{"id":"F2006B11666","name":"Parliamentary Service Act 1999 - Determination under subsection 24(3) (29/01/2004)","slug":"parliamentary-service-act-1999-determination-under-subsection-24-3-29-01-2004","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":57664,"registerId":"commonwealth-F2006B11666-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-02","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Parliamentary Service Act 1999 - Determination under subsection 24(3) (29/01/2004)","content":"PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA\n\nParliamentary Service Act 1999\n\nDetermination under subsection 24(3)\n\nWe, Neil Andrew, Speaker of the House of Representatives and Paul Calvert, President of the Senate, being of the opinion that it is desirable to do so because of exceptional circumstances, determine under subsection 24(3) of the Parliamentary Service Act 1999 as follows.\n\n1. Upon the creation of the Department of Parliamentary Services the remuneration and other terms and conditions of employment of an employee of the Department of Parliamentary Services who on 31 January 2004 was covered by:\n\n(a) the Department of the Parliamentary Library Certified Agreement 2002-2005;\n\n(b) the Department of the Parliamentary Reporting Staff Certified Agreement 2003-2005;\n\n(c) the Joint House Department Certified Agreement 2002-2005; or\n\n(d) the Joint House Department (Parliamentary Security Service) Certified Agreement 2003-2005;\n\n(other than an employee who was covered by an Australian workplace agreement made under the Workplace Relations Act 1996) are to be the same as if that employee continued to be covered on an ongoing basis by the relevant certified agreement.\n\n2. The remuneration and other terms and conditions of employment of an employee who is engaged after 31 January 2004 to work in the Department of Parliamentary Services to perform duties formerly exclusively or primarily performed in:\n\n(a) the Joint House Department;\n\n(b) the Department of the Parliamentary Library; or\n\n(c) the Department of the Parliamentary Reporting Staff,\n\nare to be the same as if that employee was covered on an ongoing basis by the certified agreement that would have applied to an employee of that classification performing those duties in the relevant department on 31 January 2004.\n\n  \n3. Where the remuneration and other terms and conditions of employment in a certified agreement referred to in clause 1 or 2 of this determination are applied to an employee in the Department of Parliamentary Services by that clause, no remuneration or other terms and conditions of employment provided for in any other certified agreement apply to that employee.\n\n4. This determination will continue to apply in relation to an employee while the employee is employed in the Department of Parliamentary Services until:\n\n(a) a certified agreement; or\n\n(b) an Australian workplace agreement;\n\nthat applies to the employee and that is made after 31 January 2004 takes effect.\n\nDated this twenty-ninth day of January 2004\n\nNEIL ANDREW PAUL CALVERT\n\nSpeaker of the House President of the Senate\n\nof Representatives","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"Unauthenticated. Configure AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY or use a provider module. Learn more: https://ai-sdk.dev/unauthenticated-ai-gateway","source":"analysis-cron"},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This determination serves exactly its original purpose: protecting employee conditions during a specific departmental merger. It has not expanded beyond this transitional workplace relations matter."},"complexity_factors":["Very short document (4 operative clauses plus preamble)","Only 4 defined contextual references (the four specific certified agreements)","Simple conditional logic (if-then structure in clauses 1-2)","No cross-references to other legislation except the enabling provision (Parliamentary Service Act 1999, subsection 24(3))","Clear temporal boundaries (specific date: 31 January 2004)","Straightforward sunset clause (clause 4) with binary trigger conditions"],"plain_english_summary":"This determination preserves pay and working conditions for parliamentary staff affected by the January 2004 merger of the Parliamentary Library, Reporting Staff and Joint House Department into the Department of Parliamentary Services. It ensures existing employees and later hires doing the same work keep the rates and conditions of their former certified agreements (with no double‑dipping).\n\nThese protections remain until an employee signs a new post‑January 2004 workplace agreement."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This determination is a narrowly targeted transitional instrument whose scope aligns with its stated purpose: to preserve existing certified-agreement terms during the administrative consolidation into the Department of Parliamentary Services. It does not broaden coverage beyond employees transferred from or performing duties formerly performed in the listed departments, other than applying historic terms to like-classification new hires doing those former duties. That extension to new hires is consistent with maintaining continuity rather than a substantive scope expansion. The determination is temporary for each employee until replaced by a later certified agreement or an AWA (clause 4)."