EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Issued by the Authority of the Special Minister of State
Parliamentary Entitlements (Supplement of Capped Entitlements) Determination 2011
Background
The Parliamentary Entitlements Act 1990 (the PE Act) provides members of each House of Parliament (members) with a range of benefits, including those set out in Schedule 1 to the PE Act. Section 12 of the PE Act provides, in part, that the Governor-General may make regulations for the purposes of section 9 of the PE Act. Subsection 9(2) of the PE Act provides that a benefit set out in Schedule 1 to the PE Act may be varied or omitted by the regulations.
Following the commencement of the Parliamentary Entitlements Amendment Regulations 2011 (No. 1) (Amendment Regulations), regulation 3EA of the Parliamentary Entitlements Regulations 1997 (PE Regulations) provides an entitlement to supplement a member’s existing capped entitlements in exceptional circumstances.
The Parliamentary Entitlements (Supplement of Capped Entitlements) Determination 2011 (the PE Determination) is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003. The PE Act or PE Regulations do not impose any conditions that need to be satisfied before the power to make the PE Determination may be exercised.
Purpose
The PE Determination sets out certain parameters for the supplement of capped entitlements in exceptional circumstances in regulation 3EA of the PE Regulations (the supplement purposes, the capped entitlements and the relevant determinations). Details of the PE Determination are included in the Attachment.
Documents incorporated by reference
Clauses and documents incorporated by reference in the PE Determination include:
(a) regulation 3AA of the PE Regulations;
(b) item 7 (1) of Schedule 1 to the PE Act;
(c) clause 6.2 of Remuneration Tribunal Determination 2006/18: Members of Parliament – Entitlements;
(d) clauses 3.15 and 3.15.1 to 3.15.3 of Remuneration Tribunal Determination 2010/09: Members of Parliament – Travelling Allowance;
(e) Determination 2011/1, Determination regarding electorate employees – relief staff budget, made by the Special Minister of State on 31 January 2011; and
(f) Determination 2011/4, Determination regarding staff travel arrangements, made by the Special Minister of State on 11 March 2011.
The documents at paragraphs (a) to (d) are available at www.comlaw.gov.au and the documents at paragraphs (e) and (f) are available at www.finance.gov.au.
Commencement, Consultation and Regulatory Impact
This Determination commences on the commencement of the Amendment Regulations.
Consultation was undertaken with all members in relation to the supplement of capped entitlements in exceptional circumstances, as included in the Amendment Regulations.
The Office of Best Practice Regulation has confirmed that the preparation of a Regulation Impact Statement is not necessary, as the amendments have a nil or low impact on business or the economy or individuals, apart from the Federal Parliamentarians affected.
Details of the PE Determination
Section 1 – Name of Regulations
This section provides that the title of the PE Determination is the Parliamentary Entitlements (Supplement of Capped Entitlement) Determination 2011.
Section 2 – Commencement
This section provides that the PE Determination commences on the commencement of the Amendment Regulations.
Section 3 – Definitions
This section provides the definitions of ‘Act’ and ‘Regulations’, for the purposes of the PE Determination.
Section 4 – Supplement Purposes
This section provides that for the purposes of subregulation 3EA(6) of the PE Regulations, the entitlement provided in regulation 3EA of the PE Regulations may only be used for one or more of the following purposes:
(a) printing and communications, in accordance with regulation 3AA of the PE Regulations;
(b) office requisites and stationery, in accordance with item 7(1), Part 1, Schedule 1 to the PE Act;
(c) Australian flags and printed material related to national symbols, for presentation to constituents, in accordance with item 2, Part 1, Schedule 1 to the PE Act;
(d) Charter transport in accordance with Remuneration Tribunal Determination 2006/18: Members of Parliament – Entitlements;
(e) overnight stays in the member’s electorate, State or Territory in accordance with Remuneration Tribunal Determination 2010/09: Members of Parliament – Travelling Allowance.
Section 5 – Capped entitlement
This section provides what the term ‘capped entitlement’ means, for the purposes of paragraph 3EA(8)(a) of the PE Regulations, and includes the entitlements listed in paragraphs (a), (b), (d) and (e), above. The entitlements listed in this section are all capped by legislation.
This definition does not include ‘Australian flags and printed material related to national symbols’, as this entitlement is subject to an administrative rather than a legislative cap.
Section 6 – Relevant Determination
This section specifies the determinations made under the Members of Parliament (Staff) Act 1984 (MOP(S) Act) that are included in the definition of ‘relevant determination’ for the purposes of paragraph 3EA(8)(b) of the PE Regulations. For the purposes of section 14 of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003, the specific reference to these determinations (which are not legislative instruments) means that the determinations are incorporated in their form as at the commencement of the PE Determination.