{"id":"F2018L00898","name":"Remuneration Tribunal (Recreation Leave for Holders of Relevant Offices) Determination 2018","slug":"remuneration-tribunal-recreation-leave-for-holders-of-relevant-offices-determination-2018","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":439681,"registerId":"F2018L00898-fast-fetch-1775955612531","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Remuneration Tribunal (Recreation Leave for Holders of Relevant Offices) Determination 2018","content":"---\nmeta-content-style-type: text/css\nmeta-content-type: application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8\nmeta-generator: Aspose.Words for .NET 22.10.0\n---\n\n?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\" standalone=\"no\"?>\n\n![Commonwealth Coat of Arms of Australia](image.001.jpeg)\n\n \n\nRemuneration Tribunal (Recreation Leave for Holders of Relevant Offices) Determination 2018\n\nWe, the members of the Remuneration Tribunal, make the following determination.\n\nDated 25 June 2018\n\n \n\n| John Conde AO | Ewen Crouch AM | Heather Zampatti |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| President | Member | Member |\n|  |  |  |\n\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nContents\n\n1 Name\n\n2 Commencement\n\n3 Authority\n\n4 Determination supersedes previous determination\n\n5 Schedules\n\n6 Definitions\n\n7 Application of this instrument\n\n8 Accrual of recreation leave\n\n9 Credits prior to appointment\n\n10 Recreation leave accrued under earlier determinations\n\n11 Additional recreation leave entitlements for certain office holders\n\n12 Administration of recreation leave\n\n13 Approval of leave\n\n14 Payment in lieu\n\nSchedule 1—Repeals\n\nDetermination 2012/11: Recreation Leave for Full‑Time Holders of Relevant Offices\n\n1  Name\n\n  This instrument is the Remuneration Tribunal (Recreation Leave for Holders of Relevant Offices) Determination 2018.\n\n2  Commencement\n\n (1) Each provision of this instrument specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.\n\n \n\n- Commencement information\n- Column 1 Column 2 Column 3\n- Provisions Commencement Date/Details\n- 1. The whole of this instrument 1 July 2018. 1 July 2018\n\n\nNote: This table relates only to the provisions of this instrument as originally made. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this instrument.\n\n (2) Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this instrument. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this instrument.\n\n3  Authority\n\n  This instrument is made under subsections 7(3AA) and 8A(4) of the Remuneration Tribunal Act 1973.\n\n4  Determination supersedes previous determination\n\n  This instrument supersedes Determination 2012/11: Recreation Leave for Full‑Time Holders of Relevant Offices.\n\n5  Schedules\n\n  Each instrument that is specified in a Schedule to this instrument is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this instrument has effect according to its terms.\n\n6  Definitions\n\n  In this instrument:\n\nAct means the Remuneration Tribunal Act 1973.\n\nagency, of an office holder, means:\n\n (a) the agency to which the office holder is attached; or\n\n (b) if the office holder is not attached to an agency—the portfolio Department.\n\nemployer superannuation contribution, for an office holder, has the same meaning it has in the relevant principal determination in relation to the office holder.\n\noffice holder: see section 7.\n\nreference salary, in relation to an office holder, means the office holder’s total remuneration, less the amount that reflects the employer superannuation contribution for the office holder.\n\nrelevant office has the meaning given by subsection 7(3AB) of the Act.\n\nNote: Subsection 7(3AB) of the Act provides that a relevant office is a public office in relation to which a law of the Commonwealth provides that the holder of the office has such recreation leave entitlements as are determined by the Tribunal.\n\nrelevant principal determination, in relation to an office holder, means the determination mentioned in section 7 that applies to the office holder.\n\nspecified statutory office: see paragraph 7(b).\n\ntotal remuneration, in relation to an office holder, has the same meaning it has in the relevant principal determination in relation to the office holder.\n\n7  Application of this instrument\n\n  This instrument applies to a person (an office holder) who holds one of the following:\n\n (a) a relevant office to which the Remuneration Tribunal (Remuneration and Allowances for Holders of Full‑time Public Office) Determination 2018 (or any determination that supersedes that determination) applies;\n\n (b) a relevant office (a specified statutory office) to which the Remuneration Tribunal (Specified Statutory Offices—Remuneration and Allowances) Determination 2018 (or any determination that supersedes that determination) applies.