Death by the numbers

Superannuation is not always a big deal when it comes to death benefits in Australia because less than a third of those who die have superannuation accounts which need to be distributed.

That is one of the key facts contained in a submission compiled by the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) for the Federal Government’s inquiry into superannuation in same-sex relationships.

The ASFA submission, filed with the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, revealed that there were around 140,000 deaths in Australia in 2006-07 but that only 36,000 death benefits were paid by superannuation funds.

The ASFA submission added that the organisation did not see any practical difficulties in superannuation fund trustees applying the proposed definition of a ‘couple relationship’ contained in the Same-Sex Relationships (Equal Treatment in Commonwealth Laws — Superannuation) Bill 2008.

It said funds were very experienced in applying relevant criteria for establishing whether a de facto marriage was in place for a man and a woman and that the same criteria should be able to be used when the parties to a couple are of the same gender.

“Administrative burdens on funds may in fact be reduced given that there will be fewer individuals seeking to qualify for a death benefit under the more problematic interdependency provisions where different and additional criteria have to be satisfied,” the submission said.

It said that if same sex couples made up around 0.3 per cent of the adult population, then each year around 80 death benefit claims on superannuation would involve same-sex couples.