Advice for your ESSSuper New Scheme benefit.
If you joined the Victorian Public Service, the Teaching Service or a participating agency between 1988 and 1993, and the letters just say New Scheme, you’re in the right place. The ordinary retirement benefit is a lump sum. Disability benefits, and some transferred entitlements, can still be paid as pensions. We specialise in government schemes like this. The first chat is free. Fees are explained before you decide anything.
Who is in the New Scheme?
It opened on 1 July 1988 and closed on 31 December 1993. The ordinary age-retirement benefit is a lump sum.
The New Scheme took the people who joined the Victorian Public Service, the Teaching Service and participating agencies between 1 July 1988 and 31 December 1993. It also covers Prescribed Firefighters, who have their own higher accrual rate of 24.5% a year at the top contribution rate. So it’s departments, schools and agencies alongside a firefighting cohort, sharing one set of rules.
Your ordinary retirement lump sum is built from final average salary, recognised service and the rate you’ve been contributing. That is the number on the estimate. It isn’t the whole picture. Finish on disability grounds and ESSSuper can pay an indexed fortnightly pension instead of the lump sum. A transfer from the Revised Scheme between 1 July 1988 and 30 April 1990 can leave a deferred pension sitting beside the lump sum. A SERB transfer can let you convert up to 50% of the lump sum back into a fortnightly indexed pension at age retirement.
Guideway specialises in industry, government and corporate super funds, and a closed Victorian scheme with a transfer history is the kind of record we sit with.
How does the contribution rate change the lump sum?
The rate sets how much of a year’s salary you add for every year you contribute.
Your ordinary age-retirement benefit is a lump sum based on your Final Average Salary, your recognised service, and your personal contribution rate. The rate sets an accrual rate — think of it as the slice of salary you lock in for each year you stay at that rate.
Contribute nothing and you accrue 8.5% of salary a year. At 3% from after-tax pay it is 14%. At 5% it is 17.5%. At 7% it is 21%, and for Prescribed Firefighters contributing 7% it is 24.5%. The before-tax equivalents are 3.6%, 5.9% and 8.3%, which are slightly higher because they carry the 15% contributions tax.
The gap between the nil rate and the top rate is close to triple. A member who has been sitting on nil for a decade has accrued 85% of a year’s salary over that period; the same member at 7% would have accrued 210%. You may elect to vary your contribution rate once every six months, so in the last few working years this isn’t a settled question.
One caution worth knowing before you change anything: if you joined the New Scheme before 12 May 2009 and have never increased your contribution rate, your contributions have been grandfathered so that they are reported at the concessional contributions cap rather than above it. Increasing your rate can remove that protection. It’s worth checking the effect before lodging the form, not after.
What else might be sitting in your record?
The lump sum is the usual retirement payment. Transfer history and disability rules are the exceptions.
- Whether your rate should change before you finish
- You can vary it once every six months, and a change from after-tax to before-tax contributions can be made at any time. Lodge the form by the 14th and it starts on the first of the following month. In the last few working years this is the largest single lever on the number. Still movable
- Whether a pension is hiding in your record
- If you transferred into the New Scheme from the Revised Scheme between 1 July 1988 and 30 April 1990, you have two benefits at retirement, not one: a deferred pension calculated at the date of transfer and indexed to the CPI ever since, plus a lump sum for your New Scheme membership. If you had less than one month of Revised Scheme service before transferring, there’s no pension component. Worth checking your record rather than assuming. Check your record
- If you came in from SERBS, you can buy a pension back
- Members who transferred from the SERB Scheme are entitled to a lump sum equal to their accrued retirement benefit — and at age retirement, or on exempting out over 65, they can convert up to 50% of that lump sum back into a fortnightly indexed pension. That option doesn’t apply if you resign or are retrenched before your minimum retirement age.
- If you transferred from the Revised Scheme in 1994
- A transfer multiple was calculated for your Revised Scheme service at the date of transfer, and it has since accrued in line with your New Scheme contribution rate each year. Your retirement benefit is a single lump sum covering both periods of membership.
