First State Super denies inappropriate arrangement

NSW industry fund First State Super has denied newspaper reports alleging inappropriate arrangements around the provision of death and disability insurance to ambulance officers.

First State Super chief executive Michael Dwyer today issued a statement in which he said the reports did not accurately reflect the facts, and that the insurance arrangements in question had been negotiated between the NSW Department of Health and the Health Services Union (HSU) in 2008 (retrospective to November 2006) as a condition of employment reflected in the ambulance officers' award.

A report published in the Sydney Morning Herald yesterday referenced an allegedly uncompetitive and compulsory death and disability insurance scheme which it was claimed delivered $35 million to First State Super.

The report points out that HSU national secretary Michael Williamson was a director on the trustee board of First State Super at the time the insurance arrangement was negotiated and implemented.

In the statement issued today, First State Super said it had been requested by the NSW Department of Health to facilitate the provision of the death and total and permanent disability components of the insurance arrangements because the vast majority of ambulance officers were members of First State Super.

He said a tender had been conducted to ensure the best pricing for the insurance premium was achieved.

The statement said First State Super did not make any profit from the insurance arrangements and that, as a result of the negotiated agreement, First State Super members' account balances were not affected by the ambulance officers insurance.