Victoria Police medical retirement
section 67 and the ESSS disability pension

Operational Victoria Police officers join the ESSS Defined Benefit Fund automatically. PSOs who started on or after 5 July 2010 are classed as operational and join too. That membership is what gives you the disability pension described below, and it's the biggest difference between Victoria and every other force.

Operational police officers

Super arrangement

ESSS Defined Benefit Fund

Disability benefit

Disability pension before 55; lump sum from 55

PSOs from 5 July 2010

Super arrangement

ESSS Defined Benefit Fund (operational)

Disability benefit

As for police officers

PSOs who started before 5 July 2010

Super arrangement

ESSS Defined Benefit Fund (non-operational rules)

Disability benefit

Pension rules use age 60 rather than 55

Police recruits

Super arrangement

Not DB members while training

Disability benefit

Death benefit; optional Accumulation Plan cover; WorkCover

Police Reservists

Super arrangement

ESSS Accumulation Fund

Disability benefit

Account balance plus any insured cover

Police Custody Officers

Super arrangement

12% accumulation super

Disability benefit

Account balance plus any insured cover

Group	Super arrangement	Disability benefit
Operational police officers	ESSS Defined Benefit Fund	Disability pension before 55; lump sum from 55
PSOs from 5 July 2010	ESSS Defined Benefit Fund (operational)	As for police officers
PSOs who started before 5 July 2010	ESSS Defined Benefit Fund (non-operational rules)	Pension rules use age 60 rather than 55
Police recruits	Not DB members while training	Death benefit; optional Accumulation Plan cover; WorkCover
Police Reservists	ESSS Accumulation Fund	Account balance plus any insured cover
Police Custody Officers	12% accumulation super	Account balance plus any insured cover

From the ESSS DB PDS (issued 28 Feb 2025) and our Victoria data. Non-operational rules for pre-2010 PSOs come from the PDS's general definitions; confirm your classification with ESSSuper.

If you're not sure which category you're in, your ESSSuper member statement says. Your contribution rate also matters, and the default is nil until you choose a rate.

Ill-health retirement is set out in section 67 of the Victoria Police Act 2013. The Chief Commissioner can start an inquiry into your physical or mental fitness at any time, or you can ask for one. It's a separate power from the incapacity provisions in Division 6, which deal with performance problems that aren't caused by a physical or mental impairment.

1. 1

   An inquiry into your fitness

   s 67(1)

   The Chief Commissioner may inquire on their own motion or at your request into whether you have the physical or mental fitness and capacity to do your duties.

2. 2

   Medical or psychological examination

   s 67(2)

   You can be required to see the Police Medical Officer, a nominated medical practitioner or a nominated psychologist. The report goes to both you and the Chief Commissioner.

3. 3

   Notice of proposed retirement

   s 67(3)

   If the report suggests you're incapable of your duties, you get a notice saying retirement is being considered, the grounds, and that you can make written submissions.

4. 4

   Your submissions

   s 67(4)

   You have 21 days from receiving the notice, or longer if allowed. The Chief Commissioner must consider what you send.

5. 5

   Retirement by written notice

   s 67(5)-(6)

   If still satisfied you're physically or mentally incapable of your duties, the Chief Commissioner can retire you by written notice that states the grounds.

Twenty-one days is not long. Line up your treating specialists before a notice arrives, not after.

Use the submission window properly. A strong submission addresses the grounds in the notice one by one, attaches your own specialist reports, and says what you want: more time to recover, alternative duties, or retirement on terms that protect your benefits. The enterprise agreement's fitness for work clause (cl 125) is also relevant to what the force must consider.

On retirement, clause 110 of the agreement provides for relocation expenses for members retired on ill-health grounds. Ask about it if you need to move.

A work-related injury in Victoria runs through WorkCover under the Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013. On top of WorkCover weekly payments, the 2025 enterprise agreement (cl 77) gives accident make-up pay, so you aren't left on the statutory step-down rates while you recover.

