EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Statutory Rules 1989 No 342
Remuneration Tribunal (Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations (Amendment)
(Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Industrial Relations)
Under subsections 5(1) and 7(3) of the Remuneration Tribunal Act 1973 (the Act) the Remuneration Tribunal (the Tribunal) has the function of inquiring into and determining the remuneration to be paid to, amongst others, the holders of public offices other than holders of those offices who are members of, or candidates for election to, either House of the Parliament.
By paragraph 3(4)(ra) of the Act, “public office” does not include an office or appointment declared by regulations made for the purposes of that paragraph to be a principal executive office.
Subsection 5(2) of the Act gives the Tribunal the additional function of providing advice to public statutory corporations, government business enterprises and other employing bodies in relation to the terms and conditions (including remuneration and allowances) on which principal executive offices are to be held.
The effect of declaring a public office to be a principal executive office in a regulation made for the purposes of paragraph 3(4)(ra) of the Act, therefore, is to remove that office from the determination making power of the Tribunal under subsections 5(1) and 7(3) of the Act and simultaneously bring it within the advisory jurisdiction of the Tribunal under subsection 5(2) of the Act.
The purpose of removing an office from the determination making jurisdiction of the Tribunal and placing it within the advisory jurisdiction is to enable the Board of the relevant Government business enterprise to itself determine a remuneration package for the office in question after consultation with the Tribunal, rather than have the remuneration package determined by the Tribunal.
Regulation 4 of the Remuneration Tribunals (Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations (the Principal Regulations) provides that for the purposes of paragraph 3(4)(ra) of the Act, each of the offices specified in Schedule 1 to the Regulations is declared to be a principal executive office.
Under section 13 of the Act the Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with the Act, prescribing all 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.
Each of the following public offices has been declared by regulation for the purposes of paragraph 3(4)(ra) of the Act to be a principal executive office:
• Managing Director, Commonwealth Banking Corporation;
• Deputy Managing Director, Commonwealth Banking Corporation;
• Managing Director, Commonwealth Serum Laboratories Commission;
• Chief Executive, Qantas Airways Limited.
At the time the regulation was made these offices were within the determination making power of the Tribunal under subsections 5(1) and 7(3) of the Act. The declaration of these offices under paragraph 3(4)(ra) of the Act has removed them from the determination making jurisdiction and brought them within the advisory jurisdiction of the Tribunal.
This has been effected by inserting a reference to each of these offices into Schedule 1 to the Principal Regulations.
In addition, the reference to the Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation in Schedule 1 has been amended by adding the word “Limited”. This reflected the change in the name of that organisation which occurred on 1 July 1989 with the commencement of section 12 of the Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation (Conversion into a Public Company) Act 1989 and its registration under the Companies Act 1981 as the Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation Limited.
For the sake of clarity, the regulation effected these amendments by repealing the existing Schedule 1 and substituting a new Schedule 1 in which the items in the Schedule have been renumbered.
Overview
The Remuneration Tribunal (Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations (Amendment) Statutory Rules 1989 No. 342 were enacted to address the issue of certain public offices being within the determination-making power of the Remuneration Tribunal under the Remuneration Tribunal Act 1973. This was achieved by amending the Principal Regulations to declare specific public offices as principal executive offices, thereby removing them from the Tribunal's determination-making jurisdiction and placing them under its advisory jurisdiction. The amendment was issued by the Authority of the Minister for Industrial Relations and serves to enable the boards of the relevant government business enterprises to determine the remuneration packages for these offices after consulting with the Tribunal. The policy objective of this amendment is to empower the boards of government business enterprises to directly manage remuneration for certain executive positions, facilitating more streamlined and potentially more efficient decision-making processes.
Scope and Application
The Remuneration Tribunal (Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations (Amendment) issued under the Remuneration Tribunal Act 1973 governs the remuneration determination for specific public offices by shifting the authority from the Tribunal to the Boards of the relevant entities. The Act applies to public offices that are not principal executive offices, meaning those offices are excluded from the Tribunal’s direct determination of remuneration and are instead subject to its advisory role. Specifically, the regulation declares certain high-level executive positions within major Commonwealth entities, such as the Managing Director of the Commonwealth Banking Corporation and the Chief Executive of Qantas Airways Limited, as principal executive offices. This change removes these positions from the Tribunal’s purview for setting remuneration, allowing the respective Boards to determine remuneration after consulting with the Tribunal. The amendment is executed through a new Schedule in the Principal Regulations, replacing the previous one and reflecting the updated nomenclature for entities like the Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation Limited. The application of these regulations is confined to the Commonwealth jurisdiction, ensuring that the Tribunal’s advisory role is clearly defined and limited to non-principal executive offices.
Key Provisions
The Remuneration Tribunal (Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations (Amendment) Statutory Rules 1989 No 342, made under the authority of the Minister for Industrial Relations, modify the Remuneration Tribunal Act 1973. The principal change involves the reclassification of certain public offices from those under the determination-making power of the Tribunal to those within its advisory jurisdiction. This shift is accomplished through the declaration of these offices as principal executive offices under section 3(4)(ra) of the Act. Specifically, Regulation 4 of the Principal Regulations identifies the Managing Director and Deputy Managing Director of the Commonwealth Banking Corporation, the Managing Director of the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories Commission, and the Chief Executive of Qantas Airways Limited as principal executive offices (Schedule 1). This amendment was made pursuant to section 13 of the Act, which allows the Governor-General to issue regulations necessary for the Act’s implementation.
These regulations impose obligations on the Remuneration Tribunal to transition from making determinations about the remuneration of the specified offices to providing advisory services to the boards of the respective entities. The boards of these organisations must now determine the remuneration packages for these principal executive offices, following consultations with the Tribunal. This change seeks to empower the boards to tailor remuneration packages more closely aligned with their specific organisational needs and market conditions, while still benefiting from the expertise of the Tribunal.
Breach of the provisions in these regulations could lead to legal consequences. Although the specific offences, penalties, or consequences for non-compliance are not detailed in the provided text, any deviation from the mandates or guidance provided by the Remuneration Tribunal in the advisory process could potentially result in legal disputes or other repercussions. The courts may consider the intent and impact of such non-compliance when adjudicating on related matters, and penalties could range from fines to more severe sanctions depending on the nature and extent of the breach.