\n\nNote 1: A principal executive office is not a relevant office: see paragraph 3(4)(ra) of the Act.\n\nNote 2: A specified statutory office is a relevant office. However, the Tribunal does not have the power to determine recreation leave entitlements for the Chief of the Defence Force or the Australian Statistician (both of which are specified statutory offices).\n\n8  Accrual of recreation leave\n\n (1) For each completed 12 months of service, an office holder accrues a credit of 4 weeks of recreation leave. The leave accrues on a pro rata basis.\n\n (2) An office holder’s recreation leave is to be paid at the office holder’s normal weekly salary.\n\n9  Credits prior to appointment\n\n (1) If, on or after appointment to a relevant office, an office holder:\n\n (a) elects to resign under another employing Act of the Commonwealth that the office holder was employed under; and\n\n (b) has not received payment in lieu for the recreation leave credit held immediately before the date of resignation;\n\nthe office holder is taken, on the day of the resignation, to have accrued an equivalent credit of recreation leave under this instrument.\n\n (2) Any credit that is taken to have accrued under this section is taken to have accrued on the day that it accrued while the office holder was employed under the other employing Act.\n\n10  Recreation leave accrued under earlier determinations\n\n  Any entitlement to recreation leave accrued by an office holder under a previous determination made under the Act is to be recognised as an entitlement to recreation leave for the purposes of this instrument.\n\n11  Additional recreation leave entitlements for certain office holders\n\nAdministrator of Christmas and Cocos (Keeling) Islands\n\n (1) The Administrator of Christmas and Cocos (Keeling) Islands is entitled to 7 days recreation leave per year in addition to the recreation leave otherwise provided for in this instrument.\n\nAdministrator of Norfolk Island\n\n (2) The Administrator of Norfolk Island is entitled to 3 days recreation leave per year in addition to the recreation leave otherwise provided for in this instrument.\n\n12  Administration of recreation leave\n\n (1) Subject to this section and section 13, leave accrued by an office holder under this instrument is to be administered by the office holder’s agency in accordance with the agency’s policies and practices relating to annual leave or recreation leave (however described) that apply generally to the employees in the agency.\n\n (2) If the agency has specific policies and practices relating to annual leave or recreation leave (however described) for SES employees (or equivalent) in the agency, leave accrued by an office holder under this instrument is to be administered in accordance with those policies and practices.\n\n (3) Without limiting subsections (1) and (2), any provisions of the agency’s policies and practices that relate to matters such as the following apply to the administration of the office holder’s recreation leave:\n\n (a) limitations on credits accrued;\n\n (b) subject to subsection (5), deeming on leave;\n\n (c) sickness while on approved leave;\n\n (d) cashing out of some credits.\n\n (4) An agency’s policies and practices do not apply to an office holder to the extent that those policies or practices have the effect of providing recreation leave that is additional to the leave under this instrument.\n\n (5) Any provisions of an agency’s policies and practices relating to deeming on leave do not apply to an office holder who holds a specified statutory office.\n\n13  Approval of leave\n\n  An office holder may take recreation leave under this instrument if approved by:\n\n (a) the person, authority or body (each of whom is a relevant authority), or a delegate of the relevant authority, who may, under a law of the Commonwealth, grant leave of absence other than recreation leave to the holder of that office; or\n\n (b) if the law of the Commonwealth does not specify a relevant authority—for the purposes of subsection 7(3AD) of the Act, the Minister with portfolio responsibility for the relevant office.\n\n14  Payment in lieu\n\n  If an office holder is eligible for a payment in lieu of recreation leave, the rate of remuneration used for calculating that payment is the office holder’s reference salary.\n\nSchedule 1—Repeals\n\n \n\nDetermination 2012/11: Recreation Leave for Full‑Time Holders of Relevant Offices\n\n1  The whole of the instrument\n\nRepeal the instrument.