Brisbane-based industry super fund ESI Super is still open for business, and continued to take calls and assist members even as the floods peaked, according to fund chief executive Robyn Petrou.
“We’ve been taking phone calls throughout the last few days remotely, and our carriers remained available for internet access,” Petrou said.
In terms of providing assistance to members, Petrou said that being in the energy industry many members were busy sorting local problems out — but she expected from next week to start seeing more members asking for support. When that happened the fund would continue to be well and truly available, she said.
Although the Brisbane office was closed from Monday the fund continued to take some phone calls through other centres, and was prioritising flood-related enquiries. Although the fund office is in the Brisbane CBD the office itself was not flooded and the systems were still functioning, Petrou said. ESI Super confirmed the fund reopened today with staff returning to work.
“We have been answering calls, emails and faxes and have continued to process benefit payments and other transactions,” she said. Despite this she urged members to be patient with non-urgent matters so that requests for assistance from flood-affected members could be prioritised.
The fund is able to assist members with proof of identification for dealing with Centrelink, and with hardship payments in extreme cases, Petrou said. Although the fund had so far received few such requests, Petrou expected these to increase over the coming weeks.
