Statutory Rules
1974 No. 204
REGULATION UNDER THE PUBLIC SERVICE ACT 1922-1974.*
THE PUBLIC SERVICE BOARD, acting in pursuance and exercise of the authority conferred upon it by the Public Service Act 1922-1974, hereby makes, subject to the approval of the Governor-General, the following Regulation.
Dated this eighth day of October, 1974.
A. S. COOLEY
Chairman.
D. L. LINEHAN
Commissioner.
F. C. NORDECK
Commissioner.
I, THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL of Australia, acting with the advice of the Executive Council, hereby approve the following Regulation.
Dated this twenty-fourth day of October, 1974.
JOHN R. KERR
Governor-General.
By His Excellency’s Command,
LIONEL BOWEN
Special Minister of State for and on behalf of the Prime Minister.
Amendment of the Public Service Regulations†
After regulation 97c of the Public Service Regulations the following regulation is inserted:—
Allowance for sale or purchase of home.
“97d. (1) In this regulation—
‘agent’ means a person carrying on business as an estate agent in a State or Territory of the Commonwealth, being, in a case where the law of that State or Territory provides for the registration or licensing of persons who carry on such a business, a person duly registered or licensed under that law;
‘dwelling-house’ includes a flat or other dwelling forming part of a building so divided into flats or other units that the only parts of
* Notified in the Australian Government Gazette on 29 October 1974.
† Statutory Rules 1935, No. 18, as amended to date. For previous amendments of the Public Service Regulations see footnote † to Statutory Rules 1974 No. 5 and see also Statutory Rules 1974, Nos. 5, 15, 16, 51, 73, 98, 99, 119, 135, 143, 149, 168 and 169.
the building used by the owners of the respective flats or units in common are all or any of the following, namely, the stairways, passages, vestibules, laundries and garages;
‘officer’ includes employee:
‘the appropriate scale’ means—
(a) in relation to commission paid to an agent in respect of the sale of a dwelling-house—the scale ordinarily applicable in the State or Territory in which the dwelling-house is situated in determining the amount of commission payable to an agent who acts for the owner of a dwelling-house on the sale of the dwelling-house; and
(b) in relation to the professional costs and disbursements paid to a solicitor—the scale of professional costs ordinarily applicable in the State or Territory in which the dwelling-house is situated in relation to professional work performed by a solicitor in connexion with the sale and purchase of land and the mortgaging of land.
“(2) A reference in this regulation to an officer to whom this regulation applies shall be read as a reference to an officer who, having been transferred from one locality to another locality, has had, or is entitled to have, the cost of his conveyance from the first-mentioned locality to the other locality paid, in accordance with sub-regulation 119 (1), by the Department.
“(3) An officer to whom this regulation applies is entitled to be paid an allowance calculated in accordance with sub-regulation (5) if, after the commencement of this regulation and within the period that commenced on a day two months before the day on which the officer commenced duty in the locality to which he has been transferred and ends on the day that is two years after the day on which he commenced duty in that locality, the officer sells the dwelling-house in which he ordinarily resided immediately before being notified of the date of his transfer to that locality, being a dwelling-house owned by him. or sells, after the expiration of that period, such a dwelling-house in pursuance of an agreement entered into before the expiration of that period.
“(4) An officer to whom this regulation applies being an officer who has become entitled to be paid an allowance in accordance with sub-regulation (3) is entitled to be paid an allowance calculated in accordance with sub-regulation (6) if—
(a) he has, within the period commencing on the day on which he was notified of the date of his transfer to the new locality and ending on the day that is 4 years after the day on which he commenced duty in that locality, become the owner of a dwelling-house in that locality and that dwelling-house has become the dwelling-house in which he ordinarily resides; or
(b) he has, after the expiration of that period of 4 years, become, in pursuance of an agreement entered into before the expiration of that period of 4 years, the owner of a dwelling-house having intended, at the time of entering into the agreement to reside ordinarily in the dwelling-house.
