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Home Changes to your superannuation arrangements (Q-DB)

You recently received a communication from your employer which advised that from 31 December 2024 they will no longer be an ‘Associated Employer’ of the Qantas Superannuation Plan (Qantas Super).

This page provides you with more information about what this means for you as a member of Qantas Super.

Why is your employer’s status changing?

As the communication from your employer explained, Qantas Super was established as a benefit for employees of companies within the Qantas Group.

The Qantas Group and Qantas Super are currently working towards a successor fund transfer (SFT) with Australian Retirement Trust (ART), which is expected to occur in the first half of 2025. Following the SFT, Qantas Super will be wound up and ART will offer a replacement corporate superannuation plan to the active employees of the Qantas Group. In this context, the Qantas Group has considered how to continue to ensure its corporate superannuation plan is a benefit for employees of companies within the Qantas Group.

As your employer is not an associated company or controlled entity of the Qantas Group, your employer will cease to be an Associated Employer of Qantas Super effective 31 December 2024.

How your super will change

The current Associated Employer status meant that you were able to remain an active member of Qantas Super in your existing Division. As the arrangement is ending, important changes must be made to your account effective 31 December 2024. Please read all of this information to ensure you understand the changes.

1. Your defined benefit will be crystallised and then combined with your accumulation accounts

As a member of a defined benefit division of Qantas Super, your super is calculated according to a formula, which is a defined benefit amount plus any accumulation accounts you have. On 31 December 2024, your defined benefit amount will be calculated, or crystallised, and then combined with your accumulation accounts.

2. You will receive a one-off boost to your balance

As a member of a defined benefit division, your defined benefit component is invested in Qantas Super’s defined benefit asset pool. The amount of money in this pool is carefully managed, and typically runs at a surplus to ensure we can meet our defined benefit obligations to all members.

As your defined benefit component is being crystallised, a portion of the surplus in the defined benefit asset pool relating to your entitlement will be distributed to you as a one-off payment into your account. This surplus benefit would not normally be accessible to members (for example, in the context of a normal resignation or retirement from your employer), but will be available to you through this specific process.

This payment will be applied as a one-off concessional contribution for the 2024/2025 financial year into your account. You must remain employed by your current employer and a defined benefit member of Qantas Super until 31 December 2024 to receive this payment. Please see the information relating to concessional contributions in the FAQs below.

3. Your defined benefit account will be closed and moved to Qantas Super’s Gateway Division

Effective 31 December 2024, your account in your current Division will close and your total balance will be transferred to a new account in our Gateway Division, where you will become a ‘Retained’ member. ‘Retained’ is the term for Qantas Super members who are former employees of the Qantas Group and its Associated Employers. You will be sent a letter confirming this transfer by late-January 2025.

4. Your insurance cover will change

The amount of Standard Cover you have for death and total and permanent disablement (TPD) will be transferred to your new Gateway account as Fixed-Dollar Basic Cover, and premium rates for insurance cover in Gateway will apply; you can learn more in the Gateway Division Product Disclosure Statement. The cost of this cover depends on the amount of cover you have. Any cover you have for income protection will continue from 1 January 2025 for 90 days, or up to the SFT date (whichever is sooner), and you will not pay premiums for this cover for this time. However, if you choose to have your employer pay your contributions to a new super fund, this cover will cease immediately. Qantas Super is working with ART to determine options for your IP cover after the SFT date. If you have any Voluntary Cover, this will continue.

5. Fees and costs for Gateway will now apply

As a member of our Gateway Division, fees and costs for Gateway will now apply. These fees and costs will be deducted from your account. For example, there is a fixed administration fee of $70 p.a., plus an asset-based administration fee of 0.23% p.a. of your account balance and estimated asset-based APRA fee of 0.01% p.a. of your account balance. The total of the fixed administration fee and the asset-based administration fee (excluding the APRA fee) is capped at $1,050 each financial year ending 30 June for each Super Account and Income Account in Gateway. You can learn more about these fees and costs in the Gateway Division Product Disclosure Statement.

