Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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PUBLIC SERVICE AMENDMENT REGULATIONS 1999 (NO. 3) 1999 NO. 183

STATUTORY RULES 1999 No. 183

Issued by the authority of the Prime Minister

Public Service Act 1922

Public Service Amendment Regulations 1999 (No. 3)

Section 97(1) of the Public Service Act 1922 (the Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations for the purposes of the Act.

Part IV of the Act deals with the rights of officers of the Australian Public Service (APS) who become employed by the Commonwealth outside the provisions of the Act in certain public offices or by certain non-Commonwealth public authorities. Those rights include provisions relating to the rights of those officers to return to the A-PS. The provisions relating to those rights are commonly known as the "mobility provisions" of the Act.

Whether the mobility provisions apply to an APS officer who becomes employed outside the APS is determined by the scope of the provisions in the Act which use the regulations to "regulate in" or "regulate out" certain types of employment.

The Regulations update earlier amendments to the Public Service Regulations made by Statutory Rule No. 23 of 1998 which amended the Regulations to exclude the majority of future appointees to Commonwealth offices and bodies, from access to the mobility provisions of Part IV of the Act. The Regulations update the Public Service Regulations to account for the passage of new and amending legislation since March 1998 which may have created new authorities or offices which would otherwise fall within the scope of Part IV of the Act. In addition the Regulations will correct some omissions from the earlier regulations.

Subsection 87(1) of the Act includes a definition of "Commonwealth authority" for the purposes of Part IV of the Act. Paragraph (a) of that definition provides that a body established under certain laws for a public purpose may be declared by the regulations not to be a Commonwealth authority for the purposes of Part IV.

Subsection 87(1) of the Act also includes a definition of "Commonwealth office" for the purposes of Part IV of the Act. Paragraph (n) of that definition provides that an office or appointment, or class of offices may be declared by the regulations not to be a Commonwealth office for the purposes of Part IV.

Subsection 87(1) of the Act also includes a definition of "public authority" for the purposes of Part IV of the Act. Paragraph (b) and (d) of that definition provide for its application to a body corporate other than a Commonwealth authority, in which the Commonwealth or a Commonwealth authority has a pecuniary interest, being a body corporate prescribed by the regulations.

Regulation 169A and Schedule 1G of the Public Service Regulations declare certain bodies not to be Commonwealth authorities for the purposes of Part IV of the Act in accordance with the above provisions.

Regulation 171 and Schedule 3 of the Public Service Regulations declare certain offices or appointments not to be Commonwealth offices for the purposes of Part IV of the Act in accordance with the above provisions.

Details of the proposed regulations are as follows:

Regulation 1 names the regulations;

Regulation 2 provides for the regulations to commence on 1 September 1999;

Regulation 3 provides for the Public Service Regulations to be amended as provided for in Schedule 1;

Item 1 of Schedule 1 of the regulations substitutes a new Regulation 169A to take into account the revised format of Schedule 1G to the Public Service Regulations which has been revised to include a third column specifying the date on which the specified Commonwealth authority ceased to be a Commonwealth authority for the purposes of Part IV of the Act;

Item 2 of Schedule 1 of the regulations substitutes a new Regulation 171 to take into account the revised format of Schedule 3 to the Public Service Regulations which has been revised to include a third column specifying the date on which the specified Commonwealth office ceased to be a Commonwealth office for the purposes of Part IV of the Act;

Item 3 of Schedule 1 of the regulations substitutes a new Schedule 1G in the Public Service Regulations which reorders existing items in Schedule 1G, includes a third column specifying the date on which the specified Commonwealth authority ceased to be a Commonwealth authority for the purposes of Part IV of the Act and inserts a number of new entries to take account of new authorities created since the amendments of March 1998. The new Schedule 1G also deletes some authorities which are no longer relevant and includes some authorities which were incorrectly omitted from the amendments of March 1998; and

Item 4 of Schedule 1 of the regulations substitutes a new Schedule 3 in the Public Service Regulations which reorders existing items in Schedule 3, includes a third column specifying the date on which the specified Commonwealth office ceased to be a Commonwealth office for the purposes of Part IV of the Act and inserts a number of new entries to take account of new offices created since the amendments of March 1998. The new Schedule 3 also deletes some offices which are no longer relevant and includes some offices which were incorrectly omitted from the amendments of March 1998.