},"complexity_factors":["Short document: 4 operative clauses","Single fixed cut-off date (31 January 2004) used throughout","References to four specific certified agreements in clause 1","Explicit exclusion for employees covered by Australian workplace agreements on that date (cross-reference to Workplace Relations Act 1996)","Clause 2 applies historic agreement terms to certain subsequent hires based on duties formerly performed in three named departments","Clause 3 creates exclusivity rule preventing multiple certified agreements applying to the same employee","Clause 4 sets clear termination trigger (a later certified agreement or AWA) for each employee","Some factual judgment required (what duties were \"formerly exclusively or primarily performed\"), which raises minor interpretive complexity"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this determination does (plain English)**\n\n- This is a temporary, administrative rule made under subsection 24(3) of the Parliamentary Service Act 1999 to manage the transfer of employees when the Department of Parliamentary Services (DPS) was created. (Clauses 1–4.)\n\n- Who it affects:\n  - Employees who, on 31 January 2004, were covered by any of four specified certified agreements for the Joint House Department, Parliamentary Library or Parliamentary Reporting Staff (those agreements are listed in clause 1).\n  - People employed after 31 January 2004 in the DPS to do work that was formerly done (exclusively or primarily) in the Joint House Department, Parliamentary Library or Parliamentary Reporting Staff (clause 2).\n  - It does NOT apply to employees who, on 31 January 2004, were covered by an Australian workplace agreement (AWA) under the Workplace Relations Act 1996 (clause 1 exception).\n\n- Key mechanical effects:\n  - Clause 1: For employees transferred into the DPS who were covered by one of the listed certified agreements on 31 January 2004, their pay and other employment conditions remain the same as if they continued to be covered by that certified agreement.\n  - Clause 2: For employees hired after 31 January 2004 to perform duties that were previously done in the listed departments, their pay and conditions are to be the same as if they were covered by the certified agreement that would have applied to that classification and those duties on 31 January 2004.\n  - Clause 3: If clause 1 or 2 makes the terms of one of those certified agreements apply to an employee, no other certified agreement can be used to govern that employee’s terms.\n  - Clause 4: The determination stays in place for each employee until a new certified agreement or an AWA made after 31 January 2004 takes effect for that employee.\n\n- Why it matters (stated purpose and practical effect):\n  - Purpose claimed: to preserve continuity of pay and conditions when multiple parliamentary service units were combined into the DPS.\n  - Practical effect: it freezes the relevant terms and conditions for affected employees at the position they were in on 31 January 2004 (or as if those terms applied to a like classification), preventing loss or immediate change of entitlements because of the administrative reorganisation (clauses 1–2, 4).\n\n- Costs, incentives and trade-offs (mechanical, not political):\n  - Who pays: the employer (DPS) remains bound to the preserved pay and conditions until a new agreement or AWA applies (clause 4). Any increased labour cost resulting from those preserved terms is borne by the DPS budget.\n  - Effect on managerial flexibility and contract freedom: the determination constrains DPS ability to set different pay/conditions for affected employees until renegotiation or a new AWA (clauses 1–2, 4).\n  - Administrative/compliance burden: DPS must identify which employees are covered by which historic certified agreement (and which new hires perform duties tied to those agreements), and ensure no overlapping certified agreement is applied (clause 3). That creates recordkeeping and HR complexity.\n  - Bargaining effects: the determination freezes bargaining positions for affected employees at the baseline of the listed agreements; parties must later negotiate replacements to change terms (clause 4). This reduces immediate flexibility but preserves status quo precedent for later negotiations.\n  - Market/competition impacts: minimal direct impact on private businesses or markets. The main impact is internal to the parliamentary service — it limits DPS’s ability to vary employment terms for affected roles, which could influence hiring costs and internal resource allocation.\n  - Risk of substitution and unintended consequences: by tying new hires to historic agreements for particular duties (clause 2), the rule may encourage reclassification of duties or shifting of responsibilities to avoid constrained terms, creating potential administrative gaming.\n\n- Implementation risk and discretion: the determination requires accurate classification of duties \"formerly exclusively or primarily performed\" in particular departments (clause 2). That phrase requires factual judgment and creates scope for dispute between HR, employees and unions over whether a given post matches the historical classification.\n\n- Duration and exit: the mechanism is explicitly transitional — it stops applying to an employee once a later certified agreement or an AWA takes effect for that employee (clause 4).\n\nRelevant clauses: see clauses 1–4 of the determination for the mechanics described above."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/parliamentary-service-act-1999-determination-under-subsection-24-3-29-01-2004","history":"/api/acts/parliamentary-service-act-1999-determination-under-subsection-24-3-29-01-2004/history","analysis":"/api/acts/parliamentary-service-act-1999-determination-under-subsection-24-3-29-01-2004/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/parliamentary-service-act-1999-determination-under-subsection-24-3-29-01-2004/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/parliamentary-service-act-1999-determination-under-subsection-24-3-29-01-2004/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/parliamentary-service-act-1999-determination-under-subsection-24-3-29-01-2004/documents"}}