6. If you remain a member of Qantas Super, your employer can make contributions to your new Gateway account

As the communication from your employer explained, they will make contributions to your new Gateway account unless you advise them otherwise.

7. You will now have control over how all of your super is invested

Effective 1 January 2025, all of your super within Qantas Super will be moved into a single accumulation account in the Gateway Division. This means you will have more control over the investment options in which your super is invested. After the transfer to Gateway, your account will be invested as follows:

  • Your current account balance: If you have chosen investment options for your accumulation accounts in your previous division, your total benefit (including your defined benefit component) will be invested in the same investment options and in the same proportion that applied to your accumulation accounts in your previous division on 31 December 2024. If you have not chosen investment options for your accumulation accounts in your previous division, your total benefit (including your defined benefit component) will be invested in Glidepath, the default option in Gateway.
  • Future contributions: If you have chosen investment options for future contributions in your previous division, this will continue to apply in Gateway. If you have not chosen investment options for your future contributions in your previous division, then all future contributions will be invested in Glidepath, the default option in Gateway.

If you want to change the investment options in which your super is invested, you can do this by logging into your account at by logging into your account. You can learn more about the investment fees and costs here.

The merger with ART

Unless you choose to move your Qantas Super account elsewhere following the changes to your account in December 2024, your account will be transferred to ART when Qantas Super completes the SFT process. As explained above, we expect the SFT to be complete in the first half of 2025. We will be in touch with more information about what it will mean for you as a Retained member in our Gateway Division next year.

What you need to do

Please read all of this page to ensure you understand the important changes to your superannuation account within Qantas Super. The changes to your account will be processed automatically.

Once they have been implemented, we suggest you carefully review how your new Gateway account is set up to ensure you are familiar and comfortable with your investment options, insurance arrangements, and the other aspects of your Gateway account.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Why is my employer’s status as an Associated Employer changing?

    The Qantas Group and Qantas Super are currently in the process of implementing a successor fund transfer (SFT) with Australian Retirement Trust (ART). The SFT is expected to occur in the first half of 2025. Following the SFT and the subsequent wind-up activities, Qantas Super will no longer exist as a superannuation fund. ART will instead offer a replacement superannuation plan to current employees of the Qantas Group only.

    In that context, the Qantas Group has considered how its current and former employees, who are members of Qantas Super, will be impacted. In summary, the benefits and assets of former employees will move to our Gateway Division on 31 December 2024 and – unless they elect to go to an alternate superannuation fund – will then transition to ART’s public offer division in the first half of 2025.

    Considering that your current employer is not a subsidiary or a controlled entity of the Qantas Group, your employer will cease to be an Associated Employer of Qantas Super effective 31 December 2024 which results in the changes as described in our letter to you.

  • Am I losing my defined benefit?

    Your defined benefit component is being calculated, or crystallised, and then combined with any accumulation accounts you may have. Your account in your defined benefit division will close and your total balance will be transferred to a new account in our Gateway Division. This means your Qantas Super benefit will no longer be determined by a formula, but rather it will be an accumulation account. It will be invested and continue to accrue through contributions and investment returns.

  • Do I need to open a new superannuation account?

    No, not unless you wish your employer to contribute to a different superannuation.

  • Where will I receive contributions from my employer?

    Your employer will continue to make contributions into your Qantas Super account until the SFT unless you choose to make alternative arrangements.

  • What are the fees payable as a Retained Member in Gateway?

    Your fees and costs as a Retained Member in Gateway will depend on what investment options you’re invested in and your level of insurance cover. You will pay:

    Administration fees and costs: Fixed administration fee of $70 p.a. plus estimated asset-based administration fee of 0.23% p.a. of your account balance capped at $1,050. Plus estimated asset-based APRA fee of 0.01% p.a. of your account balance. These are calculated and deducted from your account monthly in arrears or when you leave Gateway.

