EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
STATUTORY RULES 1390 NO. 214
Public Service Regulations (Amendment)
Issued by the authority of the Minister for Industrial Relations for and on behalf of the Prime Minister
Subsection 97(1) of the Public Service Act 1922 (the Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with the Act, prescribing matters required or permitted by the Act to be prescribed, or necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the Act.
Part IV of the Act provides a means by which officers of the Australian Public Service (the Service) may engage in other public employment while retaining certain entitlements and rights to return to the Service. Part IV applies to an officer who is the holder of a “Commonwealth office” which is defined in subsection 87(1) of the Act as including:
“(a) an office or appointment the holder of which is appointed by the Governor-General or by a Minister under a law of the Commonwealth (including this Act) or a law of a Territory other than the Northern Territory;”
Paragraph (n) of that definition states that “Commonwealth office” does not include an office or appointment declared by the regulations not to be a Commonwealth office.
Part IV also applies to an officer who is the holder of a “public office” which is defined in subsection 87(1) of the Act as including:
“(c) any office or appointment prescribed….. by the regulations for the purposes of this paragraph;”
As part of the Government’s reforms in relation to what are collectively known as Government Business Enterprises, the office of Chief Executive Officer for most of those enterprises has been excluded from the jurisdiction of the Remuneration Tribunal with the effect that salary and allowances for chief executive officers are not determined by the Remuneration Tribunal. Consistent with those reforms those offices have been excluded, by the amending Regulation, from coverage under the mobility provisions contained in Part IV of the Act with the effect that a chief executive officer who was formerly an officer of the Service will not have the right of re-entry (if applicable) to the Service. This reform has placed the chief executive officers on a comparable footing to their private sector counterparts.
The offices in Regulation 2 are held by the Chief Executive Officers of a number of Government Business Enterprises. They fall within paragraph (a) of the definition of ‘Commonwealth office’ in subsection 87(1) of the Act and as such would have received coverage under the Part IV mobility provisions of the Act. The offices have been prescribed under Regulation 171 and included in Schedule 3 to remove them from coverage under Part IV of the Act. Regulation 2 also omits Item 3A from Schedule 3. Due to changes in the legislation there is no further need to include the Australian Shipping Commission in Schedule 3.
The Public Service Regulations (Amendment) have prescribed three hew public offices. These are:
Office of General Manager of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commercial Development Corporation established under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission Act 1989 (ATSIC Act)
Office of Principal of the Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies established under the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Act 1989 (AIATSIS Act)
Office of Executive Director of the Energy and Research and Development Corporation established under the Primary Industries and Energy Research and Development Act 1989, when that office is held on a full-time basis.
The effect of such prescription is that an officer of the Australian Public Service appointed to one of the above offices will be covered by the mobility provisions of Part IV of the Act which will give protection as to conditions of service and right of return to the Service and preserve the status of the appointee as an officer of the Service.
The Public Service Regulations (Amendment) have made the following amendments to the Principal Regulations:
Regulation 1 provides a commencement date of 2 July 1990.
Regulation 2 has amended Schedule 3 to the Regulations by omitting item 3A and inserting 5 additional offices into Schedule 3. These are:
Office of Managing Director of the Australian Telecommunications Corporation
Office of Managing Director of the Commonwealth Banking Corporation
Office of Deputy Managing Director of the Commonwealth Banking Corporation
Office of Chief Executive Officer of the Civil Aviation Authority
Office of Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Airports Corporation
Regulation 3 has amended Schedule 3C to the Regulations by inserting into Schedule 3C the following offices:
Office of General Manager of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commercial Development Corporation
Office of Principal of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
Office of Executive Director of the Energy Research and Development Corporation