{"id":"C1956A00029","name":"Parliamentary Allowances Act 1956","slug":"parliamentary-allowances-act-1956","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"repealed","isInForce":false,"actNumber":"29 of 1956","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":4760,"registerId":"commonwealth-C1956A00029-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-03-30","status":"Repealed","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Parliamentary Allowances Act 1956","content":"PARLIAMENTARY ALLOWANCES.\n\nNo. 29 of 1956.\n\nAn Act relating to the Allowances of Members of each House of the Parliament.\n\n\\[Assented to 6th June, 1956.\\]\n\nBE it enacted by the Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty, the Senate, and the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Australia, for the purpose of appropriating the grant originated in the House of Representatives, as follows:—\n\nShort title and citation.\n\n1.—(1.) This Act may be cited as the Parliamentary Allowances Act 1956.\n\n(2.) The Parliamentary Allowances Act 1952 is in this Act referred to as the Principal Act.\n\n(3.) The Principal Act, as amended by this Act, may be cited as the Parliamentary Allowances Act 1952–1956.\n\nCommencement.\n\n2.—(1.) Section eight of this Act shall come into operation on the day on which this Act receives the Royal Assent.\n\n(2.) The remaining sections of this Act shall come into operation on the first day of July, One thousand nine hundred and fifty-six.\n\nAllowances to senators.\n\n3. Section four of the Principal Act is amended—\n\n(a) by omitting from sub-section (1.) the words “One thousand seven hundred and fifty” and inserting in their stead the words “Two thousand three hundred and fifty”; and\n\n(b) by omitting from sub-section (2.) the words “Five hundred and fifty” and inserting in their stead the words “Seven hundred”.\n\nAllowances to members of House of Representatives.\n\n4. Section five of the Principal Act is amended—\n\n(a) by omitting from sub-section (1.) the words “One thousand seven hundred and fifty” and inserting in their stead the words “Two thousand three hundred and fifty”; and\n\n(b) by omitting sub-sections (2.) and (3.) and inserting in their stead the following sub-section:—\n\n“(2.) A member of the House of Representatives shall receive, in addition to the allowance referred to in the last preceding sub-section, an allowance, in respect of the expenses of discharging his duties—\n\n(a) if he is a member for an Electoral Division specified in the Second Schedule to this Act—at the rate of Six hundred pounds a year; or\n\n(b) if he is not such a member—at the rate of Eight hundred pounds a year.”.\n\n \n\n5. After section seven of the Principal Act the following section is inserted:—\n\nAllowances to Deputy Leader of Opposition in Senate.\n\n“7a.—(1.) There is payable to the Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate an allowance at the rate of Three hundred and seventy-five pounds a year.\n\n“(2.) There is payable to the Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate an allowance, in respect of the expenses of discharging the duties of his office, at the rate of Two hundred and fifty pounds a year.”.\n\nCertain allowances to be additional to allowances as members.\n\n6. Section eleven of the Principal Act is amended by omitting the words “six, seven, eight, nine and ten” and inserting in their stead the words “six to ten (inclusive)”.\n\nSecond Schedule.\n\n7. The Second Schedule to the Principal Act is repealed and the following Schedule inserted in its stead:—\n\nSECOND SCHEDULE.\n\nSection 5(2.).\n\nElectoral Divisions.\n\n| New South Wales. | Victoria. | Queensland. | South Australia. | Western Australia. | Tasmania. |\n| ---------------- | ----------- | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------------ | --------- |\n| Banks | Balaclava | Bowman | Adelaide | Curtin | Denison |\n| Barton | Batman | Brisbane | Bonython | Fremantle | |\n| Bennelong | Chisholm | Griffith | Boothby | Perth | |\n| Blaxland | Darebin | Lilley | Hindmarsh | Stirling | |\n| Bradfield | Fawkner | Moreton | Kingston | Swan | |\n| Dalley | Gellibrand | Petrie | Port Adelaide | | |\n| East Sydney | Henty | Ryan | Sturt | | |\n| Evans | Higgins | | | | |\n| Grayndler | Higinbotham | | | | |\n| Hunter | Isaacs | | | | |\n| Kingsford- | Kooyong | | | | |\n| Smith | Maribyrnong | | | | |\n| Lang | Melbourne | | | | |\n| Lowe | Melbourne | | | | |\n| Mackellar | Ports | | | | |\n| Newcastle | Scullin | | | | |\n| North Sydney | Wills | | | | |\n| Parkes | Yarra | | | | |\n| Parramatta | | | | | |\n| Phillip | | | | | |\n| Reid | | | | | |\n| St. George | | | | | |\n| Shortland | | | | | |\n| Warringah | | | | | |\n| Watson | | | | | |\n| Wentworth | | | | | |\n| West Sydney | | | | | |\n\nAllowances payable to members from 10th December, 1955 to 30th June, 1956.\n\n8. In respect of the period from and including the tenth day of December, One thousand nine hundred and fifty-five, to and including the thirtieth day of June, One thousand nine hundred and fifty-six, the Parliamentary Allowances Act 1952 shall be deemed to have had effect, and shall have effect, as if the Schedule to this Act had been substituted for the Second Schedule to that Act, and the Consolidated Revenue Fund is appropriated accordingly.\n\n \n\nTHE SCHEDULE. Section 8.\n\nAllowances for Expenses of Members of the House of Representatives from and including 10th December, 1955, to and including 30th June, 1956.\n\n```html\n

Yearly Rate of Allowance.

