Amounts that are usually deducted from your account include fees, costs, insurance premiums (if it applies to you) and taxes.
If you're an Accumulation 1 member, your benefits in the Fund are kept in an account in your name. All contributions are paid into this account and invested in your chosen investment option(s). Your super balance accumulates over time with investment returns, which may be positive or negative. Your final benefit is the total of your UniSuper account, less any fees, insurance premiums (if any), taxes and other deductions, and is dependent on investment performance. Employer contributions to your account are generally at the rate required by Superannuation Guarantee legislation (9% for the 2012/13 financial year). You're not required to make any personal contributions to your account.
Accumulation 2 is an ‘accumulation-style’ account within UniSuper.
Typically an Accumulation 2 account is made up of:
If you're an Accumulation 2 member, your benefits in the Fund are kept in an account in your name. All contributions are paid into this account and invested in your chosen investment option(s). Your super balance accumulates over time with investment returns, which may be positive or negative. Your final benefit is the total of your UniSuper account, less any fees, costs, charges for inbuilt benefits, premiums for death and disablement insurance cover (if applicable), taxes and other deductions, and is dependent on investment performance. Inbuilt death and disablement benefits are a feature of Accumulation 2 – these benefits are subject to meeting certain criteria in the Trust Deed. Employer contributions to your account are generally 14% or 17%. You're also required to make personal contributions to your account, unless you elect to reduce your contributions through contribution flexibility.
An accumulation super account provides a super/retirement benefit based on your account balance. It includes contributions to your account and any investment earnings based on those contributions, less any fees, insurance premiums (if any) and taxes. With accumulation super accounts, you choose how your super is invested and you carry the investment risk. If investments perform poorly, your benefits are directly affected. This is because an earnings rate is applied to your account regardless of whether it's positive or negative.
See: Account-based pension
Means you were actively performing all of the duties of your usual occupation for your employer, whether this is at the employer’s premises or any other premises that they authorise you to undertake your work duties.
You must not be in receipt of and/or entitled to claim support benefits from any source, including, but not limited to, workers’ compensation benefits, statutory transport accident benefits and disability benefits.
The Australian Government agency responsible for the regulation of companies, the securities and futures industries, consumer credit and finance broking.
ASIC is also responsible for monitoring and promoting market integrity and consumer protection in relation to the Australian financial system, the provision of financial services and the payments system.
A factor used in the calculation of defined benefits. The factor is a time weighted average of a member’s contribution factors (CFs).
A contribution factor is determined by the level of member contributions you make.
For example, if you always make 7% (after tax) standard member contributions, your CF and ACF will be 100%. Reducing the level of your standard member contributions or ceasing to make standard member contributions decreases your ACF.
Under the super preservation rules, you must meet a condition of release before accessing your preserved benefits. The conditions of release include:
The government has announced the intention to tax contributions for those with incomes more than $300,000 per annum at a higher rate from 1 July 2012, but this is yet to be legislated (as at 23 January 2013).
ETPs paid on or after 1 July 2007 can't be rolled over into a super fund (other than those made under transitional arrangements).
For a complete list, see the booklet relevant to your membership:
The executor of your will, or the administrator of your estate if you die without a will.
A multiplier that may be applied to your premium by the Insurer depending on your health evidence or other information provided. If a loading is applied, then your premium will be increased. You’ll be notified if this applies to you. Loadings start at 50% and rise in increments of 25%.
The complete loss of functional sight, which is permanent.
The permanent loss of the use of a leg from at or above the ankle or an arm from at or above the wrist.
See: Legal personal representative (LPR)
A benefit payable as cash rather than as an income stream (like a pension). A lump sum benefit can include a taxable component, and tax-free component.
Tax that is payable on the taxable component of a lump sum benefit.
A component of our Defined Benefit formula. Your lump sum factor is a percentage determined by your age. See the Defined Benefit Division and Accumulation 2 PDS to find out what your lump sum factor is.
The Medicare levy funds the scheme that gives Australian residents access to health care. The Medicare levy surcharge may apply to high income individuals or families who don't have private patient hospital cover.
