ADF Cover—when you’re serving
When you join the ADF, if you’re eligible you’ll automatically get Death and Invalidity benefits through ADF Cover at no extra cost to you.
Who's eligible?
You’re eligible for automatic ADF Cover if:
- you’re a member of the permanent forces or a continuous full-time reservist; and
- you’re under 60; and
- you’re an ADF Super customer; or
- you’re an ADF member who has chosen to have their 16.4% employer contributions paid to another super fund.
If you die while you’re serving and you have ADF Cover, a Death benefit is payable to your beneficiaries.
We cover you while you’re on the job, and if you die from natural causes or from injuries or events that are not service related.
How much is payable?
Generally, the benefit amount we pay is 25% of the amount a member would have earned if they had continued to serve in the ADF until they turned 60.
We calculate this using the salary reported for ADF Cover purposes that applied at the time of death.
To find out how much you’re covered for, use our Death in service calculator.
Who receives the Death benefit?
In the first instance, the Death benefit is payable to a surviving spouse and/or eligible children. Strict eligibility rules need to be satisfied before a person is deemed a surviving spouse or eligible child. You’ll find the insurance definitions for these terms under Important Death benefit definitions on this page.
We pay Death benefits in the following order:
- to the surviving spouse and eligible children; or
- to eligible children if there is no surviving spouse; or
- to nominated beneficiaries who are listed in the member’s will and who were dependent on the member just before the member’s death (but only if there is no surviving spouse or eligible children); or
- to the member’s estate if the benefit is not payable to anyone else.
Is your non-binding beneficiary nomination up to date?
Though legislation governs who gets your Death benefit if you die, you may want to nominate who you’d prefer it to go to if you don’t have a surviving spouse or eligible children.
This type of nomination is non-binding, which means if we determine that you are survived by a spouse or eligible children, CSC must pay your Death benefit in line with legislative requirements and not according to your non-binding nomination.
Death benefit calculations and payment types
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A surviving spouse may receive a lump sum or pension
If your Death benefit is payable to your surviving spouse, they can receive it as lump sum or an annual pension.
Lump sum calculation
We calculate the lump sum for spouse by multiplying:
The customer’s number of prospective years of service to age 60
x
Their reported salary for ADF Cover purposes at time of death
x
25%
Pension calculation
We calculate the base annual pension for a spouse by multiplying:
The customer’s number of prospective years of service to age 60
x
Their reported salary for ADF Cover purposes at time of death
x
1.5%
If the total pension calculation works out to be less than $5,000 per year, we must convert it to a lump sum. The value of the small pension lump sum is 16.5 times the annual rate of the pension.
-
Eligible children may receive a supplementary pension
If you die and you have a surviving spouse and eligible children, on top of the lump sum or pension payable to your spouse, an annual supplementary pension is payable to each eligible child.
We calculate the child’s supplementary pension by multiplying:
The basic rate of the spouse’s pension to age 60
x
The child supplement per cent that applies based on the number of children
(x 17% if 1 child)
(x 33% if 2 children)
(x 50% if 3+ children) -
Or eligible children may receive a lump sum
If you die and you don’t have a surviving spouse, we pay the Death benefit lump sum to eligible children. This amount cannot be paid as a pension, and it will be divided among eligible children.
We calculate the lump sum by multiplying:
The customer’s number of prospective years of service to age 60
x
Their reported salary for ADF Cover purposes at time of death
x
25%
If there are no eligible beneficiaries
If you are not survived by an eligible spouse or eligible children, your lump sum Death benefit is payable to the executor of your will or the administrator of your estate.
Important Death benefit definitions
What is a marital or couple relationship?
A marital or couple relationship is defined as one where the surviving partner ordinarily lived with the invalid or customer on a permanent and bona fide domestic basis, whether or not the person was legally married to that other person for:
- a continuous period of at least three years; or
- less than three years if CSC is of the opinion that after reviewing supporting evidence the person ordinarily lived with the invalid or customer on a permanent and bona fide domestic basis.
Who is an eligible child?
An eligible child is defined as a person who’s:
- under 18; or
- at least 18 but under 25, and who’s in full-time education (i.e. at school, college, university or another type of full-time education that’s approved by CSC).
Who is a surviving eligible spouse?
A surviving eligible spouse is defined as a person:
- who had a marital or couple relationship with the invalid or customer at the time of death; or
- who previously had a marital or couple relationship with the invalid or customer but was legally married to the invalid or customer; and
- who was wholly or substantially dependent on the invalid or customer at the time of death.
Make a claim
With CSC, the process of making a claim is simple. We guide you every step of the way.
Read more about Make a claimIf you’re discharged from the ADF because you’re medically unfit for service you can apply for Invalidity benefits, which are generally paid as a pension.
If you’re medically unfit for service
If you are under age 60 and separate from the ADF because you are medically unfit for service, CSC must assess your eligibility for Invalidity Benefits. You will be assessed based on your incapacity for future work in civilian employment.
During the claims process, we’ll determine your capacity for civilian employment, taking into account:
- Your vocational, trade and professional skills, and your qualifications and experience.
- The kinds of employment someone with your skills, qualifications and experience might reasonably undertake—taking into account the cause of your medical discharge and whether this has affected your capacity to do this work.
- Your entire in-service medical file.
Any other medical evidence provided. And, if we ask you to take extra medical examinations, we’ll cover the cost.
ADF medical transition
We’re here to support you through the important Invalidity Classification process, to ensure it is as smooth as possible.