“(5) Subject to sub-regulations (7) and (11), the allowance payable to an officer under sub-regulation (3) in relation to the sale of a dwelling-house is an amount equal to the sum of such of the following expenses as are incurred by the officer:—
(a) if the officer engaged an agent to sell the dwelling-house on his behalf—the amount of the commission duly paid to the agent in respect of the sale of the dwelling-house;
(b) if the officer engaged a solicitor to act for him in connexion with the sale of the dwelling-house—the amount of the professional costs and disbursements duly paid to the solicitor in respect of the sale of the dwelling-house;
(c) if the land on which the dwelling-house is erected was subject to a mortgage and the mortgage was discharged on the sale—
(i) in a case where a solicitor acted for the mortgagee in respect of the discharge of the mortgage and the officer is required to pay the amount of the professional costs and disbursements duly incurred by the mortgagee in respect of the discharge of the mortgage—the amount so paid by the officer; and
(ii) in a case where the officer engaged a solicitor to act for him in connexion with the discharge of the mortgage—the amount of the professional costs and disbursements duly paid in respect of the discharge of the mortgage;
(d) if the officer was required to pay, and paid, a sum to a mortgagee in addition to the principal sum and interest due under the mortgage in order to be entitled to discharge the mortgage before the earliest date on which he was entitled to discharge the mortgage without payment of that additional sum—the amount of that sum or an amount equal to six months interest at the rate payable on the date of the discharge of the mortgage, whichever is the less; and
(e) if the officer did not engage an agent to sell the dwelling-house on his behalf—the amount of the expenses incurred by the officer in advertising the dwelling-house for sale.
“(6) Subject to sub-regulations (7) and (11), the allowance payable to an officer under sub-regulation (4) in relation to the purchase of a dwelling-house is an amount equal to the sum of such of the following expenses as are incurred by the officer:—
(a) if the officer engaged a solicitor to act for him in connexion with the purchase of the dwelling-house—the amount of the professional costs and disbursements duly paid to the solicitor in respect of the purchase of the dwelling-house;
(b) if the officer mortgaged the land on which the dwelling-house was erected in conjunction with the purchase of the dwelling-house—
(i) in a case where a solicitor acted for the mortgagee and the officer is required to pay and has paid the amount of the professional costs and disbursements (including valuation fees but not a procuration fee payable in connexion with the mortgage) duly incurred by the mortgagee in respect of the mortgage—the amount so paid by the officer; and
(ii) in the case where the officer engaged a solicitor to act for him in connexion with the mortgage—the amount of the professional costs and disbursements (including valuation fees but not a procuration fee payable by the officer in connexion with the mortgage) duly paid by the officer to the solicitor in respect of the mortgage; and
(c) if the officer did not engage a solicitor to act for him in connexion with the purchase or such a mortgage—the amount of the expenses reasonably incurred by the officer in connexion with the purchase or the mortgage, as the case may be, other than a procuration fee paid by the officer in connexion with the mortgage.
“(7) In calculating the amount of the allowance payable to an officer under sub-regulation (3) or (4)—
(a) if the amount of the commission duly paid to an agent in respect of the sale of the dwelling-house exceeded the amount of the commission that would have been payable to the agent, calculated according to the appropriate scale, if the dwelling-house had been sold for Twenty-two thousand five hundred dollars—there shall be deducted from the amount of the allowance otherwise payable an amount equal to the excess;
(b) if the amount of the professional costs and disbursements duly paid to the solicitor in respect of the sale or the purchase of the dwelling-house exceeded the amount of the professional costs and disbursements that would have been duly payable to the solicitor, calculated according to the appropriate scale, if the dwelling-house had been sold or purchased for Twenty-two thousand five hundred dollars—there shall be deducted from the amount of the allowance otherwise payable an amount equal to the excess;
(c) if the amount of the professional costs and disbursements duly paid to a solicitor in respect of the discharge of a mortgage, or the mortgaging of the land, exceeded the amount of the professional costs and disbursements that would have been payable to a solicitor, calculated according to the appropriate scale, if the mortgage had been a single mortgage to secure a sum of Twelve thousand dollars—there shall be deducted from the amount of the allowance otherwise payable an amount equal to the excess; and
(d) if the officer did not engage an agent to sell the dwelling-house on his behalf and the amount of the expenses incurred by the officer in advertising the house for sale exceeded ten percentum of the commission that would be payable, calculated according to the appropriate scale, to an agent upon the sale of a dwelling-house by the agent for Twenty-two thousand five hundred dollars—there shall be deducted from the amount of the allowance otherwise payable an amount equal to the excess.
