Members of Parliament (Victoria) Determination 01/2019

Pursuant to section 17 of the VIRTIPS Act, the Tribunal made the Members of Parliament (Victoria) Determination 01/2019 on 16 September 2019.

DETERMINATION [2019] DMP 01

Victorian Independent Remuneration Tribunal and Improving Parliamentary Standards Act 2019 (Vic)

Part 3—Determination in relation to Members.

Members of Parliament (Victoria) Determination 01/2019

Part 1 - legal matters and definitions

1. Title: This Determination is the Members of Parliament (Victoria) Determination No. 01/2019 and is made under Part 3 of the Victorian Independent Remuneration Tribunal and Improving Parliamentary Standards Act 2019 (Vic) by the Victorian Independent Remuneration Tribunal.

2. Effective date: This Determination takes effect on 16 September 2019.

3. Definitions

3.1. Terms not defined in this Determination have the same meaning as in the VIRTIPS Act, unless the contrary intention appears.

3.2. In this Determination, unless the contrary intention appears:

basic salary portion has the meaning provided in section 17(5)(b) of the VIRTIPS Act;

electoral district means electoral district of the Legislative Assembly of Victoria;

electoral region means electoral region of the Legislative Council of Victoria;

electorate means:

  • (a) in the case of a Member of the Legislative Assembly, an electoral district
  • (b) in the case of a Member of the Legislative Council, an electoral region;

Member means Member of the Parliament;

Parliament means the Parliament of Victoria;

PSAS Act means Parliamentary Salaries, Allowances and Superannuation Act 1968 (Vic);

travelling allowance rate means the amount determined to be payable for an overnight stay in commercial accommodation in the relevant location as determined from time to time by the tribunal established under the Remuneration Tribunal Act 1973 (Cth):

  • (a) if the Member is the Premier, Deputy Premier, other Minister of the Crown, Presiding Officer or the Leader of the Opposition, to an office holder of the Commonwealth; and
  • (b) for all other Members, to a Member of the Parliament of the Commonwealth;

Tribunal means the Victorian Independent Remuneration Tribunal;

Tribunal Guidelines means the guidelines for or with respect to the use of work-related parliamentary allowances and the Electorate Office and Communications Budget made by the Tribunal and in effect at the time;

VIRTIPS Act means the Victorian Independent Remuneration Tribunal and Improving Parliamentary Standards Act 2019 (Vic);

work-related parliamentary allowances has the meaning provided in section 3 of the VIRTIPS Act.

4. Coverage and application

4.1. This Determination sets the value of salaries and allowances for Members. This Determination should be read together with the Tribunal Guidelines.

Part 2 - basic salary and additional salaries

5. Basic salary

5.1. The basic salary per annum for a Member is $182,413.

6. Additional salary for a specified parliamentary office holder

6.1. The additional salary per annum for a specified parliamentary office holder listed in column 1 of the table in Schedule A is:

  • (a) from the date this Determination takes effect until 30 June 2020, the value listed in column 2 of the table in Schedule A, and
  • (b) from 1 July 2020, the value listed in column 3 of the table in Schedule A.

Part 3 - basic salary portion

7. Basic salary portion

7.1. The basic salary portion per annum is $168,901.

8. Annual indexation of the basic salary portion

8.1. The method for the annual indexation of the basic salary portion is the calculation of the basic salary portion for each financial year starting from 1 July 2020 in accordance with the following formula—

A x B/C

where—

  • (a) A is the basic salary portion for the previous financial year;
  • (b) B is the full-time adult average weekly ordinary time earnings of employees in Victoria in original terms for the most recent reference period in the preceding calendar year last published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics as at 15 June immediately preceding the date on which the variation is made;
  • (c) C is the full-time adult average weekly ordinary time earnings of employees in Victoria in original terms for the corresponding reference period in the calendar year preceding the calendar year referred to in B last published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics as at 15 June immediately preceding the date on which the variation is made.

Part 4 - work-related parliamentary allowances

9. Expense allowance

9.1. The expense allowance per annum for a specified parliamentary office holder listed in column 1 of the table in Schedule A is the value listed in column 4 of the table in Schedule A.

9.2. The expense allowance for a Member, who is not a specified parliamentary office holder listed in column 1 of the table in Schedule A, is $0.

10. Electorate allowance

10.1. The electorate allowance per annum for a Member is:

  • (a) if the electorate that the Member represents is listed in table 1 of Schedule B, $40,367;
  • (b) if the electorate that the Member represents is listed in table 2 of Schedule B, $43,830; or
  • (c) if the electorate that the Member represents is listed in table 3, 4 or 5 of Schedule B, $48,357.

