Judicial Entitlements Act 2015 (Victoria)

The Judicial Entitlements Act 2015 establishes the legal framework for judicial salaries, allowances and broader conditions of service in Victoria, replacing the Judicial Salaries Act 2004 and abolishing the Judicial Remuneration Tribunal (s 1; ss 41-42). It does this by (a) specifying how salaries are determined for a range of judicial offices, including an explicit link between the salary of a Supreme Court Judge and the salary of a Federal Court Judge (s 5(1)); (b) setting out percentages of the Supreme Court Judge salary for other offices via a statutory salary table (s 5(2) and the table); (c) prescribing treatment for reserve judicial officers engaged full time or on a sessional basis (ss 6-7); (d) creating an independent Judicial Entitlements Panel to make own motion recommendations on conditions of service and to provide advisory opinions to the Attorney‑General (Part 3, ss 15-16); and (e) giving the Attorney‑General the role of issuing salary certificates and entitlement certificates that create enforceable entitlements under the Act (ss 10, 35).

Mechanically, the Act converts recommendations and advice into statutory entitlements through an administrative chain. The Panel may make own motion recommendations at least once every four years (s 26(2)(a)) and must invite specified submissions before making recommendations or giving advisory opinions (s 30). The Attorney‑General receives reports, must lay reports before Parliament (subject to redaction or non‑disclosure for personal or confidential matters at the Attorney‑General's absolute discretion, s 33(3)-(4)), and must produce a recommendation statement within a time limit that triggers the issuing of entitlement certificates if the Attorney‑General accepts or partially accepts the recommendation (ss 34-35). Entitlement certificates are published in the Government Gazette and entered into an electronic public register maintained by the Attorney‑General (ss 36-37).

Version No. 007

Judicial Entitlements Act 2015

No. 29 of 2015

Version incorporating amendments as at
29 March 2022

TABLE OF PROVISIONS

Section Page

Part 1—Preliminary 1

1 Purposes 1

2 Commencement 1

3 Definitions 2

Part 2—Judicial entitlements 9

Division 1—Judicial entitlements 9

4 Judicial entitlements to be authorised by law 9

5 Salary entitlements of judicial officers 9

6 Salary of reserve judicial officer—full time basis 11

7 Salary of reserve judicial officer—sessional rates 13

8 Salaries to be rounded to nearest whole dollar 15

9 Date salary adjustments take effect 16

10 Salary certificate 16

11 Conditions of service of judicial officers 17

12 Accrued sabbatical and long service leave 17

13 Accrued annual leave and long service leave—magistrates 18

Division 2—Salary sacrifice 18

14 Salary sacrifice arrangements 18

Part 3—Judicial Entitlements Panel 20

15 Establishment of Judicial Entitlements Panel 20

16 Functions of Panel 20

17 Membership of Panel 20

18 Chairperson of Panel 22

19 Terms and conditions of office 22

20 Vacancies, resignations and removal from office 22

21 Acting appointments 24

22 Meetings of the Panel 24

23 Persons to assist the Panel 25

24 Validity of decisions 25

Part 4—Recommendations of the Panel and advisory opinions 26

Division 1—Own motion recommendations 26

25 Panel may make own motion recommendations 26

26 Panel to report own motion recommendations to Attorney-General 26

Division 2—Advisory opinions 27

27 Attorney-General may request advisory opinion 27

28 Panel must inquire into subject matter of request for advisory opinion 28

29 Panel to report advisory opinion to Attorney-General 28

Division 3—General requirements for own motion recommendations and advisory opinions 29

30 Panel to invite certain submissions 29

31 Panel must take certain factors into account 30

32 Reasons 31

33 Tabling before Parliament of reports 31

34 Tabling of recommendation statement 32

35 Entitlement certificates 33

36 Publication of entitlement certificate in Government Gazette 34

Part 5—General 35

37 Register 35

38 Attorney-General to include documents in register as soon as practicable after specified events 35

39 Request for advisory opinion may be excluded from register or on register in redacted form 36

40 Regulations 37

Part 6—Repeals and transitional provisions 38

41 Repeal of Judicial Salaries Act 2004 38

42 Repeal of Judicial Remuneration Tribunal Act 1995 38

43 Certificates under section 15 of the Judicial Remuneration Tribunal Act 1995 39

44 Pre-existing salary sacrifice arrangements 39

45 Certain offices referred to in Judicial Salaries Act 2004 40

46 Entitlement certificates 41

═══════════════

Endnotes 42

1 General information 42

2 Table of Amendments 44

3 Explanatory details 45

Version No. 007

Judicial Entitlements Act 2015

No. 29 of 2015

Version incorporating amendments as at
29 March 2022

The Parliament of Victoria enacts:

Part 1—Preliminary

1 Purposes

The main purposes of this Act are—

(a) to modernise the processes and structures for determining salaries, allowances and conditions of service for judicial officers in a manner that recognises and maintains judicial independence; and

(b) to repeal the Judicial Salaries Act 2004 and the Judicial Remuneration Tribunal Act 1995; and

2 Commencement

(1) This Part and Part 7 come into operation on the day after the day on which this Act receives the Royal Assent.

