EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
STATUTORY RULES 1989 No. 99
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.
As part of the Government’s reforms in relation to what are collectively known as Government Business Enterprises, the positions of chief executive officer for most of those enterprises have been excluded from the jurisdiction of the Remuneration Tribunal. This means that salary and allowances for chief executive officers are not determined by the Remuneration Tribunal. Consistent with those reforms those positions are now excluded from coverage under the mobility provisions contained in Part IV of the Act. Exclusion from Part IV coverage means that a chief executive officer will not have right of re-entry (if applicable) to a Public Service position. This reform places the chief executive officers on a comparable footing to their private sector counterparts.
All of the offices in question come within paragraph (a) of the definition of ‘Commonwealth office’ in subsection 87(1) of the Act. Paragraph (n) of that definition provides that regulations may declare ‘a class of offices or appointments’ not to be a class of Commonwealth offices for the purposes of Part IV of the Act.
Regulation 171 of the Public Service Regulations (the Principal Regulations) has created a Schedule 3 in which 3 other offices or appointments have already been declared not to be ‘Commonwealth offices’ for the purposes of Part IV of the Act.
The Public Service Regulations (Amendment) make the following amendments to the Principal Regulations:
Regulation 1 provides various retrospective commencement dates for each of the offices or appointments in question. This retrospectivity is necessary to accord with appointing provisions applicable under each of the government business enterprise’s own enabling Act.
Regulation 2 inserts into Schedule 3 of the Principal Regulations 7 additional offices or appointments. The proposed additions are:
Column 1 | Column 2 |
Item | Office or appointment |
1A | Office of Managing Director of the |
| Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation |
1B | Office of Chief Executive of the |
| Australian Industry Development |
| Corporation |
1C | Office of Managing Director of the |
| Australian National Railways Commission |
2A | Office of Managing Director of the |
| Australian Postal Corporation |
2B | Office of the Governor of the Reserve |
| Bank of Australia |
2C | Office of Deputy Governor of the |
| Reserve Bank of Australia |
3A | Office of Managing Director of the |
| Australian Shipping Commission. |