Commonwealth Superannuation Scheme

Membership

Membership of the Commonwealth Superannuation Scheme would have commenced with the members' initial employment at the University, prior to the creation of UniSuper (formerly known as SSAU) which began in1983. Existing members would not have elected to transfer to UniSuper at that time. Members of the National Institute of the Arts (NITA) members would have remained in CSS on transfer to the University in 1993.

Other existing members may have been appointed to the University from the Public Service under the previous applying mobility provisions of Part IV of the Public Service Act. The Part IV transfer provision ceased to operate from close of business 15 March 1998.

Personal contributions

In the CSS, you can nominate how much you would like to contribute -  either 5% of your salary or you can choose not to contribute at all (0%). These rates are referred to as your basic contributions, and form the basis for many benefit calculations.

In addition to your basic contributions, you may also voluntarily pay supplementary contributions. These do not have to be in whole percentage rates. For example, you could pay contributions of 6.5%. There is no upper limit on the amount of supplementary contributions that you can pay and you can change your contribution rate at any time to suit your financial needs. You can make supplementary contributions from your salary or through BPAY*. However, if you elect a zero (0%) basic contribution, you must pay any supplementary contributions via BPAY.

Changing your contribution rate

To change your contribution rate, complete the CSS Election to change contribution rate form on the CSS forms webpage and send it to the Remuneration and Conditions Branch, Human Resources Division, Chancelry Building 10A.

* An Access Number is needed to use BPAY. If you don't have an Access Number, call CSS 1300 000 277 and one can be provided over the phone.

Employer superannuation contributions

For CSS members the University pays 16.2% plus productivity from 1 July 2017.

For employer productivity contributions refer to the CSS Employer Productivity Superannuation Contribution (EPSC) rates.