- When you can take it
- Your minimum retirement age is normally 55, or 50 for eligible Prescribed Class Officers. Preservation age is separate: it is 60 for anyone born after 30 June 1964. If you haven’t met a condition of release for the preserved part of your benefit, that part stays in the scheme in a notional account earning the fund’s crediting rate, or is rolled over, until you have.
- What the lump sum becomes
- Once it’s paid, the lump sum can start an ESSSuper income stream, move to another complying fund, or be partly withdrawn if a condition of release allows it. Each route has a different tax and access consequence. The choices sit in the New Scheme Handbook issued 1 March 2026.
What members ask us
Which public servants, teachers and firefighters are in the New Scheme?
Employees, including temporary employees, who joined the Victorian Public Service, the Teaching Service or a participating agency between 1 July 1988 and 31 December 1993, plus members who transferred in from other funds. The scheme was established in 1988 and has been closed to new members since 31 December 1993. Source: ESSSuper New Scheme Handbook, issued 1 March 2026, checked 16 August 2026.
Prescribed Firefighters are in this scheme as well, and are the one group with a higher top accrual rate: 24.5% of final average salary a year at the 7% contribution rate, against 21% for everyone else at the same rate.
How is my ESSSuper New Scheme lump sum calculated?
Your ordinary age-retirement benefit is a lump sum based on three things: your Final Average Salary, your recognised service, and your personal contribution rate. The contribution rate sets an accrual rate — the percentage of final average salary you earn for each year you contribute at that rate.
The rates are 8.5% a year at nil contributions, 14% at 3% from after-tax pay, 17.5% at 5%, 21% at 7%, and 24.5% at 7% for Prescribed Firefighters. The before-tax equivalents are 3.6%, 5.9% and 8.3%, slightly higher because they carry the 15% contributions tax. Source: ESSSuper New Scheme Handbook, issued 1 March 2026.
Can I retire at 55 in the New Scheme?
Your minimum retirement age is normally 55, or 50 for eligible Prescribed Class Officers, so in most cases yes.
Preservation age is separate and it is 60 for anyone born after 30 June 1964. If you haven’t met a condition of release for the preserved part of your benefit, that part stays in the scheme in a notional account earning the fund’s crediting rate, or is rolled over to a complying fund, until you have. So retiring at 55 doesn’t necessarily mean the whole benefit is in your hands at 55.
Does the New Scheme pay a pension?
The ordinary age-retirement benefit is a lump sum, based on your final average salary, your personal contribution rate and your recognised service. That isn’t the whole story.
A disability retirement can be paid as an indexed fortnightly pension for life. Members who transferred from the Revised Scheme between 1 July 1988 and 30 April 1990 also hold a deferred pension. Members who transferred from the SERB Scheme can convert up to 50% of their lump sum back into a fortnightly indexed pension at age retirement.
Does the New Scheme pay a disability pension?
Yes. If ESSSuper accepts that you have a permanent disability and you cease employment before age 60 — or before 55 if you’re a Prescribed Class Firefighter — you can be paid an indexed fortnightly pension for life. Think of it as the scheme paying you a regular income because you can’t keep doing your job, or another job you would be suited for after retraining.
A temporary pension of up to two years can apply while recovery is still possible. The Board can instead pay a lump sum. You can’t apply for a disability benefit after 60, or after 55 if you’re a Prescribed Class Firefighter; the ordinary age-retirement lump sum applies instead. Source: New Scheme Handbook, issued 1 March 2026.
What happens if I resign from the New Scheme before 55?
You receive an immediate refund of your contributions and earnings, plus a deferred benefit you can apply for after your minimum retirement age — normally 55, or 50 for eligible Prescribed Class Officers.
You can instead convert that deferred benefit to a present-day lump sum and roll it to a complying fund. Under 55, ESSSuper applies a 4% a year compounded discount for each year you’re short of 55. Source: New Scheme Handbook, issued 1 March 2026.
How often can I change my New Scheme contribution rate?
