Issue No.20 1 April 2000 - 30 June 2000 Chairperson's Report Inside this Issue Tribunal launches website Your feedback and suggestions Bulletin available by email Determinations on the net Statistics  The Tribunal continues to address the backlog of cases which developed while awaiting the decision of the High Court in Breckler's case. The increase in the number of hearings from 4 to 10 per week, combined with an increase in the number of cases being successfully conciliated, should result in the completion of all 1996 - 1998 cases being determined by the end of January 2001. As requested, 3 seminars, 2 in Sydney and 1 in Melbourne, have been conducted for industry groups on issues surrounding Total and Permanent Disablement. The Tribunal has agreed to an ASFA request for the legal issues background paper prepared by the Tribunal Senior Lawyer, Carol Foley, to be disseminated on their website (www.superannuation.asn.au). Arrangements are also being made for the document to be distributed to Legal Aid Commissions and Consumer representatives. The Tribunal met a delegation of Consumer Lawyer/Advocates who continue to express concerns about the lack of consumer representation in the superannuation arena including before the Tribunal. The Consumer groups are urging the establishment of a dedicated Consumer Superannuation Legal Service. Section 16 of the Superannuation (Resolution of Complaints) Act 1993 imposes an obligation on the Tribunal to help complainants in making complaints. As well as information about the SCT, which can be obtained from the Tribunal's website (www.sct.gov.au) and Inquiries Officers through toll free lines (13 14 34), the Australian Securities and Investments Commission has agreed to provide information and assistance to complainants and potential complainants through its Regional Offices. An increase in the resources provided to the Tribunal has led to the appointment of more staff. Subject to fulfilling orientation and familiarisation processes, the Inquiries, Conciliation and Review Support teams will be better placed to assist in the resolution of cases as well as the preparation of cases for determination. The increased activity should be reflected in statistics available in the coming quarter. Graham McDonald Website launched During the quarter the Tribunal launched a new web site for consumers at www.sct.gov.au. The following is a copy of the media release.  The SCT is an independent Tribunal set up by the Commonwealth Government to deal with superannuation related complaints. The new web site is a valuable resource for people who need information about the Tribunal. It is presented in language that is easily understood, and also provides links to other useful organisations. The site has a range of information including: how to make a complaint, including how to lodge a complaint on-line; how the Tribunal deals with complaints; Frequently Asked Questions; publications such as the Tribunal's Quarterly Bulletin; details of the Tribunal's Charter; and explanation of terms and expressions used by the Tribunal. "The establishment of this web site is part of the Tribunal's ongoing commitment to delivering a high quality service to consumers and others in the superannuation industry," said SCT Tribunal Chairperson Mr Graham McDonald. "The service is readily accessible to the entire community and is a valuable resource that ensures anyone who needs to is able to gather information about the Tribunal and its affairs." Further information can be obtained by contacting the Tribunal on 13 14 34 for the cost of a local call. Your feedback and suggestions In the last Bulletin we asked for your feedback and suggestions for improving the Bulletin. We would like to thank the people who responded and summarise their comments and responses as follows: For Trustee decisions set aside - could the Tribunal provide a short summary of the case together with the Determination number to assist in further research. Include information/details of Determinations subject to Appeal, including the basis and outcome of Appeals. Show statistics in the form of pie-charts/graphs rather than tables. The Tribunal is considering the responses and will provide further information in forthcoming Bulletins. Bulletin available by email A number of people have asked if the Bulletin can be sent to them by email. If you would like a copy of the bulletin sent to you by email (rather than a copy being sent in the mail), could you please complete the Registration Form at the back of the Bulletin, or email the Tribunal at: subscriptions@sct.gov.au. Determinations available on the internet The Tribunal’s determinations are published on the SCALEplus website of the Australian Attorney General’s Department at http://scaletext.law.gov.au/.  The Tribunal welcomes your feedback and suggestions. If you have any comments or suggestions regarding the information in the Bulletin please tell us. You can complete the Feedback and Suggestion Form at the back of the Bulletin.  