The ACT Remuneration Tribunal was established by the Remuneration Tribunal Act 1995 (the Act), which commenced on 21 December 1995.
The Tribunal is required to inquire into and determine the remuneration, allowances and other entitlements to be granted to persons holding either a full-time or part-time public office. These include:
In exercising its powers and obligations under the Act, the Tribunal is independent of the Government, and its determinations are not subject to disallowance by the Legislative Assembly.
The Chief Minister is able to refer offices to the Tribunal by means of an instrument issued in accordance with the Act.
Under the Act, the Executive may appoint up to three members of the Tribunal. Where more than one Member is appointed the Executive must appoint one Member as Chairperson. Members are appointed for terms of up to five years and may be reappointed.
The current Members of the Tribunal are:
The Tribunal holds five major reviews each year. These are:
The first two reviews are concurrently held in the first half of the calendar year (usually March/April) and the other three concurrently in the second half (usually October).
All major reviews are advertised in the Public Notices section of the Canberra Times approximately two months before the meeting of the Tribunal is scheduled to take place. Submissions generally close four weeks after advertising.
These occur where the Chief Minister has referred a new office to the Tribunal or an issue has arisen which the Tribunal decides to deal with outside the scheduled major reviews.
These reviews are not advertised, however depending on the matter, interested parties are sometimes asked for comments.
Once determinations have been made, they are provided to the Chief Minister for information and subsequently tabled in the Legislative Assembly. The determinations are not subject to disallowance by the Assembly.
A copy of each determination is also provided to Chief Executives and agency heads and included on the Tribunal’s website.
Advice is also sent to interested parties such as relevant office holders. In the case of part-time office holders, Chief Executives and agency heads are requested to notify relevant boards and committees within their portfolio of the Tribunal review.
