 |
 |
Issue No.21
1 July 2000 - 30 September 2000 |
Chairperson's Report
The last quarter has seen an increase in activity by the Tribunal. All of the 320 backlog cases (i.e. cases accumulated during the hiatus of the Breckler decision) have now been heard, except for a small number where the parties have requested adjournments, or the Tribunal is seeking further information. Determinations in all those matters should be handed down by the end of this year or early next year.
The Tribunal has now embarked on hearing complaints lodged in 1999. Any 1999/2000 complaints in which there is reason for an urgent hearing are able to be considered by the Tribunal as the need arises.
During July, the Tribunal conducted seminars in Sydney and Melbourne around issues relating to TPD benefits. The requests for these seminars came from industry sources. The Tribunal has circulated a paper prepared by the Tribunal's senior lawyer, Carol Foley, on legal issues in TPD which has received wide acclaim. ASFA have published the paper on their website
(www.superannuation.asn.au).
The last quarter has also seen an increase of 92% over the previous quarter, in the number of Determinations issued. It is hoped legislation currently before the Federal Parliament which seeks to remove the limitation of appointment to 10 Part-Time Members, will be passed shortly. All of the Part-Time Members have participated in the difficult and time-consuming task of writing decisions. Some further appointments should lead to their load being spread more fairly.
Nicole Cullen, the Deputy Chair, commences 6 months maternity leave on 20 October. The appointment of an acting deputy is under active consideration. The Tribunal proposes to try and maintain the current rate of disposal of cases during Nicole's absence.
Interest in conciliating cases has been maintained, although fewer cases were in fact conciliated this quarter. The time and resource advantages of conciliation are appreciated by those members of the industry willing to participate in the process. Preliminary figures show the initiative can be successful in resolving cases. It is hoped industry and consumers will continue to pursue this valuable initiative.
Graham McDonald
The Tribunal's Website
During the quarter there were 1,988 sessions logged on the Tribunal's website (www.sct.gov.au), over 40% of which (846) were from outside Australia.
While there have been very few complaints lodged on-line, there have been a number of complaints lodged using a downloaded version of the Tribunal's Registration of Complaint form (ROC). This will have allowed these complaints to be lodged more quickly as the complainants would not have had to wait for an ROC to be forwarded to them.
The table below shows the number of sessions and the number of pages viewed during the quarter, broken down by month. It can be seen that the number of sessions increased in August, with a slight decline in September. On average six pages were viewed each session although there was a decline in September. It is too early to draw any conclusions from these figures and the Tribunal will continue to monitor usage of the site.
.
|
July |
August |
September |
Total |
|
Sessions |
597 |
709 |
682 |
1,988 |
|
Page views |
3,843 |
4,549 |
3,385 |
11,777 |
|
Average |
6.44 |
6.42 |
4.96 |
5.92 |
One interesting aspect does, however seem to be evident. When looking at the daily usage figures over the quarter, there appears to be increasing use of the site on weekends. This suggests that the site is making the Tribunal more readily available to consumers.
STATISTICS
WRITTEN
COMPLAINTS
The number of complaints dealt with by the Tribunal in the September 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 |
133 |
69 |
54 |
7 |
|
May |
144 |
85 |
45 |
13 |
|
June |
148 |
79 |
29 |
28 |
|
Total |
425 |
233 |
128 |
48 |
|
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 |
102
30 |
318
78 |
35.3
8.7 |
|
Death
-
Distribution
-
Other |
65
11 |
198
43 |
22.0
4.8 |
|
Administration |
77 |
119 |
13.2 |
|
Account
Balance/Benefit
Calculation |
48 |
78 |
8.7 |
|
Other |
8 |
6 |
0.7 |
|
Fees/Charges |
21 |
8 |
0.9 |
|
Agent
Misrepresentation |
6 |
8 |
0.9 |
|
Surplus |
0 |
2 |
0.2 |
|
Trustee
Misrepresentation |
6 |
10 |
1.1 |
|
Release
of
Benefits |
26 |
8 |
0.9 |
|
Payment
Delay |
8 |
15 |
1.7 |
|
Statement
error |
4 |
3 |
0.3 |
|
Employer
Decision |
12 |
5 |
0.6 |
|
Investment
Returns |
1 |
0 |
0.0 |
|
Surcharge |
0 |
2 |
0.2 |
|
Total |
425 |
901 |
100% |
During this quarter, the Tribunal received 425 new complaints. This represents an increase of 13.0% 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 31.1% of the total number of complaints received during the quarter.
This is followed by complaints relating to administration, death benefits, and account balance/benefit calculations, which represents 18.1%, 17.9% and 11.3% of the total received.