That last line is the one people miss. Make-up pay stops once an ESSS disability benefit starts. Your WorkCover claim itself, including medical expenses and any impairment benefit, is a separate entitlement that doesn't automatically end with your employment. How weekly WorkCover payments interact with an ESSS pension is a question for a WorkCover lawyer before you're retired.

For the bigger picture on injury claims, see police workers compensation, and for leave balances, Victoria Police leave.

A disability benefit is payable if you retire on the grounds of disability as determined by the ESSSuper Board. For operational members under 55 who qualify, it's a permanent disability pension. The formula has three steps.

1. 1

   Your accrued multiple

   Past service

   Each year of membership adds a death and disability accrual rate that depends on your contribution rate: 28% a year at 7%, 10% a year at nil.

2. 2

   Plus a prospective multiple to 55

   Future service

   ESSS adds the multiple you'd have built to age 55 at the maximum rate. The total is capped at 8.4.

3. 3

   Divide by 12, times FAS

   Annual pension

   The multiple divided by 12 gives a percentage of your final average salary. At the cap, 8.4 ÷ 12 is 70% of FAS a year.

0% after tax

Death and disability accrual a year

10%

Note

Default until you elect a rate

3% after tax

Death and disability accrual a year

16%

5% after tax

Death and disability accrual a year

20%

6% after tax

Death and disability accrual a year

24%

7% after tax

Death and disability accrual a year

28%

Note

Maximum standard rate

Contribution rate	Death and disability accrual a year	Note
0% after tax	10%	Default until you elect a rate
3% after tax	16%
5% after tax	20%
6% after tax	24%
7% after tax	28%	Maximum standard rate

From Table 1 of the ESSS DB PDS (issued 28 Feb 2025). Catch-up rates of 8-10% are available to some members and accrue faster.

The pension is paid fortnightly, starts the day after you retire on disability grounds and is adjusted each June and December in line with CPI for all capital cities. If you die while on a disability pension, the Board pays a death benefit to your dependants, and a binding nomination made before the pension starts becomes non-binding.

The full multiple-building rules, and how your contribution choice affects them, are in our guide to Victoria Police super.

Here's the formula applied to four officers, all with a final average salary of $118,945, today's top senior constable rate in our data. These are illustrations calculated by us from the PDS rules, not benefit estimates.

Joined at 22, 7% contributor, disabled at 37

Accrued

4.2 × FAS

Prospective to 55

5.04 × FAS

Total multiple

8.4 × FAS (capped)

% of FAS

70%

Pension a year

$83,262

Joined at 30, 7% contributor, disabled at 40

Accrued

2.8 × FAS

Prospective to 55

4.2 × FAS

Total multiple

7.0 × FAS

% of FAS

58.3%

Pension a year

$69,385

Joined at 30, 7% contributor, disabled at 50

Accrued

5.6 × FAS

Prospective to 55

1.4 × FAS

Total multiple

7.0 × FAS

% of FAS

58.3%

Pension a year

$69,385

Joined at 30, 3% contributor, disabled at 40

Accrued

1.6 × FAS

Prospective to 55

4.2 × FAS

Total multiple

5.8 × FAS

% of FAS

48.3%

Pension a year

$57,490

Officer	Accrued	Prospective to 55	Total multiple	% of FAS	Pension a year
Joined at 22, 7% contributor, disabled at 37	4.2 × FAS	5.04 × FAS	8.4 × FAS (capped)	70%	$83,262
Joined at 30, 7% contributor, disabled at 40	2.8 × FAS	4.2 × FAS	7.0 × FAS	58.3%	$69,385
Joined at 30, 7% contributor, disabled at 50	5.6 × FAS	1.4 × FAS	7.0 × FAS	58.3%	$69,385
Joined at 30, 3% contributor, disabled at 40	1.6 × FAS	4.2 × FAS	5.8 × FAS	48.3%	$57,490

Calculated by us from the ESSS DB PDS. Assumes full-time service at one contribution rate throughout. How the prospective part and the 8.4 cap apply to members who contributed below 7% is for ESSSuper to confirm; the PDS warns the maximum may reduce for lower contributors.

