• Opened on 1 October 1991

• Closed to new members on 30 June 2016

• MilitarySuper is a hybrid fund, providing both Accumulation and Defined Benefits. This means your Member Benefit and Ancillary Benefit (if applicable) is based on contributions into the fund, plus investment earnings, and your Employer Benefit is determined by a formula.

• Member Benefit

  • As a contributing member, you’re generally required to make contributions fortnightly to your super at a rate between 5% and 10% of your super salary. You must nominate a rate as a whole percentage, or you’ll default to 5%. These are known as ‘member contributions’.
  • Your super salary is your gross annual rate of pay for your rank, increment level and pay group. It includes the annual rate of any recognised allowances that are payable to you.
  • Member contributions will grow in line with investment performance.
  • Once you reach your pension maximum benefit limit (PMBL) you won’t be permitted to make any further member contributions unless you separate and re-enter service.

• Employer Benefit

  Your Employer Benefit is a notional amount, determined by the following formula:

   

  Employer Benefit = FAS x EBM

   

  FAS = your Final Average Salary. This is calculated over the last 1095 days of service, or total service, if your current period of service is less than 1095 days. Your super salary is your gross annual rate of pay for your rank, increment level and pay group. It includes the annual rate of any recognised allowances that are payable to you.

  EBM = your Employer Benefit Multiple. While you’re contributing to MilitarySuper, your EBM grows with your total years of aggregated service.

  Years of service	EBM growth per year of service
  Enlistment to 7 years	0.18
  7 years 1 day to 20 years	0.23
  20 years 1 day +	0.28

  ---

  Example

  • Your FAS is $100,000 and you have contributed 8 years of service.
  • Your EBM for the first seven years is 7 x 0.18 = 1.26.
  • Your EBM for the eighth year is 1 x 0.23 = 0.23.
  • Your total EBM is 1.26 + 0.23 = 1.49.
  • Your Employer Benefit is $100,000 x 1.49 = $149,000

  ---

  Productivity contributions

  The ADF will usually pay 3% of your super salary as productivity contributions, until you reach your pension MBL, unless you elect to stop contributing earlier. These contributions will grow in line with the default investment option, Balanced. Your accumulated productivity contributions form part of your Employer Benefit, with the balance of your Employer Benefit paid from consolidated revenue.

• Ancillary Benefit

  You will have an Ancillary Benefit if MilitarySuper receives contributions or rollovers that cannot be paid into your Member or Employer Benefit. This includes any additional personal contributions, transfer amounts, salary sacrifice amounts, government contributions or contributions from ADF to meet Super Guarantee obligations.

  For more information on contributions to your Ancillary Benefit, see our MilitarySuper Ancillary Benefit factsheet.

Built in Death and Invalidity Cover

Your MilitarySuper membership includes automatic Death and Invalidity Cover at no cost.

Invalidity benefits

Generally, you are covered for an Invalidity Benefit based on your degree of incapacity for civilian employment. You’ll be classified as either Class A (60% or more incapacity), Class B (30% or more but less than 60%) or Class C (less than 30%). If you’re classified as class A or B, benefits are generally payable.

ADF medical transition ADF member guide to invalidity 

Death benefit

How much is payable?

The benefit payable varies according to whether you die:

• in service (i.e. as a contributing member); or
• as a pensioner; or
• after you leave the ADF but before you receive your employer benefit (i.e. as a Preserved Benefit member).

For more information, download our Death and Invalidity benefits booklet.

Who receives Death benefits?

Generally, death benefits are payable to an eligible spouse, eligible children or a legal personal representative such as the executor of your estate.