Complaints, Appeals & FOI
Complaints Officer
The Board's Administrator, ComSuper, has established a formal procedure for dealing with members' enquiries and complaints. The Complaints Officer is responsible for ensuring that these matters are dealt with within 90 days. Responses are generally provided within 20 working days. If you wish to lodge a complaint, please contact the Complaints Officer on:
Telephone: 1300 033 732
Email: The Complaints Officer
Mail: MilitarySuper, PO Box 22, BELCONNEN, ACT 2616
Note: It is important that your complaint is addressed to the Complaints Officer to ensure immediate attention.
If you are not satisfied with ComSuper's handling of a complaint, you may contact the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal (SCT). The SCT is an independent organisation established by the Federal Government to assist Members resolve certain types of complaints with Fund Trustees.
The Tribunal may be able to assist you to resolve your complaint, but only if you are not satisfied with the response received from ComSuper. If the Tribunal accepts your complaint, it will attempt to resolve the matter through conciliation, which involves assisting you and ComSuper to reach a mutual agreement. If conciliation is unsuccessful, the complaint is referred to the Tribunal for a determination which is binding.
You can contact the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal(SCT) for the cost of a local call from anywhere in Australia on 1300 884 114. The mail address of the SCT is:
Locked Bag 3060
MELBOURNE Vic. 3001
Fax: 03 8635 5588
Appeal rights
Request for Review of a decision made by the Trustees, their delegate or the Reconsideration Committee.
Complaints about decisions made under Superannuation legislation are dealt with in a different way to general complaints and may take longer than 90 days to resolve. The majority of these decisions relate to the level of invalidity benefit payable on discharge and after subsequent reviews.
You have 30 days from when you are advised of a decision in which to request reconsideration. Extra time will be allowed for you to submit your full submissions and evidence but the initial advice of the appeal must be lodged within the specified time period. You may call ComSuper to speak to a Member of the Reconsideration Section for assistance in making a request. The decision stands pending resolution of your request. No fee is currently charged for review of decisions.
You should detail in your request the parts of the decision you are unhappy with and the reasons why. Any relevant evidence you have, e.g. medical reports, should also be provided. A case officer from ComSuper will conduct a thorough and independent examination of the disputed matter and will be in contact with you during the investigation.
Once this investigation is complete the matter is referred to a Reconsideration Committee which currently consists of a MilitarySuper pensioner, a serving Member of the Forces, an MSB Board representative and a ComSuper employee. You will be advised of the Committee's decision and supplied the reasons for it together with copies of the evidence considered in reaching that decision.
If you are still unhappy you may refer the issue to the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal (SCT) or you may ask the Trustees themselves to reconsider the matter. The Trustees are only able to review the decision if you provide new evidence which was not available to the Committee and which is both relevant and not trivial. Again there is no fee charged by the Trustees for undertaking a review.
Freedom of information
The Freedom of Information (FOI) Act provides you with a general right of access to information held by Government Agencies, including ComSuper. The FOI Act, however, provides some exemptions which are necessary to protect matters of essential public interest and the private affairs of individuals.
You may exercise this right to obtain documents held by ComSuper which relate to you or your entitlement to superannuation benefits.
Telephone: 02 6272 9080
Email: The FOI Officer
Mail: MilitarySuper, PO Box 22, BELCONNEN, ACT 2616
more information
Customer Service Centre
For information about your superannuation entitlement, the payment of your benefit or about any other superannuation related matter, contact the Customer Service Centre.
Publications
- MilitarySuper Book (PDF 1.2M)
- Take Control of Your Future - Your Guide to Investment Choice (PDF 3.7M) .
PDFs can be viewed and printed using the FREE Adobe Acrobat Reader.