EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Statutory Rules 1989 No 145
Remuneration Tribunals (Members’ Fees and Allowances)
Regulations (Amendment)
(Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Industrial Relations)
Section 13 of the Remuneration Tribunal Act 1973 (the Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with this Act, prescribing all matters required or permitted by this Act to be prescribed, or necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to this Act.
Section 12 of the Act provides that a member of the Remuneration Tribunal (the Tribunal) be paid such fees and allowances as are prescribed; the Tribunal lacks the power to determine its own fees and allowances. The Chairman of the Tribunal, Mr Justice Mahoney, being a Judge of the Supreme Court of NSW is not paid a fee. The fees of the other two members, Messrs Mangan and Porter, are prescribed in the Remuneration Tribunals (Members’ Fees and Allowances) Regulations.
The practice has been to increase the annual rate of the fee by the same percentage amount and with the same date of effect as applied by the Tribunal itself in determining new rates for part-time office holders under its jurisdication. The determinations of the Tribunal for the remuneration of public offices are adjusted by the National Wage Case increases.
In its 1988 Review, the Tribunal determined increases for part-time office holders (with the exception of part-time offices in statutory marketing authorities which received substantial increases) generally in the order of 15 per cent from 24 November 1988.
The 15 per cent increase increases the annual fee from $15,119 to $17,387 per annum. The increase operates from 24 November 1988.
The opportunity has been taken to make appropriate amendments to the Regulations following the abolition of the Academic Salaries Tribunal by the Industrial Relations (Consequencial Provisions) Act 1988 which commenced on 1 March 1989.
Therefore the following regulations have been made:
- regulation 1 provides an operative date of 24 November 1988 for the increase in the annual fee payable to part-time members of the Tribunal;
- regulations 3 and 4 amend the citation of the Regulations and the Act respectively to reflect the abolition of the Academic Salaries Tribunal;
- regulation 5 amends regulation 4 of the Regulations to provide for the increase in the annual fee for part-time members of the Tribunal from $15,119 to $17,387 per annum;
- regulation 6 amends regulation 5 of the Regulations by deleting a reference to section 12F of the Regulations made obsolete by the repeal of the provisions of the Act establishing the Academic Salaries Tribunal;
- regulation 7 deletes regulation 6 of the Regulations which is now obsolete as a result of the abolition of the Academic Salaries Tribunal.
The retrospective application of regulation 5 will not affect the rights of a person (other than the Commonwealth) in a manner prejudicial to that person, nor does it impose any liability on such a person.