Reading time: The Trustee is required to notify you when there are material changes or significant events (as defined in the Superannuation Industry Supervision Act 1993) relating to your membership or entitlements with TWUSUPER.
These may include changes to fees and costs, insurance cover or premiums (fees), Government contribution limits or tax rates, composition of investment options or transfer of member benefits without consent.
How we notify you
We communicate these changes and events via Significant Event Notices (SEN), either as a standalone correspondence to you or in other correspondence such as annual statements or newsletters.
Where we have an email address on file, we may email any standalone correspondence to you. If we do not have an email address on file, we will send standalone correspondence to your residential address.
Depending on the event or change, we may publish a SEN online or email it to you.
Changes or events announced in a SEN are generally incorporated into the next version of the applicable Product Disclosure Statement (PDS):
- Current PDS – TWUSUPER (including Transuper and TransPersonal)
- Current PDS – TransPension
Significant event notices
See below for the notices TWUSUPER has issued in the last two years.
If you have any questions, call us on 1800 222 071 between 8am and 8pm (AEST/AEDT) weekdays.
1 December 2022
We are making important changes to TPD and Death cover held by TWUSUPER members. The details of these changes are outlined in a Significant Event Notice which can be downloaded here.
Please note, there are no changes to the cost of Income Protection (IP) cover, for those members who have IP cover.
Why costs are increasing
Government legislation over the last five years has had a large impact on the life insurance industry – this includes removing insurance for many members under the age of 25, cutting of commissions and ending ‘cold’ or unsolicited calling by insurers.
More recently, parts of Australia have been subjected to frequent torrential rain and hail events over the past 12 to 24 months. This has included widespread flooding along Australia’s east coast, from Queensland to Tasmania.
It is against this backdrop that several insurers – including TWUSUPER’s life insurer – have reviewed and increased their premiums.
Insurance with TWUSUPER still remains good value
Although most super funds include insurance cover as part of membership, they may not cover certain occupations considered ‘hazardous’.
If you work in transport, jobs other super funds commonly exclude from cover include drivers, loaders, mechanics, flight crews, warehouse workers, and bus drivers.
At TWUSUPER, we have no occupational exclusions - which means we cover all transport jobs.
An updated Product Disclosure Statement and Insurance Guide will be available at twusuper.com.au/pds from 1 February 2023.
Download SEN – 1 December 2022
1 August 2022
Nature of event or change
TWUSUPER is making several changes. This includes a new insurance administration fee that applies to insured members, the creation of a Trustee Reserve and associated trustee service fee, a shift from weekly to daily unit pricing and changes to how we communicate with you.
Impact of the change
- From 1 August 2022, all insured members will be charged an insurance administration fee, calculated as 3% of an insured member’s gross insurance premiums.
- Federal Government changes from 1 January 2022 meant that if TWUSUPER were to face even a small fine from a regulatory authority, the Trustee could become insolvent. In response, a Trustee Reserve will be established by charging a modest trustee services fee against the existing reserves over five years from 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2026.
- The Fund currently uses weekly unit pricing – meaning that unit prices are generally calculated (or struck) each Friday and published the following Wednesday. From 19 August 2022, the Fund will shift to daily unit pricing.
- To date, the Fund has mostly used letters and emails to communicate with members. In future, the Fund will use SMS to a greater extent than it has in the past (where the Fund has a member’s mobile phone number on record). The purpose of this change is to continue minimising the cost of communicating with members.
More information can be found in the Significant Event Notice mailed to members in June 2022. You can also call us to discuss these changes and any impact to you.