A levy included in the Indirect Cost Ratio (ICR) for each investment option to reimburse the Trustee for costs associated with member protection standards. Our Member Protection Levy for the 2012/13 financial year is 0.07%.
All super funds are required to comply with the member protection standards to ensure that members with small account balances do not have their balances eroded by administration fees.
We will ensure that your super benefit is protected if, at the end of each six-month period, your account balance is less than $1,000, and includes or has included mandated employer contributions. In these circumstances, we will generally not charge administration costs that are higher than the investment returns received for that period. However, if the total investment returns for a reporting period are insufficient to cover the total administration costs for the Fund, we will charge an amount equal to the amount of any positive investment returns credited to your account, plus $10 per member, as permitted by law.
Please note that taxes and the premiums you pay for optional insurance cover are not covered by the member protection standards.
Actively participating in or contributing to an act of terrorism, war, war-like operation or civil commotion.
In relation to income protection cover, generally this is 1/12th of the current annual pre-tax salary, excluding director’s fees, commissions, overtime payments, bonuses, penalty or shift allowances, investment income, income received from deferred compensation plans or other income not derived from vocational activities unless expressly agreed by the Insurer.
Take a look at the booklet relevant to your membership to see the full definition of monthly income.
An income stream (such as a pension) that must be taken as a series of periodic payments at least monthly, and can't be taken as a lump sum.
These are generally contributions made into your super from personal after-tax money. They include:
Some personal contributions aren’t treated as non-concessional contributions, including certain contributions arising from settlement of legal claims or orders for personal injuries, or made from proceeds of certain capital gains tax events.
The cap applied to non-concessional contributions. Non-concessional contributions in excess of the cap are subject to excess contributions tax of 46.5%. If you exceed both the concessional and non-concessional contributions caps in a financial year, then the excess amount could end up being taxed at 93% overall. For the financial years 2012/13 and 2013/14 the non-concessional contributions cap is $150,000. See Contributions and caps for more information.
Non-mandated employer contributions include:
We can accept non-mandated employer contributions from members aged 65 or over but under 75 if they satisfy the work test.
An employer that is not a participating employer (i.e. that has not signed a deed of covenant regarding its participation with UniSuper) but makes super contributions into UniSuper on behalf of a member.
The notional amount of contributions (excluding after-tax member contributions) that relate to a Defined Benefit Division (DBD) member’s defined benefit interest.
NTCs are counted towards a member’s concessional contributions cap and are added to the other concessional contributions made to a member’s accumulation-style accounts in a financial year to determine whether the member’s concessional contributions cap has been exceeded.
See: Notional taxed contribution (NTC)
If you are looking for NTC fact sheets visit our forms and brochures page.
When an investment achieves a higher investment return than the benchmark or other measure it is compared with.
You're partially disabled if:
An eligible business or organisation that has entered into a deed of covenant with the Trustee to govern its participation in UniSupenr.
The following entities are eligible to become participating employers (upon entering into a deed of covenant) :
Pay-as-you-go (PAYG) withholding is a system where tax is required to be withheld from payments. The total amount of tax withheld each year under the PAYG system (if any) is credited against your final income tax assessment for that year.
See: Participating Employer
A superannuation benefit paid as a regular income stream. Pensions can be provided by a super fund.
Some pensions from a super fund may not be regarded as income streams for tax purposes.
The government also offers a variety of social security pensions to those eligible, including the Government Age Pension.
Permanent incapacity is a condition of release of preserved and restricted non-preserved super benefits.
You are deemed to suffer permanent incapacity if you have ceased gainful employment, and the Trustee is reasonably satisfied that you’re unlikely, because of your physical or mental ill-health, to ever again have gainful employment for which you’re reasonably qualified by education, training or experience.
Under the portability transfer rules, you can transfer all or part of your accumulation component/account into another complying super fund. Your employer will continue to make contributions into UniSuper on your behalf. You can request a portability transfer once in each 12-month period.
A collection of investments.