(2) Subject to subsection (3), the remaining provisions of this Act come into operation on a day or days to be proclaimed.

(3) If a provision of this Act does not come into operation before 1 January 2016, it comes into operation on that day.

3 Definitions

In this Act—

advisory opinion means an opinion of the Panel given under Division 2 of Part 4;

associate judge of the County Court means a person appointed under section 17A of the County Court Act 1958;

Associate Judge of the Supreme Court means an Associate Judge appointed under section 104 of the Supreme Court Act 1986 and referred to in section 75(4) of the Constitution Act 1975;

chairperson means the person appointed under section 18;

conditions of service means the following—

(a) leave entitlements, including—

(i) annual leave;

(ii) personal and carer's leave;

(iii) parental leave;

(iv) special leave;

(v) additional annual leave arrangements, including purchased leave schemes;

Example

48/52 schemes.

(vi) long service leave, including sabbatical leave;

(vii) recognition of prior service for long service leave purposes;

(b) the payment out of accrued leave or the transferring or carrying over of accrued leave from previous judicial office or other public office;

(d) benefits provided to or on behalf of a judicial officer, whether monetary or not—

but does not include salary, pensions and superannuation;

S. 3 def. of Deputy Chief Judge inserted by No. 31/2021 s. 18(b).

Deputy Chief Judge means the Deputy Chief Judge within the meaning of the County Court Act 1958;

entitlement means the following—

(a) conditions of service;

(b) salary;

entitlement certificate means—

(a) in relation to an own motion recommendation, a certificate issued under section 35(1);

(b) in relation to an advisory opinion, a certificate issued under section 35(3);

Federal Court Judge means a Judge of the Federal Court other than the Chief Justice of the Federal Court;

Federal Remuneration Tribunal means the Remuneration Tribunal established under the Remuneration Tribunal Act 1973 of the Commonwealth;

Judge of Appeal means a person referred to in section 75(3)(c) of the Constitution Act 1975;

S. 3 def. of judicial officer amended by No. 31/2021 s. 18(a).

judicial officer means the following—

(a) the Chief Justice;

(b) the President of the Court of Appeal;

(d) a Supreme Court Judge;

(e) an Associate Judge of the Supreme Court;

(f) a reserve Judge of the Supreme Court;

(g) a reserve Associate Judge of the Supreme Court;

(h) the Chief Judge;

(ha) the Deputy Chief Judge;

(i) a judge of the County Court, other than the Chief Judge or the Deputy Chief Judge;

(j) an associate judge of the County Court;

(k) a reserve judge of the County Court;

(l) a reserve associate judge of the County Court;

(m) the Chief Magistrate;

(n) a Deputy Chief Magistrate;

(o) the Deputy State Coroner;

(p) a magistrate other than the Chief Magistrate or a Deputy Chief Magistrate;

(q) a reserve magistrate;

(r) a reserve coroner;

judicial registrar means—

(a) in the case of the Supreme Court, a judicial registrar within the meaning of the Supreme Court Act 1986;

(b) in the case of the County Court, a judicial registrar within the meaning of the County Court Act 1958;

(c) in the case of the Magistrates' Court, a judicial registrar within the meaning of the Magistrates' Court Act 1989;

(d) in the case of the Children's Court, a judicial registrar within the meaning of the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005;

(e) in the case of the Coroners Court, a judicial registrar within the meaning of the Coroners Act 2008;

member means member of the Panel;

non-judicial member of VCAT means a member of VCAT other than the President of VCAT or a Vice President of VCAT;

non-salary benefits has the same meaning as in clause 3(5) and (6) of Schedule 1A to the Public Administration Act 2004;

own motion recommendation means a recommendation of the Panel made under Division 1 of Part 4;

Panel means the Judicial Entitlements Panel established under section 15;

part-time service arrangement—

(a) in relation to a Judge or an Associate Judge of the Supreme Court, has the same meaning as it has in the Constitution Act 1975;

(b) in relation to a judge or an associate judge of the County Court, has the same meaning as it has in the County Court Act 1958;

