Third Party Authority

The Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation (CSC) administers the CSS, PSS, PSSap, MilitarySuper, DFRDB, ADF Cover, ADF Super and CSCri schemes. Form AUTH is CSC's administrative form for appointing a third party, such as a financial adviser, accountant, solicitor, family member or professional advocate. A representative permitted to enquire can ask about the account, benefits and the status of claims or reviews. A representative permitted to act can also deal with CSC and give instructions for the member, subject to any limits. The form says a representative appointed this way cannot sign documents for the member, make a beneficiary nomination, request a benefit payment, switch investments or change account details. It is only for members with legal capacity to manage their own affairs.

When you need it

• You want a financial adviser, accountant, solicitor, advocate or family member to be able to talk to CSC about your account.
• You are applying for a CSC benefit, such as an invalidity benefit or retrospective invalidity, and want a representative to act for you. A non-member applicant puts their own details in Section A.
• You want to replace an existing representative permitted to act. A new appointment automatically cancels the existing one.

1. 1

   Section A - member or applicant details

   Tick your scheme, and give your member number (from your annual statement), name, date of birth, postal and residential addresses, email and phone numbers. Tick the box if you want CSC to update your contact details.

2. 2

   Section B - representative details

   Tick the type of representative and give their name, postal address, email and phone. If they act through an organisation, give its name and ABN and say whether the authority covers any representative of the organisation or only the named person. A financial adviser must give their AFSL number and authorised representative number.

3. 3

   Section C - level of authority

   Select one option only: permitted to enquire, permitted to act generally, or permitted to act on specified matters (describe what they can and cannot do).

4. 4

   Duration and signature

   Give a start date and, if you want one, an end date. Sign and date the authorisation.

• Email the form to the address for your scheme: CSS, PSS, DFRDB, MilitarySuper and ADF Cover members to formsandapplications@csc.gov.au; PSSap to formsandapplications@pssap.com.au; ADF Super to formsandapplications@adfsuper.gov.au; CSCri to formsandapplications@cscri.com.au (form, Section G).
• CSC's adviser FAQ says advice practices can use this form or their own authority on letterhead, emailed to financialplannerrequests@csc.gov.au, and that a valid authority needs the member's name plus 3 further points of identification matching CSC's records.

• You can have several representatives permitted to enquire, but only one permitted to act.
• With permission to act, CSC will usually treat the representative as your main contact but will still send you general communications and may contact you directly.
• If the member has lost capacity, this form cannot be used; contact CSC. You can change or cancel the arrangement at any time while you have capacity.