Any income that a person may derive after the commencement of the waiting period during a month for which the amount of the benefit that applies to them is being assessed. However, if in the opinion of the Insurer, you are suffering partial disability but have not received such income, the Insurer will estimate your capacity to earn by substituting an amount for partial earnings with regard to the extent of your partial disability to enable the Insurer to calculate the benefit.
For the death in service benefit in the DBD and Accumulation 2, the number of years from your date of death until you would have reached age 60.
A range of diversified investment options, each with its own mix of asset classes, performance objective and risk profile.
Pre-mixed options generally invest in a mix of growth and defensive assets.
The person that you have nominated in writing as the person you would prefer your benefit to be paid to in the event of your death. You can nominate one or more of your dependants and/or legal personal representative.
This nomination is not binding to the Trustee, unlike a binding death nomination.
See the PDS relevant to your membership for the full definition of preferred beneficiary nomination.
Regulatory requirement that members cannot access their super benefits until a condition of release is met.
The age at which you can access your superannuation upon permanent retirement from the workforce.
Your preservation age depends on the year you were born.
A classification of benefits under superannuation law.
Superannuation law requires benefits to be given one of three classifications:
The rules for each classification differs.
Investments in unlisted companies, generally held through Australian or international private equity funds, and may include venture capital (funds for start-up firms, small businesses and specialised projects with growth potential), expansion capital (funds for more mature enterprises looking to expand or restructure) and buy-outs.
A document given to a member, a potential member, or a client, that gives a detailed explanation of a financial product’s features and costs.
Super funds are required by law to issue PDSs for each product they offer.
Property investments are investments in land and the facilities on it. They fall in to two categories: unlisted property and listed property.
The process of adjusting your portfolio to readjust or reset the weighting of each asset allocation.
Each of our investment options can perform differently over time. As a result, the overall percentage of your super invested in each option may be quite different over time from the breakdown you originally intended. By regularly checking your portfolio for such changes and rebalancing your portfolio (e.g. through investment switching), you can ensure your super remains invested according to your personal financial objectives.
You can rebalance your UniSuper portfolio by switching your investments options, or redirecting your contributions or pension drawdowns (where applicable).
Generally, restricted non-preserved benefits can be accessed in certain circumstances when you terminate employment with an employer who had contributed to UniSuper on your behalf.
Restricted non-preserved benefits can also be accessed if you meet a condition of release.
In the DBD there are additional restrictions on access to benefits. Generally members can’t access their DBD component until it entirely consists of unrestricted non-preserved money.
For eligible pension members: by nominating one of your eligible dependants as a reversionary beneficiary, the balance of your pension can continue to be paid to one of your eligible dependants after your death as a pension rather than a lump sum.
A pension that continues to be paid to an eligible dependant after the death of the original pension member.
Process of transferring super from one super fund into another.
When used in the context of super, this is an arrangement between a member and their employer, where the employer agrees to put an additional portion of your before-tax salary into your super.
See: Superannuation Complaints Tribunal (SCT)
Less diversified investment options (mainly single asset class options) that are designed for members who want exposure to more specific and special interest investment areas. These are not intended to be used in isolation, but rather combined with other investment options to build a diversified portfolio.
Service fraction means:
The owner of shares in a company.
When you buy shares in a company, you are buying a part of that company. This means you share in the company's performance in the form of profits that can be given to you as dividends and/or capital growth through the value of your shares increasing. Companies generally list on the stock exchange to raise capital for their company and to create a market in their shares.
If you own shares, you are a shareholder.
See: Loss of sight
Investing in companies with more socially responsible and sustainable investment practices as compared to their peers. Investments are selected according to environmental, social and ethical considerations, as well as their labour standards.
A ‘Spouse’ in relation to a UniSuper member is:
Spouse contributions are non-concessional (after tax) contributions made by a person on behalf of their eligible spouse.
You may be able to claim an 18% tax offset on some of the contributions if you’re eligible.
Contributions that DBD and Accumulation 2 members are required to make in addition to employer contributions. Generally these contributions are at the rate of 7% unless reduced under contribution flexibility arrangements.