President of the Court of Appeal means a person referred to in section 75(3)(b) of the Constitution Act 1975;

public service body Head has the same meaning as it has in the Public Administration Act 2004;

recommendation statement means a statement of the Attorney-General under section 34;

register means the register established and maintained under section 37;

reserve associate judge of the County Court means a reserve associate judge within the meaning of the County Court Act 1958 engaged under section 17KC of that Act to undertake the duties of an associate judge of the court;

reserve Associate Judge of the Supreme Court means a reserve Associate Judge within the meaning of the Constitution Act 1975 engaged under section 105D of the Supreme Court Act 1986 to undertake the duties of an Associate Judge;

reserve coroner means a reserve coroner within the meaning of the Coroners Act 2008 engaged under section 102L of that Act to undertake the duties of a coroner;

reserve judge of the County Court means a reserve judge within the meaning of the County Court Act 1958 engaged under section 12B of that Act to undertake the duties of a judge of the court;

reserve Judge of the Supreme Court means a reserve Judge within the meaning of the Constitution Act 1975 engaged under section 81B of that Act to undertake the duties of a Judge of the Court;

reserve judicial officer means—

(a) a reserve Judge of the Supreme Court;

(b) a reserve Associate Judge of the Supreme Court;

(d) a reserve associate judge of the County Court;

(e) a reserve magistrate;

(f) a reserve coroner;

reserve magistrate means a reserve magistrate within the meaning of the Magistrates' Court Act 1989 engaged under section 9C of that Act to undertake the duties of a magistrate;

salary certificate means a certificate issued under section 10;

salary of a Federal Court Judge means the salary payable from time to time to that Judge under section 9 of the Federal Court of Australia Act 1976 of the Commonwealth;

salary of a Supreme Court Judge means the salary fixed from time to time under section 5(1);

salary table means the table to section 5;

Secretary means the Secretary to the Department of Justice and Regulation;

Supreme Court Judge means a Judge of the Court referred to in section 75(3) of the Constitution Act 1975 other than the following—

(a) the Chief Justice;

(b) the President of the Court of Appeal;

Part 2—Judicial entitlements

Division 1—Judicial entitlements

4 Judicial entitlements to be authorised by law

(1) A judicial officer is entitled to the salary in respect of that office determined by or under this Act.

(2) A judicial officer is entitled to the allowances in respect of that office determined—

(a) by or under this Act; or

(b) by any other law.

(3) A judicial officer is entitled to the conditions of service in respect of that office determined—

(a) by or under this Act; or

(b) by any other law.

(4) In this section, any other law includes a Commonwealth Act.

5 Salary entitlements of judicial officers

(1) A Supreme Court Judge is entitled to be paid a salary at the same rate as the salary of a Federal Court Judge payable from time to time.

Note

See also section 9 regarding timing of adjustments to salary.

(2) A judicial officer (other than a reserve judicial officer) specified in Column 1 of the salary table is entitled to be paid a salary at the percentage of the salary of a Supreme Court Judge specified for that judicial officer in Column 2 of the salary table.

Note to s. 5(2) amended by No. 3/2016 s. 48.

Note

See sections 6 and 7 for salaries of reserve judicial officers and section 10(1A) of the County Court Act 1958 and section 10(1A) of the Magistrates' Court Act 1989 in relation to salaries of dual commission holders.

(3) A judicial officer (other than a reserve judicial officer) to whom a part-time service arrangement applies is entitled to be paid—

(a) in the case of a Supreme Court Judge, a pro‑rata salary of the salary of a Supreme Court Judge; and

(b) in the case of a judicial officer specified in Column 1 of the salary table, a pro-rata salary of the percentage of the salary of a Supreme Court Judge specified for that judicial officer in Column 2 of the salary table.

S. 5 (Table) amended by Nos 31/2021 s. 19, 1/2022 s. 34.

Table of percentages of salary of Supreme Court Judge

Item	Column 1<br>Judicial officer	Column 2<br>Percentage of salary of Supreme Court Judge
1	Chief Justice	112⋅86%
2	President of the Court of Appeal	106⋅64%
3	Judge of Appeal	103⋅32%
4	Associate Judge of the Supreme Court who is the Senior Master	89⋅00%
5	Registrar of the Court of Appeal other than when that office is or was held by a judicial registrar of the Supreme Court	89⋅00%
6	Associate Judge of the Supreme Court other than an Associate Judge referred to in item 4, 5 or 7 of this Table	84⋅65%
7	Associate Judge of the Supreme Court who is or was a Specialist Supreme Court Master	80⋅50%
8	Chief Judge	100⋅00%
8A	Deputy Chief Judge	91⋅98%
9	Judge of the County Court other than the Chief Judge or the Deputy Chief Judge	86⋅64%
10	Associate judge or master of the County Court	84⋅65%
11	Chief Magistrate who is or has been a dual commission holder as a Judge of the Supreme Court	100%
11A	Chief Magistrate who has been a dual commission holder as a judge of the County Court under the County Court Act 1958	86⋅64%
12	Deputy Chief Magistrate	73⋅65%
13	Deputy State Coroner	73⋅65%
14	Magistrate other than the Chief Magistrate or a Deputy Chief Magistrate	69⋅29%

