REMUNERATION TRIBUNAL
Explanatory Statement: Determination 2005/14
Remuneration and Allowances for Office Holders
1. The Remuneration Tribunal has inquired into and determined the remuneration and significantly related matters for office holders, as it is empowered to do by the Remuneration Tribunal Act 1973.
2. In making this determination the Tribunal has informed itself through consultation in accordance with established practice.
3. Any retrospective application of this determination is in accordance with subsection 12(2) of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003 as it does not affect the rights of a person (other than the Commonwealth or an authority of the Commonwealth) to that person’s disadvantage, nor does it impose any liability on such a person.
PART 1 – PART-TIME OFFICES
4. Clause 1.1 specifies the Principal Determination (Number 5 of 2005) for the purposes of Part 1 of the Determination.
5. Clause 1.2 varies Table A1A by increasing daily fees for the Chairman and Members of the Companies Auditors and Liquidators Disciplinary Board, and by reducing the daily fee for the Chairman of the Takeovers Panel, the latter as part of a restructure of the Chairman’s remuneration.
6. Clause 1.3 varies the footnote attached to the entry in Table A1A for the Companies Auditors and Liquidators Disciplinary Board. The effect of this is to increase the daily fee for the Deputy Chairman and to abolish the retainers previously paid to the Chairman, Deputy Chairman and Members. A provision is included to enable current holders of those offices to have the choice of either adopting the new arrangements, or of retaining their current remuneration for the balance of their term.
7. Clause 1.4 varies the footnote attached to the entry in Table A1A for the Takeovers Panel, removing the reference to a ‘retainer’ and substituting ‘annual fee’, which describes more accurately the nature of the payment. Clause 1.4 also increases the annual amount payable to the Chairman and rounds up the amount payable to the Members; and also specifies which duties of office holders attract daily fees.
8. Clause 1.5 deletes the reference in Schedule B to two bodies – the Review of the Australian Blood Banking and Plasma Product Sector, and the Working Party on the Future of Blood Products in Australia – which are now defunct.
PART 2 – FULL-TIME OFFICES
9. Clause 2.1 enables payment, in accordance with Determination 9 of 2002, of a performance bonus of $13,230 to Professor Allan Pettigrew of the National Health and Medical Research Council for the period 1 January 2004 to 25 September 2004, after which date the office became a Principal Executive Office.
PART 3 – JUDICIAL AND RELATED OFFICES
10. Clause 3.1 specifies the Principal Determination (Number 11 of 2005) for the purposes of Part 3 of the Determination.
11. Clause 3.2 amends Clause 2.3 of the Principal Determination to provide for the introduction of Clause 2.3.1 which provides that part-time members of the National Native Title Tribunal may not be paid more than the amount calculated by deducting from the Total Remuneration for an equivalent full-time office holder, 15.4 per cent of the base salary for that equivalent full-time office holder. This adjustment to the cap for part-time members follows the introduction of Total Remuneration for office holders of the National Native Title Tribunal in December 2004 (Determination 2004/23).
PART 4 – FULL-TIME OFFICES
12. Clause 4.1 specifies the Principal Determination (Number 6 of 2005 as amended) for the purposes of Part 4 of the Determination.
13. Clause 4.2 increases the accommodation allowance of Mr S. Somogyi from $25,000 to $25,500. The latter amount is in line with the Tribunal’s original intention.
14. Clause 4.3 makes adjustments to rectify an error made when accommodation allowances for Mr S. Somogyi and Mr R. Jones were first determined. In both cases the originally intended allowance was $25,500. Mr Somogyi’s allowance was originally determined at $25,000 from 1 July 2003, and clause 4.4 makes adjustments for the 2003/04 and 2004/05 financial years. (Clause 4.2 makes the ongoing adjustment.) Mr Jones had an allowance of $25,000 from 1 July 2003 to 30 June 2004.
15. Clause 4.4 increases the Total Remuneration for the office of Member, Social Security Appeals Tribunal, to rectify a minor error in the original calculation.
16. Clause 4.5 specifies the date of effect of clauses 4.2 and 4.4 as 1 July 2005.
Authority: Sub-sections 7(3) and 7(4) of the Remuneration Tribunal Act 1973.