State Super SASS, SSS and SANCS for NSW teachers: how your benefit is worked out

Three schemes, one trustee

NSW's closed public sector schemes are run by State Super, the trading name of the SAS Trustee Corporation. Most long-serving NSW government teachers are in one of these, often alongside an Aware Super account for later contributions. The NSW Department of Education's default fund for new staff is Aware Super. See NSW teacher super.

How the SASS benefit is built

State Super lists five parts to a SASS plus SANCS retirement benefit. The two employer-financed parts are the big ones, and both are multiples of your final average salary (FAS).

1. Your personal account: the contributions you've made (1% to 9% of salary) plus investment earnings.
2. Employer-financed benefit: 2.5% of FAS for each accrued benefit point, less 15% contributions tax for membership from 1 July 1988 (about 2.12% a point after tax).
3. SANCS basic benefit: 3% of FAS for each year of membership since 1 April 1988, less contributions tax for membership since 1 July 1988 (about 2.55% after tax).
4. Additional Employer Contribution (AEC) account, if you have one.
5. Co-contribution and LISTO account, if you have one.

Debts such as surcharge tax or earlier hardship releases are deducted. Members who transferred into SASS from older closed schemes may have different formulas, which their statement shows.

Benefit points

Each 1% of salary you contribute for a year earns about one benefit point. Part-time members get a lower allocation. You can earn a maximum average of 6 points per year of membership and 180 points in total, so contributing more than 6% only helps if you're catching up on earlier years at lower rates. Rate changes must be lodged before 28 February and take effect from 1 April.

Final average salary and why 31 December matters

State Super defines FAS as the average of the annual superable salaries paid to you on your exit date and on 31 December for the preceding two years. That's three salary figures, not a rolling average. Because NSW teacher pay rises take effect on 9 October each year, the exact date you leave changes which figures count.

A higher-duties allowance or a promotion in your last two years can also lift FAS, depending on whether the allowance is superable. In NSW the double-pay extended leave allowance isn't superable for SSS and SASS members, so taking long service leave at double pay doesn't raise FAS. Read NSW long service leave before you plan your final term.

When you can take SASS, and how

You can take your SASS retirement benefit any time after 58, once you resign from the NSW public sector and meet a Commonwealth condition of release. If you're younger than 60, that generally means you must have permanently retired; preservation age is 60 for anyone born after 30 June 1964. On Form 412 you choose to take some or all in cash (where eligible) and roll over the rest, or roll it all over until 60, when State Super notes the entire benefit becomes tax-free.

• From 65, you can exit SASS even while still working, and take the benefit or leave it deferred in the scheme as a lump sum (adjusted for earnings and charges).
• At 70, the scheme can't accept contributions and you stop accruing benefits.
• Leaving before 58 usually means a deferred or withdrawal benefit rather than a retirement benefit. State Super's optional deferred benefit fact sheet sets out the options; get a quote first.
• SASS pays a lump sum, not a pension. To get an income stream you roll the benefit into a retirement income product, such as an account-based pension with a fund of your choice.

SSS: a pension built from units

SSS members contribute for units of fortnightly pension, with the number of units set by salary. On normal retirement the pension is $5.50 a fortnight per contributed unit, or $3.30 per unit you elected not to contribute for. State Super says members who contributed for all their units can generally expect 55% to 60% of final salary. Pensions are indexed each year to the Sydney CPI and a surviving spouse or de facto partner gets two-thirds.

You can commute (exchange) all or part of the pension for a lump sum, but only once, and only within windows: generally six months before or after turning 55 or 60, or your pension start date (if you're at least 55). If you don't commute at retirement, there's a 'second chance' window around your 60th birthday. Commuting doesn't reduce the spouse's two-thirds pension, which is based on what you would have been receiving.

Part-time, leave and salary sacrifice

• Part-time members accrue fewer SASS benefit points; SSS pensions and SANCS are also reduced by part-time and LWOP periods. See part-time teaching.
• The NSW deferred salary scheme deems SSS and SASS members' superable salary to be full salary across the scheme period. Check before you sign up: teacher deferred salary scheme.
• Notional taxed contributions: SASS and SSS report a notional figure against the $32,500 concessional cap for 2026–27 (ATO). Use it, not 12% of salary, before you salary sacrifice.
• Transition to retirement: SASS benefits are generally paid on leaving employment. Ask State Super whether any part of your accounts can fund a TTR while you work; an Aware Super or other accumulation account usually can. See TTR for teachers.

Questions to ask State Super

State Super offers member interviews, and Aware Super provides financial planning to State Super members. This page is general information, not personal advice. Plan the lead-up with our teacher retirement checklist, and see can teachers retire at 60? for the preservation rules.