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    What is a policy committee?

    A policy committee is a group of people that represents both you as the employer and your employees who are members of your BT super plan. The policy committee acts as a forum for members to voice opinions, ask questions and provide feedback about the plan. 

    Do I need to establish a policy committee for our plan?

    Government legislation requires a policy committee to be established if you have:

    • 50 or more members, or
    • more than 4 but less than 50 members, where at least 5 members write to the Trustee requesting a policy committee be formed in respect to your plan.

    Under the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act (1993) (SIS), it is the Trustee’s responsibility to take all reasonable steps to ensure a policy committee is established in these cases. 

    How do I set up a policy committee?

    • Step 1. Nominate an Electoral Office

      Nominate the person in charge of forming the policy committee.

    • Step 2. Call for member representatives 

      Identify the policy committee members who will represent the plan’s membership through a nomination or voting process. 

    • Step 3. Nominate employer representatives 

      Appoint the same number of policy committee representatives who will represent the employer. 

    • Step 4: Notify BT of the policy committee members 

      Inform BT of the composition of the policy committee by completing the Policy Committee details form.

    • Step 5: Holding the meetings

      Prepare, run and report on the policy committee meetings.

    Please refer to the BT Policy Committee Handbook for more detailed information. 

    What are the rules of a policy committee?

    • It’s a requirement that the policy committee meet at least once in any 12 month period.

    • Member representatives can be elected for up to four years and there is no limit on how long Employer representatives can stand for. An election of member representatives of the committee must be called at least once every four years. BT will notify you when your committee is approaching the end of its four-year term.

    • There are specific timings you must follow when it comes to nominating and electing member representatives. 

    • You need to send the policy committee meeting notice to plan members and any other relevant parties to tell them about the meeting. This gives them a chance to raise questions or topics.

    • The policy committee can only act on a resolution if two thirds of the representatives have voted for it in the meeting. Each representative has one vote.

    • All changes to the policy committee must be reported to BT.

    How should policy committee meetings be run?

    Policy committee meetings must be held once in any 12 month period. The Secretary takes minutes and at the end the Chairperson and Secretary must sign the minutes before sending to BT.

    We suggest the following agenda for meetings:

    1. Confirm minutes of previous meeting are correct
    2. Review documentation on the plan (e.g. number of members, where they are invested and any major trends)
    3. Discuss the investment performance of the plan
    4. Discuss issues/concerns that have been submitted by plan members
    5. General business
    6. Decide next meeting date
    7. Close

    If you need assistance with setting up teleconference facilities for your Policy Committee meeting, please email us at policycom@btfinancialgroup.com and we can help you with this.

    Policy Committee Toolkit – templates for download

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    This information is general information only, it does not constitute any recommendation or advice; it has been prepared without taking into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs and so you should consider its appropriateness having regard to these factors before acting on it. The information provides an overview or summary only and it should not be considered a comprehensive statement on any matter or relied upon as such.