STATISTICS WRITTEN COMPLAINTS The number of complaints dealt with by the Tribunal in the June quarter and the nature of the complaints, are detailed in the tables below: Quarterly Workflow June Quarter New Cases Outside Jurisdiction Withdrawn Finalised Reviewed April 114 60 30 5 May 138 74 49 10 June 124 55 44 10 Total 376 189 123 25   Nature of Written Complaints Received During the Quarter Nature of Complaint Number received for quarter Open cases at 30/6/00 Open cases as a % of total Disability  - Medical  - Other   82  20   328  77   37.1  8.7 Death  - Distribution  - Other   65  15   188  49   21.3 5.5 Administration 80 104 11.8 Account Balance/Benefit Calculation 44 75 8.5 Other 6 7 0.8 Fees/Charges 12 4 0.5 Agent Misrepresentation 6 9 1.0 Surplus 0 2 0.2 Trustee Misrepresentation 5 11 1.2 Release of Benefits 20 8 0.9 Payment Delay 5 11 1.2 Statement error 1 4 0.5 Employer Decision 9 3 0.3 Investment Returns 3 0 0.0 Surcharge 3 4 0.5 Total 376 884 100% During this quarter, the Tribunal received 376 new complaints. This represents a decrease of 9.2% when compared to the previous quarter. The graph below demonstrates the number of complaints received in each quarter for the previous 12 months. Types of Complaints Complaints relating to disability benefits continue to be the highest number of complaints received, and represent 27.1 % of the total number of complaints received during the quarter. This is followed by complaints relating to administration and death benefits, which both represent 21.3%, and account balance/benefit calculations, which represent 11.7% of the total received.  Complaints about disability benefits account for 45.8% of all cases open as at 30 June 2000, followed by death benefits at 26.8%. The number of open disability benefit cases has remained the same, and death benefit cases have increased over the previous quarter.  Outside Jurisdiction In this quarter, 189 complaints were outside the Tribunal’s jurisdiction. This represents 50.3% of all complaints received during the quarter, and is a decrease from 63.3% in the previous quarter, when 262 of the 414 complaints received were outside jurisdiction. In 63 of these 189 cases (33.3%) the Tribunal could not deal with the complaint because fund members had not lodged a complaint with their fund prior to making a complaint to the Tribunal. In most cases, the Tribunal referred the complaint to the fund on behalf of the complainant, so that the fund could deal directly with the matter. Withdrawn Cases During the quarter, 123 cases were withdrawn by the Tribunal or by complainants. In 74 cases (60.2%), the complaints were withdrawn at the complainant’s request because the complaint had been resolved at the inquiry or conciliation stages. The remainder of cases were withdrawn by the Tribunal following inquiry into the matter, and only after the Tribunal has assessed all relevant documentation received from all the parties.  The Tribunal continues to resolve the majority of cases (this quarter, 83.1% of cases within jurisdiction) at the inquiry and conciliation stage, without the need for the matter to proceed to review.  Outstanding Cases At the end of June 2000, 884 matters remained open. This represents an increase of 5.6% over the previous quarter, when there were 837 cases open.  CONCILIATION The Tribunal conciliated 48 cases during the quarter, compared to 28 cases for the previous quarter.  The number of cases conciliated during the quarter is the highest number ever dealt with at the Tribunal and represents an increase of 71% over the previous quarter, and 118% over the June 1999 quarter. Conciliation Conference Outcomes by Nature of Complaint During the Quarter           Nature of Complaint No. of Cases Settled Unresolved Pending Account Balance 2   2   Administration 4 3   1 Disability - Medical Evidence 10 2 2 6 Disability - Other 1 1     Death Benefits - Distribution 31 19 4 8 Total 48 25 8 15 Of the 33 cases concluded in the quarter, 25 were settled and 8 were unresolved. This represents a settlement rate of 76%, compared to 70% in the previous quarter. This high settlement rate should be noted by Trustees and Insurers as being a very positive step in the process of case management. The largest category continues to comprise death benefit distributions with 31 cases accounting for 65% of all cases dealt with. Nineteen cases were resolved and 8 cases are pending.  Disability cases comprised the next highest category with 11 cases heard during the quarter. Three cases were resolved, 2 cases unresolved and 6 cases are pending.  The activity and outcomes are heartening and in accord with the expectations from revised management practices introduced in December 1999 and the promotion of the conciliation process by the Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson. REVIEW As at 30 June 2000, 324 matters were awaiting review. As indicated on page 1 of the Bulletin, all cases received before 1998 should be finalised by the end of January 2001. During the quarter, 62 complaints were dealt with at Review Meetings, and Review Determinations were issued in relation to 25.  Nature of Complaint Affirm  Trustee  Decision Set Aside Decision  and Substitute  New Decision Benefit Calculation   1 Trustee Administration   1 Disability - Medical Evidence 6 8 Disability - Other Issues   1 Death Benefit Distribution 3 3 Death Benefit - Other Issue 1 1 TOTALS 10 15 Of the 25 Review Determinations, 15 Trustee decisions were set aside. This represents 60% of cases, compared to 41% in the previous quarter, when 11 Trustee decisions were set aside out of 27 cases. Of the 62 complaints dealt with at Review Meetings during the quarter, 3 cases were adjourned to seek additional information, 3 cases were adjourned pending the outcome of two Federal Court appeals, and 1 case was adjourned to allow for oral submissions. The table below gives a break-down according to the type of fund involved: Type of Fund Affirm Trustee Decision Set Aside Decision and Substitute NewDecision Employer 2 6 Industry 5 5 Retail 2 4 Public Sector 1   TOTALS 10 15 TELEPHONE ENQUIRIES The number of calls received during the quarter was 2,591. This represents an increase of 3.6% when compared to the number of calls received in the previous quarter. The nature of calls is represented in the chart below: Click here for a downloadable version of this bulletin