All members of the Fund who are under age 65 and who work at least 20 hours per week can apply for SCI.

What cover is available?

SCI provides partial income replacement following the expiry of your Waiting Period. There are two types of cover to choose from:

• Short term: the benefit is payable for a maximum period of 2 years for any one disability; or
• Long term: the benefit is payable for a maximum period to age 65.

The Total Disability benefit provides a benefit of the lesser of:

• the amount of cover approved by the Insurer; and
• 75% of your Declared Earned Income (see below) prior to the disability occurring, plus the Superannuation Contributions Benefit (9% of your Declared Earned Income paid as a Superannuation Guarantee contribution), subject to a maximum benefit of $240,000 p.a.

'Declared Earned Income' basically means your annual salary or wages paid by your employer immediately before the commencement of Total Disability, plus any actual commissions paid in the 12 months before the Total Disability commenced and any other regular payments made in that 12 month period that could be considered as part of your remuneration package paid by your employer. You can contact Member Services if you need a more complete explanation of Declared Earned Income, including in relation to self employed members.

Cover calculation example:

A member has a Declared Earned Income of $100,000 per annum. Therefore, the maximum cover he could elect is $84,000 per annum or $7,000 per month. ($100,000 x 84%) ÷ 12 = $7,000

The minimum level of cover you can apply for is $1,000 per month. Cover is available in multiples of $100 per month of benefit.

As the maximum benefit is 84% of Declared Earned Income, which can only be established at the time of disability, you may wish to review your level of cover when your Declared Earned Income changes. For example, if you have a salary increase you may wish to increase your cover. However, if your salary decreases (for example, you go onto part time work of 20 hours per week) you may be paying for more cover than you will be entitled to claim in the event of Total Disability.

A reduced benefit is payable if you suffer from a Partial Disability. The amount of the benefit is determined by a formula which takes into account the amount of your post-disability income that you are receiving.

What are the occupational classifications?

There are five occupational classifications for calculating premiums:
Class 1 Heavy Manual (Unskilled): Any occupation involving manual work that does not require qualifications or any supervisory element, eg garden maintenance or roadworkers.
Class 2 Heavy Manual (Skilled): Occupations involving manual work where the person holds trade qualifications or is in a supervisory capacity, eg Tradesmen, Linesmen or Roadwork Supervisors.
Class 3 Light Manual: Those occupations that are predominantly sedentary but may involve up to 20% of light manual activity, eg retail sales or industry sales rep.
Class 4 White Collar: Occupations involving no manual work, eg clerical, administrative, managerial or some sales.
Class 5 Professional: Totally white-collar sedentary occupations where the individuals have tertiary qualifications that apply to their current occupation or are in executive or managerial positions earning $80,000 or more per annum.

Your occupational classification is determined by the Insurer from the information you provide on your application for cover.

Benefit offsets

Total and Partial Disability benefits are subject to Benefit Offsets. Benefits are reduced by all amounts (that arise because of the sickness or accident that caused Total Disability or Partial Disability) payable from the following sources:

• workers' compensation schemes;
• statutory compensation, pension, social security or similar schemes;
• income benefits from policies of insurance and superannuation trustee(s); and
• payment of any sick leave entitlements.

The premiums depend on the type of cover (2 years or to age 65), your age, sex, occupational classification, health status, the amount of cover selected by you and approved by the Insurer and the waiting period chosen (30, 60 or 90 days). Premiums are calculated each month and adjusted when you have a birthday or change your level of cover. These premiums may change in the future but are guaranteed until 30 November 2007, except in very unusual circumstances.

Your premium will be the Base Premium multiplied by the Rating Factor (see table opposite). The Insurer may increase your premium following consideration of the underwriting material you provide. The Base Premium is the amount of cover multiplied by the Premium Rate for your age, which is set out in the Premium Table on page 20 of this PDS.

The monthly premium is obtained by dividing your annual premium by twelve.

Rating Factors

Occupation Category	5	4	3	2	1
Rating factor	0.8	1	1.5	1.75	2.5

When is a benefit payable?

A benefit is payable if a Total Disability continues after your Waiting Period. The standard Waiting Period is 90 days. However, you can change this to either 30 days or 60 days if you wish. The respective costs of these Waiting Periods are detailed below:

90 day Waiting Period	The standard charge as described in 'What are the premiums?'
60 day Waiting Period	The 90 day standard charge multiplied by 1.75
30 day Waiting Period	The 90 day standard charge multiplied by 2.5