Parliamentary Retiring Allowances Act 1968

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Legislation au C1968A00103 In force Act

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Parliamentary Retiring Allowances

No. 103 of 1968

An Act relating to Parliamentary Retiring Allowances.

[Assented to 29 November 1968]

BE it enacted by the Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty, the Senate, and the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Australia, as follows:—

Short title and citation.

1.—(1.) This Act may be cited as the Parliamentary Retiring Allowances Act 1968.

(2.) The Parliamentary Retiring Allowances Act 1948–1966 is in this Act referred to as the Principal Act.

(3.) The Principal Act, as amended by this Act, may be cited as the Parliamentary Retiring Allowances Act 1948–1968.

Commencement.

2. This Act shall come into operation on the first day of December, One thousand nine hundred and sixty-eight.

Interpretation.

3. Section 22a of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) by inserting after paragraph (a) of the definition of “officeholder” in sub-section (1.) the following paragraphs:—

“(aa) the President of the Senate;

(ab) the Speaker of the House of Representatives;”;

(b) by inserting in sub-section (1.), after the definition of “pension”, the following definition:—

“‘the basic ministerial salary’ means such annual rate of salary as is from time to time specified by the Treasurer, for the purposes of this Act, by notice published in the Gazette, to be the rate of the salary payable to Ministers other than senior Ministers;”; and

“(4.) A notice by the Treasurer for the purposes of the definition of ‘the basic ministerial salary’ in sub-section (1.) of this section has effect from the date of publication of the notice in the Gazette or such other date as is specified in the notice, which may be a date earlier than the publication of the notice in the Gazette”.

Periodical actuarial investigations.

4. Section 22d of the Principal Act is amended by adding at the end of sub-section (4.) the words “and the amount, or further amount, if any, which, in his opinion, should be paid into the Ministerial Fund by the Commonwealth in order to make proper provision for the payment out of that Fund of benefits payable under this Part in relation to periods of service after the commencement of this Part and before the commencement of the Parliamentary Retiring Allowances Act 1968.”.

Contributions.

5. Section 22e of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) by inserting in sub-section (1.), after the word “at”, the words “such rate per month as is”;

(b) by omitting sub-section (6.) and inserting in its stead the following sub-section:—

“(6.) The rates of contributions under this section are—

(a) in the case of a Minister, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives or the Leader of the Opposition in the House of Representatives—eleven and one-half per centum of the monthly amount of the basic ministerial salary;

(b) in the case of the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate or the Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the House of Representatives—five and three-quarters per centum of the monthly amount of the basic ministerial salary; and

(c) in the case of the Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate—two and seven-eighths per centum of the monthly amount of the basic ministerial salary.”; and

“(7.) For the purposes of the last preceding sub-section, the monthly amount of the basic ministerial salary shall be deemed to be one-twelfth of the annual amount of that salary.

“(8.) In this section, ‘month’ means one of the twelve months of the year.”.

Benefits to contributors.

6. Section 22h of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) by omitting sub-section (2.) and inserting in its stead the following sub-section:—

“(2.) Where the period of service of the person is not less than eight years, the benefit shall be a pension the rate of which shall be such percentage of the rate of the basic ministerial salary immediately before the person became entitled to pension (or, if he was not an office-holder immediately before he became entitled to pension, of the rate of the basic ministerial salary at the time

he ceased to be an office-holder) as is ascertained in accordance with the following scale:—

Number of complete years in period of service of person	Percentage of basic ministerial salary to be paid as pension
8 years...................................	21 per centum
9 years...................................	25 per centum
10 years....................................	29 per centum
11 years....................................	33 per centum
12 years....................................	38 per centum
13 years....................................	44 per centum
14 years or more..............................	50 per centum”;

(b) by inserting in sub-section (3.), after the word “Minister,”, the words “the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives”.

7. After section 22h of the Principal Act the following section is inserted:—

Application of pension provisions to certain persons.

“ 22ha.—(1.) This section applies to a person to or in respect of whom pension becomes payable under this Part and who has not been an office-holder at any time after the commencement of this section.

“(2.) Notwithstanding the definition of ‘the basic ministerial salary’ in sub-section (1.) of section twenty-two a of this Act, the basic ministerial salary in relation to a person to whom this section applies is, for the purposes of sub-section (2.) of section twenty-two h of this Act, such amount as the Treasurer, by instrument in writing, informs the Trust was the annual rate of salary payable to Ministers other than senior Ministers at the time the person was last an office-holder.