    Investment fees and costs: includes all fees incurred in managing our investment assets, such as investment manager fees, brokerage, and stamp duty. Rather than being charged directly to you as a member, like an Administration fee, these fees may be built into the value of an investment, or may take the form of reduced earnings that are distributed to Qantas Super from the investment, before these earnings are then distributed to you via Credited Interest Rates (CIRs). Here are the estimated per annum fees and costs applied to the amounts held in each investment option:

    • Glidepath:
      • Take-off: 0.83%
      • Altitude: 0.88%
      • Cruising: 0.83%
      • Destination: 0.81%
    • Aggressive: 0.83%
    • Growth: 0.88%
    • Balanced: 0.81%
    • Conservative: 0.72%
    • Thrifty: 0.17%
    • Cash: 0.05%

    You can learn more about fees and costs here or in the Gateway Product Disclosure Statement.

  • What will happen to my account when Qantas Super merges with ART?

    Unless you choose to move your Qantas Super account elsewhere following the changes to your account in December 2024, your account will be transferred to ART when Qantas Super completes the SFT process in the first half of 2025. Your employer will then make contributions into your ART account.

  • Who is ART?

    ART is one of Australia’s largest super funds, with over 2.4 million Australians trusting them to take care of close to $300 billion of their retirement savings.

    For more information on ART, please refer to its website here.

  • How has ART’s investment performance compared with Qantas Super in the past?

    You can see Qantas Super’s latest investment performance for all investment options via this link. Super investment performance | Qantas Super

    You can see ART’s latest investment performance for all investment options via this link. Super investment performance | Australian Retirement Trust

    When comparing Qantas Super’s and ART’s investment performance you should consider making an “apples-with-apples” comparison. For example, comparing like investment options from a risk and asset allocation perspective, over the same time periods, with the same end dates.

  • Factsheet on concessional contributions

    The one-off boost to your balance will be treated as a concessional contribution.

    Concessional contributions include employer contributions that are made for you by your employer. Concessional contributions also include any salary sacrifice contributions you make (which are deducted from your before-tax salary) and will include the additional payment referred to above. For some Divisions of Qantas Super, they can also include an amount called Notional Taxed Contributions (NTCs).

    Concessional contributions made to your super up to the ‘concessional contributions cap’ are generally taxed at 15%, payable within the super fund. The 2024/25 concessional contributions cap is $30,000, indexed in line with AWOTE in increments of $2,500 (rounded down).

    If your total concessional contributions exceed the cap in a financial year, you may pay extra tax.

    After 30 June 2025, the ATO will review your total concessional contributions made in the 2024/2025 financial year, and determine whether you have exceeded your concessional contribution cap. If you have exceeded the cap, then the ATO will issue you with an amended income tax assessment along with an excess concessional contributions notice.

    You will then have to pay an additional amount of tax at your marginal tax rate (less a 15% tax offset), on any excess concessional contributions. You will then be able to choose whether you want to withdraw up to 85% of the excess contributions from your super account.

    If you choose to keep the excess in your super account, this excess will then count towards your non-concessional contributions cap. Note, should this cause you to also exceed your non-concessional contributions cap, you will once again be given the choice to withdraw the excess plus 85% of a calculated notional earnings amount from your super account.

    Any excess not elected to be released will be additionally taxed to the member at the top marginal rate of tax plus Medicare, which is 47%.

    What you need to do

    1. Please refer to the ‘Contributing to Super’ section on our Fact Sheets page and refer to the Concessional contributions page appropriate for your Division.
    2. For further information about contribution caps and the consequences of exceeding these caps, please refer to the Australian Tax Office website
    3. If you have any questions about your concessional contributions, please give us a call on 1300 362 967 or book a one-on-one appointment with a Super Adviser at qantassuper.com.au/advice.

    Please be mindful that you may receive an excess contributions notice from the ATO after you’ve lodged your 2024/25 tax return.  It is anticipated this would be sent to you in October 2025 however it is dependent on the ATO’s timeframes and when you lodge your tax return.

We're here to help

We know that change can be difficult, and we’re here to help you understand what it means for you. If you have any questions about this information, please give us a call on 1300 362 967 or book a one-on-one appointment with a Super Adviser.

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