Electoral Divisions.

New South Wales.

Victoria.

Queensland.

South Australia.

Western Australia.

Tasmania.

Territories.

£400

Banks

Balaclava

Bowman

Adelaide

Curtin

Denison

..

Barton

Batman

Brisbane

Bonython

Fremantle

Bennelong

Chisholm

Griffith

Boothby

Perth

Blaxland

Darebin

Lilley

Hindmarsh

Stirling

Bradfield

Fawkner

Moreton

Kingston

Swan

Dalley

Gellibrand

Petrie

Port Adelaide

East Sydney

Henty

Ryan

Sturt

Evans

Higgins

Grayndler

Higinbotham

Hunter

Isaacs

Kingsford-

Kooyong

Smith

Maribyrnong

Lang

Melbourne

Lowe

Melbourne

Mackellar

Ports

Newcastle

Scullin

North Sydney

Wills

Parkes

Yarra

Parramatta

Phillip

Reid

St. George

Shortland

Warringah

Watson

Wentworth

West

Sydney

£500

Cunningham

Ballaarat

Darling Downs

..

Bass

Australian

Hughes

Bendigo

Fisher

..

Capital

Mitchell

Bruce

McPherson

Territory

Robertson

Corio

Oxley

Werriwa

Deakin

Flinders

Lalor

La Trobe

£600

Calare

Corangamite

Capricornia

Wakefield

..

Braddon

..

Cowper

Indi

Dawson

Franklin

Eden-Monaro

McMillan

Herbert

Wilmot

Farrer

Murray

Wide Bay

Hume

Wannon

Lawson

Wimmera

Lyne

Macarthur

Macquarie

New England

Paterson

Richmond

\n```\n\n \n\nThe Schedule—continued.\n\nAllowances for Expenses of Members of the House of Representatives from and including 10th December, 1955, to and including 30th June, 1956—continued.\n\n```html\n

Yearly Rate of Allowance.

Electoral Divisions.

New South Wales.

Victoria.

Queensland.

South Australia.

Western Australia.

Tasmania.

Territories.

£750

Gwydir

Gippsland

..

Angas

Canning

..

..

Riverina

Mallee

Barker

Forrest

Moore

£900

Darling

..

Kennedy

Grey

Kalgoorlie

..

Northern

Leichhardt

Territory

Maranoa

\n```","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"_metrics":{"model":"kimi-k2.5","source":"moonshot-realtime","completionTokens":1269},"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This remains within the original scope of the 1952 Principal Act, providing routine updates to parliamentary remuneration rates and classifications without expanding into new policy areas."},"complexity_factors":["Retrospective operation with deeming provisions (section 8)","Tabular schedules listing specific electoral divisions by state and allowance tier","Amending Act structure requiring cross-reference to Principal Act 1952","Two-tier classification system for expense allowances based on electorate geography"],"plain_english_summary":"This Act raises annual pay for Senators and House members, creates a paid allowance for the Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, and restructures electorate expense allowances so listed city seats get a lower rate than other (typically rural) seats. It also updates the city‑electorate list and applies the new classifications retrospectively from 10 December 1955 to 30 June 1956.\n\nThe changes adjust compensation and work‑expense support for federal parliamentarians to reflect differing representative costs."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"The Act changes the monetary scope of parliamentary payments by raising base allowances for senators and members and creating a new office allowance (ss 3–5). It also narrows/reshapes the distribution of expense allowances by substituting a new Second Schedule that assigns electorate‑specific rates (s 7). Finally, it applies those schedule rates retrospectively for 10 Dec 1955–30 Jun 1956 and appropriates funds from the Consolidated Revenue Fund (s 8), increasing the Commonwealth's short‑term payment obligations."},"complexity_factors":["Amendment structure: multiple targeted amendments to an existing Act rather than a full rewrite (ss 3–6).","Detailed schedules: substitution of a long, electorate‑by‑electorate Second Schedule that classifies different expense rates (s 7 and Schedule).","New office allowance: insertion of a new provision creating allowances for a specific parliamentary office (Deputy Leader of Opposition in Senate) (s 5).","Temporal effects: separate commencement dates and a retrospective application/appropriation for a defined earlier period (s 2(1), s 2(2), s 8).","Numeric changes: many precise monetary figures inserted, raising risk of drafting/arithmetical error when applying payments (ss 3–5)."],"plain_english_summary":"This Act amends the Parliamentary Allowances Act 1952 to increase the annual pay and expense allowances for senators and members, adds a specific expense allowance for the Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, and replaces the Second Schedule with a list of electorate‑specific expense rates. Most changes commence 1 July 1956, with a retrospective application for 10 December 1955–30 June 1956. It changes what the Commonwealth pays and which members receive different expense rates, requiring administrative implementation and appropriation from the Consolidated Revenue Fund."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/parliamentary-allowances-act-1956","history":"/api/acts/parliamentary-allowances-act-1956/history","analysis":"/api/acts/parliamentary-allowances-act-1956/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/parliamentary-allowances-act-1956/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/parliamentary-allowances-act-1956/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/parliamentary-allowances-act-1956/documents"}}