“(3.) Where the rate of pension payable to or in respect of a person to whom this section applies is less than it would have been if the Parliamentary Retiring Allowances Act 1968 had not been enacted, the amendments made by that Act shall not apply to or in relation to that pension.”.

Application.

8. The amendments made by section 6 of this Act do not apply in relation to a pension that became payable before the commencement of that section or that becomes payable by reason of the death after the commencement of that section of a person who was in receipt of a pension at that commencement.

Overview

The Parliamentary Retiring Allowances Act 1968 was enacted to amend the existing provisions concerning retiring allowances for members of the Australian Parliament. The Act sought to update the rates of pension and contributions for members, including the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and other significant parliamentary officeholders. The Act was introduced by the Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia with the aim of ensuring that parliamentary allowances are appropriately adjusted to reflect changes in salary rates and to maintain the adequacy of retirement benefits for members of Parliament. The Act amends the Parliamentary Retiring Allowances Act 1948–1966 to incorporate new definitions, contribution rates, and pension scales, while also ensuring that actuarial investigations are periodically conducted to assess the financial sustainability of the retirement benefits scheme. The Parliamentary Retiring Allowances Act 1968 also introduces specific provisions for the calculation of the "basic ministerial salary" and sets out new rates of contributions for different categories of officeholders, including Ministers, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Opposition leaders. Additionally, the Act provides for the application of pension provisions to certain individuals who are not current officeholders but who have previously held office. This comprehensive update aims to address the evolving needs of parliamentary retirees and to ensure the ongoing viability of the retirement benefits system for members of the Australian Parliament.

Scope and Application

The Parliamentary Retiring Allowances Act 1968 is an Act of the Commonwealth of Australia that applies to the payment of retiring allowances to members of the Parliament, including Ministers, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and various leaders and deputy leaders of opposition parties. The Act outlines the rates of contributions to be made by these individuals, which are calculated as a percentage of the basic ministerial salary. The Act also specifies the percentage of the basic ministerial salary to be paid as a pension based on the length of service, with a minimum of eight years required to be eligible for a pension. The Act applies nationally across the Commonwealth of Australia, and it provides for amendments to be made through subordinate instruments, such as notices published in the Gazette by the Treasurer. There are no stated exclusions, exemptions, or thresholds in the Act itself, although certain pensions may be exempt from the amendments made by the Act if they became payable before the commencement of the Act or by reason of the death of a person who was in receipt of a pension at the time of commencement.

Key Provisions

The Parliamentary Retiring Allowances Act 1968 primarily amends the Parliamentary Retiring Allowances Act 1948–1966 (referred to as the Principal Act) to update the definitions and provisions concerning the allowances and benefits payable to certain government officials. Section 3 amends the definition of “officeholder” to include the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and introduces a new definition for “the basic ministerial salary,” which refers to the annual rate of salary for Ministers other than senior Ministers, as specified by the Treasurer and published in the Gazette. Section 4 requires the Commissioner to consider the amount, if any, that should be paid into the Ministerial Fund to ensure adequate provisions for benefits payable for service periods after the commencement of the 1968 Act. Section 5 revises the rates of contributions for various officeholders, including Ministers, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, among others. Section 6 modifies the pension rates based on the number of complete years in the period of service, with rates ranging from 21% for 8 years of service to 50% for 14 years or more. Section 7 introduces a new section 22ha to apply pension provisions to certain individuals who have not been officeholders after the commencement of the 1968 Act, with the basic ministerial salary being determined by the Treasurer at the time the individual was last an officeholder. The Act imposes obligations on various parties, including the requirement for the Commissioner to conduct periodical actuarial investigations (Section 4) and the obligation on the Treasurer to specify the basic ministerial salary (Section 3). It also mandates specific contribution rates for different officeholders (Section 5) and defines the pension rates based on years of service (Section 6). Section 22ha further specifies that amendments do not apply to pensions that became payable before the commencement of the 1968 Act or to pensions payable due to the death of a person after the commencement of the Act while already in receipt of a pension. There are no explicit provisions within the Act that detail offences, penalties, or civil/criminal consequences for breaches. However, the failure to adhere to the requirements and obligations imposed by the Act, such as the failure of the Commissioner to conduct necessary investigations or the Treasurer to specify the basic ministerial salary, could potentially lead to legal challenges or administrative actions to ensure compliance with the Act’s provisions.

Area of Law: Social Security Law
Instrument: Act
Concepts: Commencement Provisions; Definitions & Interpretation; Benefits to contributors; Contributions

Interactions

Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation at 26 August 2026. For the latest information on Australian Government law please go to https://www.legislation.gov.au.

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