Two things stand out. First, a 7% contributor's pension depends on the age they joined, not the age they were hurt, because accrued plus prospective service always runs from joining to 55. Anyone who joined at 25 or younger reaches the cap: $83,262 a year on this salary.

Second, your contribution rate matters a lot. The 3% contributor in the last row gets a noticeably smaller pension for the same career. If you're early in your career and on the nil default, that's worth thinking about now, while you're well.

Free tool

Model your super before you need it

Compare contribution choices and see what your super could look like, then check the ESSS figures with ESSSuper's own tools.

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Operational members must stop work before 55 to get the disability pension. If you leave on disability grounds at 55 or later, ESSS pays a lump sum equal to your accrued benefit at the date you leave, not a pension.

That created a gap. Members aged 55 to 59 who hadn't reached the maximum multiple could be permanently disabled and get only their accrued lump sum. In October 2023 the Victorian Government announced a $15 million Disability and Death Contingency Fund to fill it.

If you're in this age band and leaving through injury, ask ESSSuper and DJCS about the contingency fund at the same time as your ESSS claim, so the two run together.

ESSSuper's PDS says permanent disability pensions are rebateable pensions. In practice, that means you can claim a 15% superannuation pension rebate a year on the payments, which reduces the tax on them.

A lump sum paid on disability is treated differently. If two medical practitioners certify that you're unlikely ever to work in a job you're reasonably qualified for, the ATO treats it as a disability super benefit, and its tax-free component is increased using your days to retirement. ESSS benefits come from an untaxed scheme, which brings its own tax treatment, so get the components in writing from ESSSuper.

Private and association policies have their own definitions and time limits. Read the policy wording, not the summary, and claim early.

To claim an ESSS disability benefit, you make a claim to ESSSuper and undergo an Independent Medical Evaluation. ESSSuper assesses the claim under the Emergency Services Superannuation Act 1986. ESSSuper publishes a "Claiming a Disability Benefit" brochure that sets out its forms.

Timelines aren't published. The parts you control are the speed of your own evidence and the 21-day submission window under section 67. Ask ESSSuper for an expected decision time when you lodge.

Disputes in Victoria come in three kinds, each with its own process. The Victoria Police Act version we read doesn't set out an external appeal right specifically for a section 67 retirement. That means your submissions within 21 days carry a lot of weight, and you should get legal advice about any other avenue straight away.

Ill-health retirement

Who makes it

Chief Commissioner (s 67)

First step to challenge it

Written submissions within 21 days; then legal advice on other options

ESSS disability benefit

Who makes it

ESSSuper Board (ESS Act 1986)

First step to challenge it

ESSSuper's internal review and complaints process

WorkCover liability or payments

Who makes it

The WorkCover agent

First step to challenge it

Conciliation, then the courts; a WorkCover lawyer can advise

Contingency fund lump sum

Who makes it

DJCS with ESSSuper

First step to challenge it

Ask DJCS for its review process

Decision	Who makes it	First step to challenge it
Ill-health retirement	Chief Commissioner (s 67)	Written submissions within 21 days; then legal advice on other options
ESSS disability benefit	ESSSuper Board (ESS Act 1986)	ESSSuper's internal review and complaints process
WorkCover liability or payments	The WorkCover agent	Conciliation, then the courts; a WorkCover lawyer can advise
Contingency fund lump sum	DJCS with ESSSuper	Ask DJCS for its review process

We couldn't confirm an external review body for ESSS disability decisions; ask ESSSuper which applies.

The six-year rule

If you resigned while unwell, all may not be lost. Since 1 July 2014, a former contributor or police recruit who left on or after 1 July 2008 can apply to the Board within 6 years of leaving, on the grounds that they were suffering from a disability when they stopped work. Medical records from around the time you left will be central.

Your association is the first call for representation. See police associations and unions.

Psychological injury is behind many medical retirements in Victoria, as elsewhere. Leaving the job through injury can bring grief, anger and isolation on top of the injury itself. Those reactions are common, and help is available.

Our guide to PTSD and mental health support for police covers treatment and claims for psychological injury.

Medical retirement in other forces

For tax, insurance and the national comparison, read our police medical retirement guide, or see the Victoria Police profile.