The Tribunal makes determinations that set the values of:
- salaries, allowances and the Electorate Office and Communications Budget for Members of Parliament (MPs)
- remuneration bands for executives employed in public service bodies and in prescribed public entities (public sector executives)
- allowances provided to Mayors, Deputy Mayors and Councillors in local governments (elected local government representatives).
In performing its functions and exercising its powers, the Tribunal must act independently and impartially and is not subject to the control or direction of any person, including the Minister responsible for the Tribunal. This aligns with the Victorian Independent Remuneration Tribunal and Improving Parliamentary Standards Act 2019 (Vic) (VIRTIPS Act), section 5.
Types of determinations
The Tribunal makes two types of determinations — ‘comprehensive’ and ‘annual adjustment’.
In a comprehensive determination, the Tribunal is required to review the existing remuneration arrangements for the relevant occupational group within the Tribunal’s jurisdiction. This provides an opportunity to consider the roles and functions of each group and to reset the structure and values of salaries and/or allowances as required.
The timeframes for making a comprehensive determination vary for each group:
- for MPs, a new comprehensive determination must be made within six months of the first sitting day of a new Parliament (in effect every four years) (VIRTIPS Act, section 17)
- for public sector executives, a new comprehensive determination must be made at least every four years since the previous comprehensive determination (VIRTIPS Act, sections 19 and 21)
- for elected local government representatives, a comprehensive determination must be made within six months of the ‘relevant date’. The ‘relevant date’ is either the day after every second local council election, meaning that a comprehensive determination would generally be made every eight years, or the day the Minister for Local Government requests that the Tribunal make a determination (VIRTIPS Act, section 23A).
The Tribunal is required to make an annual adjustment determination for each group in a year in which a comprehensive determination is not made. An annual adjustment determination must be made no earlier than nine months after a comprehensive determination (VIRTIPS Act, sections 18, 20, 22 and 23B).
The Tribunal’s purpose in making an annual adjustment is to take account of changes since the previous determination. The Tribunal does not consider broader issues — such as changes to the structure of salaries or allowances — in an annual adjustment determination.
The process for making determinations
Before making a determination, the Tribunal is required to (VIRTIPS Act, section 24(1)):
- publish notice of its intention to make a determination
- include details about the proposed determination in the public notice
- give any affected person or class of persons a reasonable opportunity to make a submission in relation to the proposed determination.
In making a determination, the Tribunal is required to consider the following matters (VIRTIPS Act, section 24(2)):
- the Government’s wages policy and other policies on the remuneration and allowances of specified occupational groups
- the financial position and fiscal strategy of the State of Victoria
- current and projected economic conditions and trends
- submissions received in relation to the proposed determination.
The Tribunal is also required to include a statement of reasons in a determination, which sets out the Tribunal’s consideration of statutory and other relevant factors in setting remuneration for MPs, elected local government representatives and public sector executives (VIRTIPS Act, section 24(3)).
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