The South Australian Building Industry Redundancy Scheme Trust (BIRST) is a redundancy fund established in 1989 by participants in the South Australian construction industry to provide construction industry employees with a secure benefit at the time of redundancy, retirement, death or permanent disablement.

The trust was established through the Building Industry Redundancy Scheme Agreement (last revised 1996) and operates under a Deed of Trust.

All contributions are held in trust on behalf of members and invested according to the Deed Of Trust which provides that security of members entitlements is the primary objective. Trustees have directed that the funds be invested in Government or Bank guaranteed securities.

Investment earnings are used to recover the cost of administering the fund and the balance is directed towards training within the building industry and member benefits. No fees are deducted from contributions.

The BIRST Trustees are appointed by the Building Trades Federation and the Master Builders Association. The positions are voluntary and the Chairman changes annually, rotating between an employer and an employee representative.

The current BIRST Board comprises:

The BIRST Board manages the capital of the fund to meet the following investment criteria:

• To protect and preserve the employees benefits
• To ensure that the Trust Fund is sufficiently liquid to meet the likely demand for payment of workers
• To provide sufficient income to meet the costs of administering the Trust
• To provide income for distribution

To achieve these goals investments have been limited to bank and Government securities. Our investment policy is reviewed regularly by our actuary.

Alan Suridge          Fund Manager

Cliff Lark                Administration Manager

No fees are charged to employers or employees.  The only deduction is taxation which is deducted when a payment is made to a member.  BIRST has no control over the taxation rates which are determined by the Australian Taxation Office.