“(8) Where an officer to whom this regulation applies, being an officer who did not, immediately before being notified of the date of his transfer to another locality ordinarily reside in a dwelling-house owned by him. had, before that date—
(a) entered into an agreement to purchase a dwelling-house, being a dwelling-house in which he intended to reside; or
(b) entered into an agreement for the building of a dwelling-house, or commenced to build a dwelling-house, being a dwelling-house in which he intended to reside,
sub-regulation (3) applies in relation to the officer as if he had owned that dwelling-house and had been ordinarily residing in it immediately before being notified of the date of his transfer to the intended locality.
“(9) Where an officer to whom this regulation applies, being an officer who is, or subsequently becomes, entitled to be paid an allowance in accordance with sub-regulation (3)—
(a) has, before the expiration of the period of four years after the day on which he commenced duty in the locality to which he was transferred, entered into an agreement for the building of a dwelling-house in which he intends to reside on land in that locality of which he has become the owner;
(b) commences, before the expiration of the period of four years after the day on which he commenced duty in the locality to which he was transferred, to build a dwelling-house in which he intends to reside on land in that locality of which he has become the owner; or
(c) becomes, or is to become, under the terms of an agreement entered into by him before the expiration of the period of four years after the day on which he commenced duty in the locality to which he was transferred, the owner of the land in that locality on which a dwelling-house in which he intends to reside is or is to be erected,
the officer shall, on the erection of the dwelling-house or, in the case referred to in paragraph (c), on the officer becoming the owner of the dwelling-house, be deemed, for the purposes of this regulation, to have purchased the dwelling-house and sub-regulation (4) applies to the officer accordingly.
“(10) For the purposes of this regulation—
(a) an officer shall not be taken to own a dwelling-house unless he is the owner of the land on which the dwelling-house is erected; and
(b) an officer shall be taken to be the owner of land if and only if,
(i) he is the beneficial owner or one of the beneficial owners in fee simple of the land or, if the land comprises a lot or unit into which land has been sub-divided in accordance with the law of a State that makes provision for strata or unit titles, he is the owner or one of the owners in fee simple of the lot or unit;
(ii) he is the lessee or one of the lessees of the land under a lease for a term of years or in perpetuity, or is the proprietor or one of the proprietors of an estate in leasehold of a unit under the Unit Titles Ordinance 1970 of the Australian Capital Territory or under that Ordinance as amended;
(iii) he is alone or with another person or other persons a member of a company that is the beneficial owner in fee simple of, or the lessee under a lease of, land on which is erected a block of residential flats or home units and he is by reason of the shares in the capital of the company held by him alone or with that other person or those other persons entitled alone or with that other person or with those other persons to the sole use of a flat or unit as a residential dwelling; or
(iv) he is the person or one of the persons in whom is vested the equity of redemption in land subject to a mortgage that took the form of a conveyance of the fee simple of the land.
“(11) Where an officer is, for the purposes of this regulation, to be taken to be the owner of land, and he is not the sole owner of the land, an allowance under sub-regulations (3) and (4) to which the officer is entitled is, if the other persons or each of the other persons with whom he is the owner of the land is a dependant of the officer, payable to the officer as if he were the sole owner of the land, but if the other person or any of the other persons is not a dependant of the officer, the allowance to which the officer is entitled under either of those sub-regulations shall be an amount that bears the same proportion to the allowance that would be payable to him if he were the sole owner of the land as the value of his interest in the land taken together with the interest in the land of any of his dependants bears to the value of the land on the date of the sale or purchase of the land, as the case requires.
“(12) Where an officer engages a land broker, that is to say, a person duly licensed or authorized under the law of a State for transacting business under the provisions of a law relating to the registration of titles to land, to act for him in connexion with the sale or purchase of a dwelling-house, the mortgaging of land or the discharge of a mortgage—
(a) the provisions of this regulation apply as if the officer had engaged a solicitor to act for him accordingly; and
(b) in the application of those provisions, references to professional costs and disbursements shall be read as references to charges and disbursements.
“(13) Sub-regulation (3) does not apply to an officer who, having been transferred from one locality to another locality, is transferred back to, and takes up duty in, the locality in which he resided before the first-mentioned transfer if he sells the dwelling-house in which he normally resided before the first-mentioned transfer in pursuance of an agreement entered into by him after the date on which he is notified that he is to be transferred back to that locality.
“(14) An allowance referred to in sub-regulation (3) is payable to an officer who is transferred from one locality to another locality on the sale by the officer of only one dwelling-house in the first-mentioned locality and an allowance referred to in sub-regulation (4) is payable to such an officer on the purchase by the officer of only one dwelling-house in the other locality.”.