Remuneration Tribunal Determination 2005/14 - Remuneration and Allowances for Office Holders

Overview

The Remuneration Tribunal Determination 2005/14, enacted under the Remuneration Tribunal Act 1973, addresses the remuneration and allowances for various office holders, ensuring they are consistent with their roles and responsibilities. This determination was introduced to streamline and rectify remuneration structures for part-time and full-time offices, including adjustments for errors in previous calculations and updates to allowances. The Remuneration Tribunal, empowered by the Act, conducted consultations to inform its determinations, aiming to maintain fairness and transparency in remuneration practices. This legislation seeks to ensure that the remuneration for office holders is appropriate and reflective of their duties, without imposing liabilities on individuals adversely.

Scope and Application

The Remuneration Tribunal Determination 2005/14, under the Remuneration Tribunal Act 1973, sets out the remuneration and related matters for various office holders across different capacities, including part-time, full-time, and judicial or related offices. This determination applies to specific individuals and bodies, such as the Chairman and Members of the Companies Auditors and Liquidators Disciplinary Board, the Chairman of the Takeovers Panel, and part-time members of the National Native Title Tribunal. The Tribunal’s jurisdiction covers the Commonwealth, and its decisions affect remuneration within this scope. The determination includes provisions for retrospective application without disadvantaging individuals or imposing liabilities, as per the Legislative Instruments Act 2003. Notably, it makes adjustments to daily fees, retainers, and annual fees, rectifies previous errors in allowance calculations, and modifies the cap on part-time member remuneration for the National Native Title Tribunal. This determination does not specify any exclusions or thresholds beyond the scope of the offices it addresses, and any further application or interpretation is left to subordinate instruments as necessary.

Key Provisions

The Remuneration Tribunal, as mandated by the Remuneration Tribunal Act 1973, has established detailed provisions for the remuneration and allowances of office holders in various capacities. Clause 1.1 (paragraph 4) outlines the Principal Determination (Number 5 of 2005) for part-time offices, where Clause 1.2 (paragraph 5) adjusts the daily fees for the Chairman and Members of the Companies Auditors and Liquidators Disciplinary Board, and reduces the daily fee for the Chairman of the Takeovers Panel. Clause 1.3 (paragraph 6) further modifies the remuneration structure for the Companies Auditors and Liquidators Disciplinary Board by increasing the daily fee for the Deputy Chairman and abolishing retainers for the Chairman, Deputy Chairman, and Members, while allowing current office holders to choose between the new arrangements or retaining their current remuneration. Clause 1.4 (paragraph 7) updates the nomenclature for payments to the Takeovers Panel from 'retainer' to 'annual fee', increases the annual amount payable to the Chairman, and rounds up the amount payable to the Members, specifying which duties attract daily fees. Clause 1.5 (paragraph 8) removes references to defunct bodies, the Review of the Australian Blood Banking and Plasma Product Sector and the Working Party on the Future of Blood Products in Australia, from Schedule B. The Act imposes specific obligations on the Remuneration Tribunal to consult and make determinations on remuneration and allowances for office holders, as evidenced in the consultation process outlined in Clause 1.1 (paragraph 2). The Tribunal is also tasked with ensuring that any retrospective application of its determinations does not adversely affect the rights of persons or impose liabilities on them, as stipulated in subsection 12(2) of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003. Clause 2.1 (paragraph 9) enables the payment of a performance bonus to Professor Allan Pettigrew of the National Health and Medical Research Council, subject to the period of his tenure as an office holder. Under Clause 3.2 (paragraph 11), part-time members of the National Native Title Tribunal are subject to a cap on their remuneration, calculated by deducting 15.4% of the base salary of an equivalent full-time office holder from the Total Remuneration. This adjustment reflects the introduction of Total Remuneration for office holders of the National Native Title Tribunal in December 2004 (Determination 2004/23). Additionally, Clause 4.2 (paragraph 13) increases the accommodation allowance for Mr S. Somogyi from $25,000 to $25,500, aligning it with the Tribunal’s original intention. Clause 4.3 (paragraph 14) rectifies an error in the accommodation allowance for Mr Somogyi and Mr R. Jones for the 2003/04 and 2004/05 financial years, with Clause 4.4 (paragraph 15) adjusting the Total Remuneration for the office of Member, Social Security Appeals Tribunal, to correct a minor error in the original calculation. Failure to comply with the determinations and provisions of the Remuneration Tribunal Act 1973 may result in civil or criminal consequences, although specific penalties are not detailed in the text. The overarching authority for these determinations is derived from Sub-sections 7(3) and 7(4) of the Act, which empower the Tribunal to make such determinations and ensure they are in line with established practices and the interests of the Commonwealth and its authorities.