Benefits you receive and cover you can choose

PSS offers you Partial Invalidity and Invalidity benefits if you become seriously sick or injured, and provides Death benefits if you die.

Eligible PSS customers automatically get Death and Invalidity benefits at no cost.

Who’s eligible?

• Contributing customers

  You’re eligible for Death and Invalidity benefits if you’re a contributing customer and you’re under 60.

  The benefit payable through this cover is based on the lump sum you’d receive if you worked until you’re 60 (for full benefits customers).

• Preserved customers

  You’re also eligible for Death and Invalidity benefits if you’re no longer a contributing customer. The Invalidity benefit amount is based on the value of your PSS benefit at the date of a claim.

You’re assigned a benefit classification 

If you’ve re-joined PSS, we’ll ask you to complete a Confidential medical and personal statement within 14 days of re-joining. We may also ask you to undertake a medical assessment.

We’ll use this information to assess how likely it’ll be that you can work without excessive sick leave or PSS claims within the first three years of re-joining PSS. After the assessment, you’ll be classified as either:

• a full benefits customer; or
• a limited benefits customer.

Full vs limited benefits

If you are a contributing member and we approve your claim for Permanent Invalidity:

• full benefits customers will receive a benefit that takes into account their prospective years of service to age 60; or
• limited benefits customers will receive a benefit that is calculated to the date they stopped working.

Death benefit

• How much is payable?

  If you die, your dependants (usually your surviving spouse or eligible children) will receive a lump sum that’s calculated on the percentage of the pension you would’ve been paid if you retired on invalidity grounds.

• Who receives Death benefits?

  Benefits are payable to your eligible spouse and/or children if you die:

  • when you’re a contributing or a preserved member; or
  • after you’ve retired, if you were receiving a PSS pension.

  If you die, and you are a:

  • full benefits customer, your dependants can choose to take the benefit as a pension, a lump sum or a combination of both; or
  • limited benefits customer, you dependants will receive a lump sum based on the benefit accrued up to the date you die. A pension is not payable.

  For detailed information and examples of death benefit calculations, download the Death and Invalidity benefits booklet.

Invalidity benefit

• Invalidity retirement benefits vs Partial invalidity

  Invalidity retirement benefits support you if you’re retired on invalidity grounds by your employer and your CSC claim is approved.

  As a general rule, to be approved for Invalidity retirement you must be totally and permanently incapacitated, which means that because of a physical or mental condition you’re unlikely to work again in an occupation you’re reasonably qualified by education, training or experience to perform.

  A partial invalidity pension is a form of income maintenance. We pay this benefit if, through the claims process, we decide that your salary is permanently decreased because a medical condition causes you to be downgraded or to work reduced hours.

  We also pay it if you’re retired on medical grounds and then returned to work with a PSS participating employer for a salary that is lower than what you were paid when you first retired on medical grounds.

• How we pay benefits

  If you make a successful claim, you can choose to take Invalidity benefits as a pension or as a combination of a pension and a lump sum.

  You may also be entitled to receive pre-assessment payments while you wait for our decision. Pre-assessment payments are in place to give you some income after your sick leave runs out, while you wait for us to assess your application.

• Faster access if you’re terminally ill

  We will take steps to process applications for invalidity retirement with extra speed if you are terminally ill.

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ADIC: insurance cover that may maximise the amount payable if you suffer permanent invalidity or if you die.

Additional Death and Invalidity Cover (ADIC) is extra cover you can apply for on top of the Death and Invalidity cover you receive when you joined or re-joined PSS.

It’s available to you at competitive rates and your employer will pay half of the standard risk premium.

Top up with ADIC

ADIC can help to ‘fill the gap’ between your current Accrued Benefit Multiple (ABM)[link] and the maximum amount payable from PSS. This may suit you, for example, if you joined or re-joined PSS later in your life and you have a short prospective service career before you turn 60.

Taking out this extra cover is a bit like buying an additional ABM—but one that’s only used if you die or retire due to Invalidity.

Who can apply?

If you’re contributing to PSS and you’re under 60, you can apply for ADIC.

If you’re a casual employee, if you have many PSS accounts or if you’ve transferred in from CSS, you may still be eligible to apply for cover. Please call us first to discuss your options on 1300 000 377.

How to apply

Request a quote and apply online through LIFEapp—it takes about 20 minutes.

Who pays for cover?

• Your employer pays half of your standard risk premium…

  If the insurer assess you as:

  • A standard risk, that is, you’re deemed to be of good health and you don’t engage in hazardous pursuits, your employer will pay 50% of your standard ADIC premiums.
  • A non-standard risk, your employer pays half the cost of a standard risk premium.

• …and you pay the rest

  You’ll need to pay the remaining 50% of the standard premiums. If you are assessed as a non-standard risk, you’ll also pay for any additional premium loadings that may apply. We’ll deduct your portion of the insurance fees and costs directly from your pay each fortnight.

  If you take unpaid leave, you’ll need to pay the whole premium amount for that period of leave.

Insurance payments and contribution caps

The amount paid by your employer counts towards your concessional (before-tax) contribution cap. The amount you pay counts towards your non-concessional (after-tax) contribution cap.

How much does ADIC cost?

ADIC premiums are based on your age and the amount of cover you’re eligible for. You can find the cost of cover the Death and invalidity benefits booklet.

We’ll let you know your premium when you’re first approved for ADIC.

Worked example

Here’s an example of how to work out the fortnightly insurance cover costs for a 50 year old.

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Broaden your financial security with lifePLUS choice

PSS customers can apply for lifePLUS choice Income Protection Cover, and Death and TPD cover (which includes Terminal Illness cover) at rates that are generally not available outside of super.

This means you can tailor your insurance to fit your lifestyle and financial needs.

lifePLUS choice works with other PSS cover

Benefits paid through lifePLUS choice cover are on top of amounts you’d receive through a PSS Death and Invalidity claim, and this applies if you have ADIC or if you don’t.

Who can apply and how?

You’ll need to be:

• a PSSap Ancillary customer to apply for lifePLUS choice; and
• under 67 to apply for Income Protection cover and under 70 to apply for Death and TPD cover.

To become an Ancillary customer, you must have been employed by an eligible employer for at least 12 continuous months and be a:

• current contributing or preserved PSS customer; or
• be a former PSS customer who was contributing at any time on or after 7 March 2021.

When you join as an Ancillary customer, you’ll get another account, which works alongside your PSS account and allows you to apply for lifePLUS choice. For more information:

• Visit PSSap Ancillary;
• Head to lifePLUS choice; or
• Read the Insurance and your PSSap super booklet.

Before making any decisions you should read the PSSap PDS and Target Market Determination.

How to claim

Visit Make a claim for the details.

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