Retirement benefits
General
If you retire on non-medical grounds and have 20 or more years of effective service, or have 15 or more years of effective service and have reached your statutory retiring age, you are entitled to retirement pay and there is an option to commute part of your future retirement pay to a lump sum.
Retirement pay becomes effective on the day after the date of your discharge from the Defence Force, and it will be paid to you fortnightly for the rest of your life, unless you re-enter the Defence Force.
Calculation of retirement pay
Your benefit is worked out as a percentage of your salary when you retire. The two factors used to work out your retirement pay are your annual rate of pay and your completed years of effective service.
Your rate of pay, for Scheme purposes, is the maximum rate of pay which applies to your rank and pay level, including any service allowance or recognised environmental allowance.
Effective service is the total of your continuous full-time contributory service, plus any periods of past service you may have bought back. You can find out how much effective service you have by looking at your most recent annual Member statement and then adding the effective service that you have accumulated since the date of that statement.
The following table shows the amount of retirement pay you can expect to receive, depending on your annual rate of pay and your completed years of effective service. You can use the table and the following example to estimate how much retirement pay you will be entitled to when you leave the Defence Force.Top
There is a quick guide to calculating DFRDB retirement benefits in the 'Notional retiring age' section.
To estimate your potential retirement benefit you can also use the i-Estimator. You will need your Access Number to use this service.
| Completed years | & of annual salary |
|---|---|
| 15 | 30.00 |
| 16 | 31.00 |
| 17 | 32.00 |
| 18 | 33.00 |
| 19 | 34.00 |
| 20 | 35.00 |
| 21 | 36.50 |
| 22 | 38.00 |
| 23 | 39.50 |
| 24 | 41.00 |
| 25 | 42.50 |
| 26 | 44.00 |
| 27 | 45.75 |
| 28 | 47.50 |
| 29 | 49.25 |
| 30 | 51.25 |
| 31 | 53.25 |
| 32 | 55.50 |
| 33 | 57.75 |
| 34 | 60.25 |
| 35 | 62.75 |
| 36 | 65.25 |
| 37 | 67.75 |
| 38 | 70.50 |
| 39 | 73.50 |
| 40 (or more) | 76.50 |
Example A: Calculation of retirement pay (before commutation)
Alex, a 42-year-old Squadron Leader with 22 years of effective service, has decided to retire from the Defence Force. Alex has a salary for superannuation purposes of $78 916 (the highest increment for his rank is always used).
Using Table 2, we see that as Alex has 22 years of effective service, therefore the percentage to apply to his final salary is 38. His annual retirement pay is worked out as follows:
Step 1 $78 916 x 38% = $29 988.08 per year
This figure, $29 988.08, is his annual retirement pay, before tax, and is arrived at by multiplying his final annual salary for superannuation purposes and a percentage determined by his years of effective service (22 years’ service = 38%—see Table 2).
Step 2 $29 988.08 x 14 / 365 = $1150.23 per fortnight
The fortnightly entitlement is worked out by multiplying annual retirement pay by 14 and then dividing it by 365. In Alex’s case, he would be paid a fortnightly benefit of $1196.48, before tax.