AFP medical retirement
s 32, your super scheme and Comcare

An AFP medical exit involves the AFP Act, which governs your employment, your Commonwealth super scheme, which pays any invalidity benefit, and Comcare, which pays compensation for a work injury. They're linked: CSC must usually certify before the AFP can retire you, and super benefits reduce Comcare payments afterwards.

This applies to AFP members in ACT Policing as well as national roles, because they're all AFP employees under the AFP Act.

Section 32(1)-(2) lets the Commissioner retire an AFP employee for physical or mental incapacity by written notice. You can consent in writing, but consent isn't required. Under s 32(3), a fixed-term employee who isn't re-engaged solely because of incapacity is treated as retired under s 32 for SRC Act and super purposes.

1. 1

   With consent

   Agreed

   Retirement takes effect on the day stated in the notice (s 33).

2. 2

   Without consent

   Reviewable

   The notice must state your right to apply for review within the period set by the regulations, and retirement can't take effect before that period ends (s 33).

Separately, s 31 lets members retire voluntarily from 55, and there's no compulsory retirement age in the current Act. Our police retirement age guide compares the forces.

Consenting to invalidity retirement is a financial decision as much as a medical one. Get the numbers first.

Sections 32(4)-(6) stop the AFP retiring certain members on invalidity grounds without a CSC certificate. That protects the scheme and the member: the certificate is what triggers the invalidity benefit.

If you're in another fund through choice of fund, the AFP Act's certificate rule doesn't apply in the same way, and your benefit depends on your fund's TPD and income protection cover. Check your statement.

CSS closed to new members decades ago, but some long-serving AFP members are still in it. CSC's fact sheet describes the process: an Approved Medical Practitioner examines you, the employer applies, an independent panel considers it, and the employer can't retire you until CSC issues its certificate.

CSC's PSS Death and Invalidity PDS (7 May 2026) sets the invalidity benefit as final average salary × (your accrued benefit multiple + the multiple projected to age 60). The projection uses the greater of 5% or your average contribution rate over your last 78 paydays.

PSSap is the default fund for current AFP employees, with 15.4% employer contributions under the AFP enterprise agreement. CSC's insurance guide (1 May 2026) describes default lifePLUS cover, insured by AIA. The guide frames eligibility around designated employers, and we couldn't confirm AFP members get this automatic cover, so check your own statement.

The income protection benefit period depends on age: 2 years if you're under 35, 5 years from 35 to 54, and 2 years from 55. On a $111,861 salary (our calculated top-of-band figure), 75% would be about $6,991 a month and 50% about $4,661, before tax. CSC says payments are reduced by workers compensation.

Default TPD is age-based and steps down with age: $75,000 at 53-54 and $10,000 at 63-69, for example. The TPD test is being unlikely ever to have the capacity for gainful employment you're reasonably suited for, usually assessed after 24 months off work.

Work injuries for AFP members are covered by the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988, administered by Comcare. Incapacity payments follow s 19.

Our AFP workers comp guide covers claims, medical costs and permanent impairment in more detail.

This is where AFP medical exits get complicated. Once you're retired and receiving a super pension or lump sum, ss 20, 21 and 21A of the SRC Act reduce your incapacity payments by the employer-financed part of that benefit, with a 5% of normal weekly earnings adjustment.

The interaction runs the other way too: PSSap income protection is reduced by workers comp, and the PSS partial invalidity pension isn't paid where workers comp covers the condition. One payment rarely sits on top of another in full.

Incapacity payments get most of the attention, but an accepted Comcare claim can include several other entitlements. They matter more after medical retirement, when salary has stopped and treatment often hasn't.

Permanent impairment and non-economic loss claims are separate from incapacity payments and from your super benefits. Officers sometimes miss them because nobody tells them to claim. If your condition has stabilised, ask Comcare whether a permanent impairment assessment is due.

Suitable employment under s 40 is about work matching your capacity, age, experience, training, language and other skills. Being offered suitable duties within the AFP is often the step before s 32 is considered, so engage with rehabilitation even if you expect to leave.

When your employment ends under s 32, your final pay follows the AFP enterprise agreement and the Commonwealth long service leave law. Our AFP data records these rules.

Because personal leave isn't paid out, it's usually worth using it while you're still employed and unwell, before or alongside Comcare. Unused annual leave and long service leave paid on termination are taxed under the ATO's rules for unused leave; the ATO's Schedule 7 treats invalidity terminations differently from a normal resignation, so ask your adviser.

1. 1

   Contact the AFPA

   Week 1

   AFPA provides members with industrial and legal support, including on Comcare disputes and appeals.

2. 2

   Lodge with Comcare if work contributed

   Early

   For PTSD sustained from 15 December 2023, the first responder presumption applies.

3. 3

   Use SHIELD and rehabilitation

   Ongoing

   AFP's in-house health team includes rehabilitation case managers who manage return-to-work plans.

4. 4

   Ask CSC about your scheme

   Before any decision

   Get your invalidity benefit estimate and, for CSS or PSS, ask about pre-assessment payments.

5. 5

   Decide on consent

   Decision

   With numbers from CSC and Comcare, decide whether to consent under s 32 or seek review.

Don't resign while this is under way: resignation under s 30 needs at least 14 days' notice and can forfeit the invalidity route. See resigning from the police.

CSC's independent panel and Approved Medical Practitioners decide on the papers and their own examination. Give them treating reports that answer the scheme's test in its own words.

The Administrative Review Tribunal replaced the AAT on 14 October 2024. Older guides that mention the AAT are out of date.

When you're ready to think beyond the AFP, see careers after policing.

What isn't published, and who can confirm it

For the national picture, see how medical retirement works in every force and police superannuation in Australia.