\n\n \n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Determination maintains its original narrow scope — setting recreation leave entitlements for holders of relevant public offices. It replaces the 2012 Determination with substantially similar provisions, updating references to current principal determinations and making minor administrative clarifications. The scope has not expanded beyond its original purpose of governing annual leave for senior statutory office holders."},"complexity_factors":["Short instrument (14 sections plus Schedule)","Only 8 defined terms in section 6, most referencing external determinations","Straightforward accrual formula (4 weeks per year, pro rata)","Limited conditional logic — primarily in sections 9 (prior credits) and 12 (administration by agency policies)","Single cross-reference structure: relies heavily on definitions in 'relevant principal determination' rather than defining terms internally","Two simple exceptions for additional leave (Christmas Island/Cocos and Norfolk Island Administrators)","No nested exceptions or complex temporal provisions"],"plain_english_summary":"This Determination sets uniform rules for recreation (annual) leave for senior Australian Government office holders—judges, tribunal members, agency heads and similar roles—while excluding certain principal executives, the Chief of the Defence Force and the Australian Statistician. It establishes a standard four‑week entitlement paid at normal salary, pro rata accrual, recognition of prior leave credits and carry‑over from other Commonwealth employment, special extra days for certain island administrators, approval by the relevant authority or Minister, and payout on termination based on a “reference salary.”"},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"This instrument supersedes Determination 2012/11 (Schedule 1) and re‑frames recreation leave entitlements to align with the Remuneration Tribunal’s 2018 principal determinations (sec 4, 7). It preserves a 4‑week per year accrual while formalising administration, approval and payment‑in‑lieu mechanics, recognises earlier accrued credits (secs 8–10, 14), and adds specified extra days for named island Administrators (sec 11)."},"complexity_factors":["Cross‑references to the Remuneration Tribunal Act 1973 and to two separate 2018 principal determinations (sec 3, 7) create dependency on external instruments.","Interaction with agency leave policies: agency policies generally apply but cannot provide additional recreation leave; there are specific carve‑outs (sec 12).","Definitions affecting calculations: 'reference salary', 'total remuneration' and 'employer superannuation contribution' tie payment and cash‑out rules to terms in principal determinations (sec 6, 14).","Recognition and treatment of prior credits and pre‑appointment leave credits requires tracing accrual dates and prior employing Acts (secs 9–10).","Approval mechanism depends on the 'relevant authority' under other Commonwealth law or, absent that, the portfolio Minister (sec 13), so practical approval routes vary by office.","Targeted additional entitlements for specific roles (Administrators of Christmas & Cocos Islands; Norfolk Island) add bespoke exceptions (sec 11).","Instrument repeals the 2012 determination and aligns scope to the 2018 remuneration framework (sec 4; Schedule 1)."],"plain_english_summary":"This determination sets how recreation (annual) leave is earned, approved, administered and paid for holders of \"relevant offices\" covered by the Remuneration Tribunal’s 2018 principal determinations. It prescribes accrual (4 weeks per completed 12 months, pro rata), payment rate (calculated on the office holder’s reference salary), recognition of prior leave credits, agency administration subject to this instrument, and limited extra days for two named island Administrators."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/remuneration-tribunal-recreation-leave-for-holders-of-relevant-offices-determination-2018","history":"/api/acts/remuneration-tribunal-recreation-leave-for-holders-of-relevant-offices-determination-2018/history","analysis":"/api/acts/remuneration-tribunal-recreation-leave-for-holders-of-relevant-offices-determination-2018/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/remuneration-tribunal-recreation-leave-for-holders-of-relevant-offices-determination-2018/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/remuneration-tribunal-recreation-leave-for-holders-of-relevant-offices-determination-2018/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/remuneration-tribunal-recreation-leave-for-holders-of-relevant-offices-determination-2018/documents"}}