See more on Standard member contributions.
A portfolio’s neutral asset allocation that aims to achieve long-term investment objectives. It’s based on the longer-term risk and return outlook for the asset classes.
Each of UniSuper’s investment options is structured with a unique, targeted mix of defensive and/or growth investments to meet each option’s individual performance objectives.
An independent body set up by the Australian Government that deals with superannuation-related complaints.
Contributions an employer makes into your super fund to comply with Superannuation Guarantee (SG) legislation.
The compulsory SG contribution rate is currently 9% and will increase as follows:
The legislation that sets out the minimum level of contributions an employer must make for its employees, and governs the other superannuation guarantee obligations for employers.
The legislation governing the prudential management of complying superannuation funds.
A document included with a product disclosure statement to give updated or additional information.
See: Investment switch
A unique number assigned to each taxpayer by the Australian Tax Office (ATO), so they can identify your tax records.
If you are temporarily unable to work due to injury or illness, you may be eligible to claim a temporary incapacity benefit.
Temporary incapacity is defined in the UniSuper Trust Deed as:
A state of health which, in the opinion of the Trustee, renders a member unable to perform their own duties or any other duties for which they are reasonably qualified by training and experience and which are available at the member’s employer where:
If you are a DBD or Accumulation 2 member, temporary incapacity benefits are an inbuilt feature of your membership. This means that if you are temporarily unable to work due to injury or illness, you may be eligible to claim a temporary incapacity benefit.
A disease or condition that, in the opinion of a specialist medical practitioner approved by the Insurer, is likely to lead to death within 12 months from the date the terminal illness was diagnosed.
A condition in relation to the member where the Trustee is satisfied that the following circumstances exist:
If you are a DBD or Accumulation 2 member, terminal medical condition benefits are an inbuilt feature of your membership. This means that if you are unable to work due to a terminal medical condition, you may be eligible to claim a terminal medical condition benefit.
This relates to insurance cover available through the policy the Trustee holds with the Insurer
Standard definition
If you are aged less than 65 years and are gainfully employed during the six months prior to the date of disablement, you will be deemed to suffer TPD if you:
The 6 month waiting period may be waived if you are suffering from certain specified illnesses.
Non-Standard definition
If you are aged 65 years or over or are not gainfully employed during the six months prior to the date of disablement, you will be deemed to suffer TPD if you:
A disability caused by an injury or illness and you are:
See: Total and permanent disability (TPD)
Under the transition to retirement rules, eligible members who have reached their preservation age but are under age 65 can take all or part of their super benefit in the form of a non-commutable account based pension while continuing to work.
UniSuper members can transition to retirement using a Flexi Pension if eligible.
The legal document that contains the governing rules for a superannuation fund.
The body that is responsible for the management of the fund and must manage the fund in accordance with superannuation law and the fund’s governing rules.
The trustee of UniSuper is UniSuper Limited.
See: Transition to retirement (TTR)
Where the cost of each unit of cover stays the same as you get older, however the amount of insurance you get for that cost reduces.
Unrestricted non-preserved benefits can generally be accessed at any time, subject to Trust Deed restrictions, regardless of your age, employment situation or financial position, and are usually made up of benefits that you have already become entitled to, but have voluntarily decided to keep within the super system (for example if you have reached age 65 but you are still working).
Generally, if you’re a DBD member, you cannot access your defined benefit component unless all of your benefit is unrestricted non-preserved.
A measure of fluctuation in price over time. It can represent an investment’s likelihood of going up and down in price, compared with other investments. Volatility is a measure of risk.
After-tax contributions you make to your super, in addition to the amount your employer contributes on your behalf.
A condition that members aged 65 or over but under 75 must satisfy in order for us to accept non-mandated contributions.
Under the work test, we can only accept non-mandated contributions provided you have worked for at least 40 hours in a period of not more than 30 consecutive days in the financial year the contribution is made.
The work test must be met once in each financial year before any non-mandated member contributions can be accepted. It’s up to you to demonstrate to us that you have met the work test each financial year.