Part-time Offices

The Part Time Office Holder (PTOH) Determination 2010/11 encompasses those office holders who are appointed to Commonwealth Government boards, councils and committees and who generally work on a part-time basis.

Determinations of the Tribunal may be disallowed by the Parliament.

The setting of remuneration for part-time offices

In setting remuneration for office holders, the Tribunal may take into consideration a range of information including but not limited to the workload and work value of the office, fees in the private sector, wage indices and other economic indices and rates set for other bodies. The Tribunal may also consider factors such as the non-cash benefits provided and the public interest and personal status involved in holding the office.

Annual or daily (per diem) rates

For part-time office holders the Tribunal can determine either annual or daily (per diem) fees. Generally, the Tribunal has preferred to determine annual fees for part-time office holders, but in situations where the workload is variable or unknown (for example, in the early stages of establishment of a board or committee), the Tribunal may determine daily fees.

Offices not specified under the part-time office holder (PTOH) determination

The PTOH Determination contains rates for ‘offices not specified’ (clause 2.3). The responsible Minister may use the rates to establish appropriate remuneration for those offices which are in the Tribunal’s jurisdiction and for which no individual determination of fees has been made by the Tribunal. Clause 2.3 sets three categories of daily fees from which the Minister may choose the most appropriate.

Full-time Commonwealth employees

In general, a full-time office holder does not receive remuneration in addition to that received for the full-time office when he or she undertakes any other Government board or committee work.

Where a person is employed full-time by the Commonwealth (or a business owned by the Commonwealth) or in the administration of a Territory and is appointed to a part-time office, the Act (section 7(11) prevents that employee from being paid for that part-time office (unless excluded from that provision), even though the Tribunal may have set fees for that office.

The office holder may, however, be entitled to receive travelling allowance in connection with the part-time office commitment.

How to make a submission

Information on how to make a Submission to the Tribunal can be found by following this link.

(1) The tribunal is required to determine remuneration for offices that meet the definition of ‘public office’ in s.3(4) of the Remuneration Tribunal Act 1973. All offices which are established by a Commonwealth law (statutory offices) and appointments made under a Commonwealth law are under the determinative jurisdiction of the Tribunal. Other appointments made by the Governor-General or by a Minister of State which are formally referred in writing by the Minister responsible for the Remuneration Tribunal Act 1973, the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, to the Tribunal’s President, are also brought within the Tribunal’s jurisdiction.