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The Parliament of the Commonwealth of
Australia
HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES
Parliamentary
Service Amendment Bill
2001
Explanatory Memorandum
OUTLINE
This Bill proposes amendments to the Parliamentary Service
Act 1999 to clarify the arrangements in relation to mobility of employees
between the Parliamentary Service and the Australian Public Service (section 26)
and to provide for continuity where the name of a parliamentary department is
changed or where a parliamentary department is created to replace an existing
department or departments (section 54).
Section 26 of the Parliamentary
Service Act, which deals with mobility between the two Services, was intended to
provide for arrangements to cover the movement of employees between the
Parliamentary Service and the Australian Public Service.
However, section
26 of the Parliamentary Service Act did not operate as intended because of
drafting changes between the 1997 and 1999 Public Service Bills which were not
picked up in section 26 of the Parliamentary Service Bill 1999.
The
drafting of section 26 of the Parliamentary Service Act resulted in employees of
the Parliamentary Service having mobility rights with Australian Public Service
Departments and Executive Agencies created under the Public Service Act but not
with Australian Public Service Statutory Agencies (for example, Centrelink or
the Australian Taxation Office).
Accordingly, it is proposed to repeal
section 26 of the Parliamentary Service Act and replace it with two new sections
which will provide for mobility arrangements to be available to all ongoing
employees in both Services and to enable those employees to transfer their
accrued leave entitlements to their new employer.
The proposed new
section 26 provides for the portability of annual leave, and personal or carer's
leave (however they may be described) if an ongoing employee in one Service is
engaged in the other Service as an ongoing employee. The provisions also provide
that an employee stops being an employee in his or her former Service upon
engagement as an ongoing employee in the other Service.
The proposed new
section 26A deals with the situation where an ongoing employee in one Service is
granted leave without pay to take up employment as a non-ongoing employee in the
other Service. These provisions also cover arrangements for the portability of
annual leave, and personal or carer's leave (however they may be described)
between Services.
The operation of the proposed sections 26 and 26A of
the Parliamentary Service Act will be supported by complementary amendments to
the Parliamentary Service Determinations and Public Service
Regulations.
FINANCIAL IMPACT STATEMENT
The amendments are not
expected to have any significant financial impact.
NOTES ON
CLAUSES
1 Short Title
The short title of the Act will be
the Parliamentary Service Amendment Act 2001, reflecting that it will
amend the Parliamentary Service Act
1999.
2 Commencement
This clause provides that the
proposed Act commences upon a date to be fixed by Proclamation. If the Act does
not commence within 6 months of receiving Royal Assent, it is taken to commence
immediately after that period.
3 Schedule(s)
This clause
provides for amendments to the Parliamentary Service Act as set out in the
Schedule.
SCHEDULE 1 - AMENDMENTS
Items 1 and 2:
Definitions
These items insert new definitions of non-ongoing
APS employee and ongoing APS employee into section 7 of
the Parliamentary Service Act.
Item 3: Section 26
This
item repeals section 26 of the Parliamentary Service Act, and replaces it with
new sections 26 and 26A.
The new section 26 deals with movement of
ongoing employees from one Service (the Parliamentary Service or the Australian
Public Service) to the other Service. The new subsections 26(1) and 26(2)
provide that an ongoing employee in one Service is eligible for engagement as an
ongoing employee in the other Service and that engagement decisions are subject
to review in accordance with the Public Service Act and Parliamentary Service
determinations.
The new subsection 26(3) provides that ongoing employees
moving from one Service to the other Service as ongoing employees retain their
existing or accrued entitlements relating to annual leave, and personal or
carer's leave (however described).
The new subsection 26(4) provides that
an ongoing employee moving from one Service to the other stops being an employee
in the former Service.
The new subsections 26A(1) and (2) deal with
ongoing employees in either Service who are granted leave without pay to take up
employment as non-ongoing employees in the other Service. It provides
that such employees retain their existing or accrued entitlements relating to
annual leave, and personal or carer's leave (however described) in respect of
both their ongoing employment and the period of non-ongoing employment in the
other Service.
The new subsection 26A(3) provides that any period of
leave without pay referred to under the new subsections 26A(1) or (2) will count
for all purposes except accrual of annual leave, or personal or carer's leave
(however described). The exception is to rule out any duplication of leave
accruals for any period of leave without pay.
Item 4: Parliamentary
Departments
This item deals with arrangements for changing the name
of a department (other than the Department of the Senate and the Department of
the House of Representatives) in the Parliamentary Service and provides
mechanisms for the orderly transfer of existing legal agreements and for the
continuation of staffing arrangements. It also provides mechanisms for the
orderly transfer of existing legal agreements where a parliamentary department
(other than the Department of the Senate and the Department of the House of
Representatives) is abolished and its functions conferred on another
parliamentary department. It inserts two new sections - 54A and 54B.
The
new subsection 54A(1) provides that the name of a department (other than the
Department of the Senate and the Department of the House of Representatives) in
the Parliamentary Service can be altered by a resolution passed by each House of
Parliament.
The new subsection 54A(2) provides that where the name of a
department is so changed, a reference to the former departmental name in a law
of the Commonwealth, a contract to which the Commonwealth is a party or in some
other instrument of the Commonwealth will be taken as a reference to the new
departmental name.
The new subsection 54A(3) provides that where the name
of a department is so changed, the Secretary of the formerly named department
remains the Secretary of the newly named department.
The new subsection
54A(4) provides that where the name of a department is so changed, employees of
the formerly named department remain employees of the newly named department.
The new subsection 54A(5) provides that the terms and conditions of
employment of the Secretary and employees continue unchanged if a department in
the Parliamentary Service is renamed.
The new subsection 54A(6) provides
that where the name of a department is changed by the resolution of each House
of Parliament, unless that resolution provides otherwise, the functions of the
department are not altered.
The new section 54B provides that if a
department (other than the Department of the Senate and the Department of the
House of Representatives) in the Parliamentary Service is abolished and its
functions transferred to another department in the Parliamentary Service, a
reference to the abolished department in a law of the Commonwealth, a contract
to which the Commonwealth is a party or in some other instrument of the
Commonwealth will be taken as a reference to the department to which those
functions were transferred.