11. Parliamentary accommodation sitting allowance

11.1 The parliamentary accommodation sitting allowance per annum for an eligible Member is:

  • (a) if the Member is the Premier, $53,217;
  • (b) if the Member is the Deputy Premier, $46,565;
  • (c) if the Member is any other Minister of the Crown, the President, the Speaker, the Deputy President, the Deputy Speaker, the Cabinet Secretary, the Leader of the Opposition, the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council, the Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council, the Leader of the Third Party or the Deputy Leader of the Third Party, $39,910; or
  • (d) if the Member is none of the above, $26,609.

Note: the Tribunal Guidelines specify eligibility criteria for claiming the parliamentary accommodation sitting allowance.

12. Motor vehicle allowance

12.1. The motor vehicle allowance per annum for a Member who does not elect to be provided with a motor vehicle under section 6(6) of the PSAS Act is:

  • (a) if the Member’s electorate is listed in table 1 or 2 of Schedule B, $20,000; or
  • (b) if the Member’s electorate is listed in table 3, 4 or 5 of Schedule B, $30,000.

13. Travel allowance

13.1. The travel allowance per night for a Member is the travelling allowance rate, save that a Member is only entitled to be paid that part of the travel allowance which is equal to his or her claimable costs under the applicable rules in the Tribunal Guidelines.

Note: the Tribunal Guidelines specify eligibility criteria for claiming the travel allowance.

14. Commercial transport allowance

14.1. The commercial transport allowance per financial year for a Member is the following, save that a Member is only entitled to be paid that part of the commercial transport allowance which is equal to his or her claimable costs under the applicable rules in the Tribunal Guidelines:

  • (a) if the electorate that the Member represents is listed in table 1, 2 or 3 of Schedule B, $5,000;
  • (b) if the electorate that the Member represents is listed in table 4 of Schedule B, $10,971; or
  • (c) if the electorate that the Member represents is listed in table 5 of Schedule B, $17,226.

Note: the Tribunal Guidelines specify eligibility criteria for claiming the commercial transport allowance.

15. International travel allowance

15.1. The international travel allowance per financial year for a Member is $10,000, save that a Member is only entitled to be paid that part of the international travel allowance which is equal to his or her claimable costs under the applicable rules in the Tribunal Guidelines.

Note: the Tribunal Guidelines specify eligibility criteria for claiming the international travel allowance.

Part 5 - Electorate Office and Communications Budget

16. Electorate Office and Communications Budget

16.1. Subject to clauses 16.2, 16.3 and 16.4, the Electorate Office and Communications Budget per financial year for a Member is:

  • (a) if the Member is a Member of the Legislative Assembly, the sum of:
    • i. the total number of voters enrolled in Victoria (as last published by the Victorian Electoral Commission as at the last day of February of the previous financial year), divided by 88, multiplied by $0.92, and
    • ii. the total number of voters enrolled in the electoral district that the Member represents (as last published by the Victorian Electoral Commission as at the last day of February of the previous financial year) multiplied by $1.22; or

(b) if the Member is a Member of the Legislative Council, the total number of voters enrolled in Victoria (as last published by the Victorian Electoral Commission as at the last day of February of the previous financial year), divided by 88, multiplied by $2.14.

16.2. For a financial year in which a general election for the Parliament is held, the Electorate Office and Communications Budget is:

  • (a) for the period from 1 July to 30 November of the financial year, 5/12ths of the amount calculated in accordance with:
    • i. clause 16.1(a) if the Member is a Member of the Legislative Assembly, and
    • ii. clause 16.1(b) if the Member is a Member of the Legislative Council;
  • (b) for the period from 1 December to 30 June of the financial year, 7/12ths of the amount calculated in accordance with:
    • i. clause 16.1(a) if the Member is a Member of the Legislative Assembly, and
    • ii. clause 16.1(b) if the Member is a Member of the Legislative Council.

16.3. For a financial year in which a Member first joins the Parliament other than as a result of a general election, the Electorate Office and Communications Budget for that Member is to be calculated using the following formula:

D x E/F

where—

  • (a) D is the amount calculated in accordance with clause 16.1(a) if the Member is a Member of the Legislative Assembly, or the amount calculated in accordance with clause 16.1(b) if the Member is a Member of Legislative Council;
  • (b) E is the number of days remaining in the financial year from the day the Member first joined the Parliament; and
  • (c) F is the total number of days in the financial year.

16.4. For the financial year ending 30 June 2020, the Electorate Office and Communications Budget for a Member is equal to the amount remaining unspent in the Electorate Office and Communications Budget made available to that Member, in accordance with the Parliament of Victoria’s Members Guide and administered by the Department of Parliamentary Services, immediately prior to this Determination taking effect.

Note: the Tribunal Guidelines specify eligibility criteria for claiming the Electorate Office and Communications Budget.

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