ASSEMBLY MEMBERS AND STATUTORY OFFICERS
(REMUNERATION AND OTHER ENTITLEMENTS) 
AMENDMENT BILL 2015
SERIAL NO. 115

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF THE 
NORTHERN TERRITORY

CHIEF MINISTER

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

GENERAL OUTLINE
This Bill amends the Assembly Members and Statutory Officers (Remuneration and Other Entitlements) Act.  
The purpose of the Bill is to remove the linkage between movements in NT Public Sector wages and those of NT Members of the Legislative Assembly, and to provide a power to the independent NT Remuneration Tribunal to determine basic salary and additional salary of office for MLAs.

NOTES ON CLAUSES
Clause 1.		Short title.
This is a formal clause which provides for the citation of the Bill.  The Bill when passed will be cited as the Assembly Members and Statutory Officers (Remuneration and Other Entitlements) Amendment Act 2014.
Clause 2. 		Act amended.
This is a formal clause which cites the name of the Act being amended, that is, the Assembly Members and Statutory Officers (Remuneration and Other Entitlements) Act.  

Clause 3.		Section 2 - Definitions.
This clause amends the definitions in section 2 of the Act as follows:

Omitted	Explanation	New definition/term	
2009 Tribunal determination	No longer required due to removal of link to NTPS salary movements.		
additional salary of office	Currently defined in section 3A(6) of Act – that section will be repealed by the Bill and the definition will instead be included in section 2 of Act.	Similar to omitted definition – wording adjusted slightly for consistency with other provisions in the Bill.	
annual rate	No longer required due to removal of link to NTPS salary movements.		
basic salary	Currently defined in section 3 of the Act – that provision will be repealed by the Bill and a simplified definition included in section 2 of the Act.	Definition adjusted and simplified.	
classification structure	Replaced with a slightly expanded term to make it more meaningful.	New term is classification structure for statutory bodies [as referenced in section 8(2) of the Act].	
NTPS employees	No longer required due to removal of link to NTPS salary movements.		
prescribed agreement	No longer required due to removal of link to NTPS salary movements.		

prescribed office	Currently defined in section 3A(6) of the Act which will be repealed by the Bill.  The new definition references the power of Tribunal to determine the offices entitled to additional salary.	New definition:  means an office that is determined under section 3A(1)(b) to be an office in respect of which additional salary of office is to be paid.	

Clause 4.		Sections 3 and 3A – Basic salary and additional 				salary of office.
The existing sections 3 and 3A are repealed to remove the link between NTPS salaries and MLA salaries.  
New section 3 provides that an Assembly member is entitled to be paid salary for being a member, and is also entitled to be paid additional salary for holding or occupying an office prescribed by the Remuneration Tribunal.
New section 3A sets out the Tribunal’s powers in relation to salaries.  The new sub-sections provide as follows:
(1)	The Tribunal must inquire into and determine basic salary and additional salary of office upon a request from the Administrator.

(2)	A request may be for one specific inquiry or for inquiries at specified intervals e.g. an annual inquiry.

(3)	The Tribunal is required to take into account a range of matters when conducting an inquiry and making a determination e.g. nature of MLA functions, CPI changes using the Darwin index (note there is no NT-wide CPI index), NT Public Sector wage policies, parliamentary salaries in other jurisdictions, and any other matter.  This is a governance type provision to ensure that the Tribunal is obliged to take into account pertinent information in setting MLA salaries, that is, so the Tribunal’s power is not unfettered.

(4)	The amount of basic salary determined by the Tribunal is subject to a maximum cap, being 80% of the base salary payable to a Member of the House of Representatives.  This is another governance provision to ensure the Tribunal does not have an unfettered power.

(5)	Definitions for this section:  Defines “CPI figure for Darwin”, “MHR parliamentary base salary” and “Public Sector” for the purposes of new section 3A.

Clause 5		Section 4 amended – Tribunal reports.
Sub-sections 4(3) to (6) are omitted from the existing Act – these relate to the requirements for Tribunal reports.  These provisions are replaced by a new section 4A. 

Clause 6.		Section 4A – Report following inquiry.
This proposed section replaces sub-section 4(3) to (6) of the existing Act in relation to the the requirements for Tribunal reports.  The sub-sections of new section 4A provide as follows:
(1)	The Tribunal must prepare a report for each inquiry conducted, being inquiries under sections 3A and 4 into salaries and other entitlements respectively.

(2)	Makes it clear that if the Tribunal is conducting inquiries under sections 3A and 4 together, only one report is required.

(3)	Makes it clear that if the Tribunal is requested to inquire into and determine salary or other entitlement(s), the Tribunal’s report must include a determination, but in other circumstances, the Tribunal’s report may include only recommendations. This is the same provision as in the existing Act.

(4)	The Tribunal is required to give a copy of its report to the Administrator and to the Minister as soon as practicable after the report is made. This is the same provision as in the existing Act.

(5)	The Minister is required to table the report in the Assembly within 6 sitting days after receiving it.  This is the same provision as in the existing Act.

Clause 7.		Section 8 – Housekeeping update – formatting of 			term.
This is only a change in formatting so that the term “classification structure for statutory bodies” will appear in bold and italics text, in order to denote it as a definition.

Clause 8.		Part 6, Division 3 – Transitional.
This provision makes it clear that MLAs are entitled to continue to be paid existing basic salary and additional salary of office until a determination is made by the Tribunal under the amended Act.
This provision includes definitions of the terms amendments and former Act.

Clause 9.		Repeal of Schedule 2.
This Schedule in the current Act lists the prescribed offices which are subject to additional salary of office.  As the Remuneration Tribunal will determine the prescribed offices under the amended Act, this Schedule will no longer be required and is repealed by the amending Act.
Clause 10.		Expiry of Act.
This is a housekeeping provision which provides that, once the provisions of this Bill have been passed and commenced, and incorporated in the Act, this amending Act will expire, as it will no longer be required as a separate legislative entity.