Complaints about disability benefits account for 44% of all cases open as at 30 June 2000, followed by death benefits at 26.8%. The number of open disability benefit cases has decreased, and death benefit and administration cases have increased over the previous quarter.
Outside Jurisdiction
In this quarter, 233 complaints were outside the Tribunal’s jurisdiction. This represents 54.8% of all complaints received during the quarter, and is an increase from 50.3% in the previous quarter, when 189 of the 376 complaints received were outside jurisdiction.
In 71 of these 233 cases (30.5%) 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, 128 cases were withdrawn by the Tribunal or by complainants. In 85 cases (66.4%), 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 had assessed all relevant documentation received from all the parties.
The Tribunal continues to resolve the majority of cases (this quarter, 73.1% 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 September 2000, 901 matters remained open.
This represents an increase of 1.9% over the previous quarter, when there were 884 cases open.
CONCILIATION
The Tribunal conciliated 34 cases during the quarter, compared to 48 cases for the previous quarter.
Conciliation Conference Outcomes by Nature of Complaint During the Quarter
|
Nature
of
Complaint |
No.
of
Cases |
Settled |
Unresolved |
Pending |
|
Account
Balance |
5 |
|
5
|
|
|
Administration |
5 |
1
|
2 |
2
|
|
Disability
-
Medical
Evidence |
16 |
7 |
4 |
5
|
|
Disability
-
Other |
1 |
|
|
1 |
|
Death
Benefits
-
Distribution |
7 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
|
Total |
34 |
11 |
14 |
9 |
Of the 25 cases concluded in the quarter, 11 were settled and 14 were unresolved. This represents a settlement rate of 44%, compared to 76% in the previous quarter, and is perhaps a reflection on the fewer number of death benefit distribution cases dealt with in this quarter.
Disability cases accounted for 16 (47%) of the total number of cases, with settlement of 7 cases (44%) and 5 cases pending. In the previous quarter 11 cases were dealt with, with settlement achieved in 3 cases.
Death benefit distribution cases accounted for 7 (21%) of the total number of cases, with settlement of 3 cases (43%) and 1 case pending. In the previous quarter 31 cases were conciliated, with settlement achieved in 19 cases.
Administration and Trustee Misrepresentation cases each accounted for 5 (15%) of the total number of cases.
Twenty seven cases (79%) were dealt with by telephone hook-up and seven by meeting.
Trustee and insurer interest in the conciliation process is increasing, however, there is capacity for more commitment to it early in the complaint investigation phase.
Tribunal staff will be receiving training to the next quarter to enhance existing skills in the examination and streaming of cases for conciliation.
REVIEW
As at 30 September 2000, 289 maters were awaiting review.
During the quarter, 144 complaints were listed for Review Meetings. Of these 41 did not go to Review for various reasons (eg request for deferral, request for conciliation, settlement reached prior to scheduled date of Review, withdrawal, etc). The remaining 103 complaints were dealt with at Review Meetings. Of these, 8 were adjourned to seek additional information and one was adjourned to join another decision maker.
The table below gives a break down of the 48 Determinations issued during the quarter according to the nature of the complaint:
|
Nature of Complaint |
Affirm Decision |
Set Aside Decision and Substitute New Decision |
Remit matter for Reconsideration with Directions |
Vary Decision |
Tribunal has no Jurisdiction to Deal with Matter |
|
Trustee Administration |
|
1 |
|
|
|
|
Disability - Medical Evidence |
11 |
18 |
1 |
|
1 |
|
Disability - Other Issue |
1 |
2 |
|
|
|
|
Death Benefit Distribution |
2 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
|
|
Death Benefit - Other Issue |
|
3 |
|
|
|
|
TOTALS |
14 |
25 |
2 |
6 |
1 |
The table below gives a break down according to the type of fund involved:
|
Fund Type |
Affirm Trustee Decision |
Set Aside Decision and Substitute New Decision |
Remit matter for Reconsideration with Directions |
Vary Decision |
Tribunal has no Jurisdiction to Deal with Matter |
|
Employer |
6 |
9 |
|
|
|
|
Industry |
5 |
13 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
Life Office |
1 |
1 |
|
5 |
|
|
Public Offer |
1 |
1 |
|
|
|
|
Public Sector |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
|
|
TOTALS |
14 |
25 |
2 |
6 |
1 |
It is interesting to note that 29% of Trustee decisions were affirmed during the quarter, compared to 40% in the June quarter, and 55% in the March quarter.
TELEPHONE
ENQUIRIES
The number of calls received during the quarter was 2,361. This represents a decrease of 8.9% 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
|
 |
