Employers' choice of fund obligations

All eligible new employees must be provided with a standard choice form. Eligible new employees may be a first-time employee or a member of GESB Super, West State Super, or any regulated Australian super fund and include:

• existing public sector employees who have transferred from another agency
• those on fixed-term contracts
• casual employees at the commencement of employment
• Directors of Boards and statutory authorities (who are considered ‘employees’ for Superannuation Guarantee purposes). 

Ineligible Employees

Employers are not required to issue a standard choice form to employees whose contributions are paid to a public sector defined benefit scheme – Gold State Super, the State Pension Scheme, the Parliamentary or Judge’s Pension schemes, or the Fire and Emergency Services Superannuation defined benefit fund. 

Gold State Super and Pension Scheme members must formally withdraw from the scheme before they complete a choice form, as the form itself is not sufficient to trigger withdrawal. Members of these schemes wanting to contribute elsewhere should be directed to contact GESB, who can confirm any potential loss of benefits and provide the appropriate forms.

Employees may request the standard choice form at any time. There is no restriction on the number of times a Western Australian State Government employee can change the superannuation fund for their employer’s Superannuation Guarantee contributions.

For the majority of Western Australian public sector employers, the nominated default fund is GESB Super or, where the employee already has an account, West State Super. These two public sector funds, which are deemed to comply with MySuper requirements, are administered by GESB. The unique superannuation identifiers for each of these funds can be obtained from the GESB website (www.gesb.com.au), or by calling 13 43 72.  

Employers must commence paying Superannuation Guarantee contributions to an employee’s chosen fund within two months of the date of receiving the employee’s completed Standard choice form. Before remitting contributions, employers are responsible for checking whether the employee’s chosen fund is a ‘complying’ super fund. Complying funds meet specific requirements and obligations outlined in the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993. To check if a superannuation fund is complying visit Super Fund Lookup.

Eligible employees who choose a self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) should provide their employer with evidence from the Australian Tax Office that it is a complying super fund.

The employer does not need to accept an employee's choice of fund if:

• the employee has not provided all of the information required on the standard choice form
• the relevant statements (including a statement from a complying superannuation fund or retirement savings account acknowledging that it will accept contributions from the employer on the employee's behalf) are not attached

Find out more about employers’ obligations when administering choice of fund.