Once every six months. A switch from after-tax to before-tax contributions can be made at any time. Both take effect from the start of the next month if the form is processed by the 14th. Source: New Scheme Handbook, issued 1 March 2026.
How much difference does my contribution rate make?
A large one. The accrual rate is 8.5% of final average salary a year at nil contributions, 14% at 3%, 17.5% at 5%, 21% at 7%, and 24.5% at 7% for Prescribed Firefighters. That is the percentage of salary you earn for every year you contribute at that rate.
You can vary the rate once every six months, so it isn’t fixed for life. The current handbook is dated 1 March 2026.
Should I increase my contribution rate before I retire?
The first thing to check is grandfathering. If you joined before 12 May 2009 and have never increased your rate, your contributions are reported at the concessional contributions cap. Increasing the rate can remove that and expose you to excess contributions tax, which in a defined benefit fund you have to pay out of your own pocket.
The figures that apply to you sit on your ESSSuper statement and in the New Scheme Handbook issued 1 March 2026.
Is the New Scheme the same as the Revised Scheme?
No. They have separate handbooks and rules. The Revised Scheme closed on 30 June 1988 and pays a lifetime pension. The New Scheme opened on 1 July 1988, closed on 31 December 1993, and its ordinary age-retirement benefit is a lump sum — though disability benefits and some transferred entitlements can still be paid as pensions.
What is the difference between the New Scheme and the Transport Scheme?
The New and Transport Schemes have different eligibility rules, contribution scales and change periods.
Your ESSSuper handbook and benefit estimate name the scheme you actually hold — the two should not be read across to each other.
What happens to the preserved part of my benefit?
If you haven’t satisfied a condition of release for the preserved portion when you become eligible for your benefit, that portion either stays in the scheme — held in a notional account earning interest at the fund’s crediting rate — or is rolled over to a complying superannuation fund, until you meet a condition of release and elect to have it paid.
We’re not owned by a bank, super fund or insurer.
Guideway is a separate advice firm that specialises in industry, government and corporate super. A closed Victorian New Scheme benefit is exactly that kind of scheme.
Your scheme’s rules first
We start from the ESSSuper estimate, the contribution rate you actually hold, and any transfer history that might still carry a pension.
We’ll say if we can take it
After the first chat, you’ll know whether the work is something we do and what it would cost.
The outcome stays yours
If you’re happy with how the benefit sits, there’s often no reason to disturb it — and we’ll say so. If you’re not sure the lump sum still stacks up once it can leave, we can benchmark it against five leading comparable funds so you know where it stands.
A retirement conversation, in their words
A client’s account of their experience, shared from Google with its original attribution.
“Guideway have been remarkable helping me get my finances in order for my retirement. Every step if the way has been clearly explained and agreed upon before implementation”
What happens next
Booking a chat isn’t a commitment to paid advice.
- 1. Book a free half hour
- Pick a time that suits. Video, phone, or in person in Melbourne. Bring the ESSSuper estimate if you have it.
- 2. We listen
- You tell us the finishing date you’re circling, the rate you’ve been contributing, and whether you transferred in from another scheme. We’ll say honestly whether this is work we do.
- 3. You decide
- There’s no obligation, and nothing goes ahead unless you say so. If you’d like us to take the work on, you’ll see the cost first.
Ready to talk?
You’ll speak with Nareena Aracas or one of her team. The half hour is free. If we take it further, you’ll see the fee before you agree to anything.
About our adviser team
Nareena Aracas leads the Guideway Wealth advice practice, supported by a broader team of advisers.
- Nareena AracasSenior Financial Planner · Authorised Representative no. 398311
- Scott NanfroSenior Financial Planner in the broader adviser team · Authorised Representative no. 1255832
Authorised Representatives of Guideway Financial Services Pty Ltd ABN 46 156 498 538, AFSL & ACL 420367. Ask us for a Financial Services Guide at any time.
Looking for ESSSuper’s login?
Guideway Wealth is a separate financial advice service. For your balance, login, forms or statements, go directly to the official ESSSuper website.