6 Salary of reserve judicial officer—full time basis

(1) Subject to subsection (2), each reserve judicial officer engaged to undertake duties on a full time basis is entitled to be paid a salary in accordance with the rate for the time being applicable under the salary table as follows—

(a) in the case of a reserve Judge of the Supreme Court—

(i) to the holder of the office of Judge of Appeal other than on a reserve basis if the reserve Judge—

(A) was the Chief Justice, the President of the Court of Appeal or a Judge of Appeal immediately before the Judge's commission ceased under section 77(4)(a), (b), (c), (d) or (e) of the Constitution Act 1975; or

(B) is engaged under section 81B of that Act to undertake the duties of a Judge of Appeal; or

(ii) in any other case, to the holder of the office of Supreme Court Judge other than on a reserve basis;

(b) in the case of a reserve Associate Judge of the Supreme Court—

(i) to the holder of the office of Senior Master of the Supreme Court other than on a reserve basis if the reserve Associate Judge—

(A) was the Senior Master immediately before the person retired or resigned; or

(B) is engaged under section 105D of the Supreme Court Act 1986 to undertake the duties of the Senior Master; or

(ii) in any other case, to an Associate Judge referred to in item 6 of the salary table;

(c) in the case of a reserve judge of the County Court, to the holder of that office (other than the Chief Judge) on other than a reserve basis;

(d) in the case of a reserve associate judge of the County Court, to the holder of that office on other than a reserve basis;

(e) in the case of a reserve magistrate, to the holder of that office (other than the Chief Magistrate and a Deputy Chief Magistrate) on other than a reserve basis;

(f) in the case of a reserve coroner, to the holder of the office of magistrate (other than the Chief Magistrate or a Deputy Chief Magistrate) on other than a reserve basis.

(2) If a reserve judicial officer engaged to undertake duties on a full time basis is entitled to—

(a) a non-contributory pension under a relevant Act within the meaning of section 16A of the State Superannuation Act 1988; or

(b) because the person has held a public office in another jurisdiction, a non-contributory pension under any other law—

the amount of pension to which the reserve judicial officer is entitled must be deducted from the salary payable to that reserve judicial officer under subsection (1).

7 Salary of reserve judicial officer—sessional rates

(1) Subject to subsection (2), each reserve judicial officer engaged to undertake duties on a sessional basis is entitled to be paid a salary at the sessional rate per sitting day which is—

(a) in the case of a reserve Judge of the Supreme Court—

(i) 1/235th of the salary of the holder of the office of Judge of Appeal who is not a reserve Judge if the reserve Judge—

(B) is engaged under section 81B of that Act to undertake the duties of a Judge of Appeal; or

(ii) in any other case, 1/235th of the salary of a Supreme Court Judge who is not a reserve Judge;

(b) in the case of a reserve Associate Judge of the Supreme Court—

(i) 1/235th of the salary of an Associate Judge who is the Senior Master who is not a reserve Associate Judge if the reserve Associate Judge—

(A) was the Senior Master immediately before the person retired or resigned; or

(B) is engaged under section 105D of the Supreme Court Act 1986 to undertake the duties of the Senior Master; or

(ii) in any other case, 1/235th of the salary of an Associate Judge referred to in item 6 of the salary table who is not a reserve Associate Judge;

(c) in the case of a reserve judge of the County Court, 1/235th of the salary of a judge of the County Court (other than the Chief Judge) who is not a reserve judge;

(d) in the case of a reserve associate judge of the County Court, 1/235th of the salary of an associate judge of the County Court who is not a reserve associate judge;

(e) in the case of a reserve magistrate, 1/235th of the salary of a magistrate (other than the Chief Magistrate and the Deputy Chief Magistrates) who is not a reserve magistrate;

(f) in the case of a reserve coroner, 1/235th of the salary of a magistrate (other than the Chief Magistrate and the Deputy Chief Magistrates) who is not a reserve magistrate.

(2) A reserve judicial officer engaged to undertake duties on a sessional basis who is entitled to—

(a) a non-contributory pension under a relevant Act within the meaning of section 16A of the State Superannuation Act 1988; or

(b) because the person has held a public office in another jurisdiction, a non-contributory pension under any other law—

must be paid a salary at the sessional rate per sitting day which is calculated in accordance with the following formula—

View image in the official source

where—

**S** means the sessional rate for the time being applicable under subsection (1) to the reserve judicial officer;

**P** means the annual pension to which the reserve judicial officer is entitled that is referred to in paragraph (a) or (b).

8 Salaries to be rounded to nearest whole dollar

(1) The salary of a judicial officer determined under section 5, 6 or 7 is to be rounded up or down to the nearest whole dollar.

(2) If the amount by which the salary is to be rounded is 50 cents, it is to be rounded up to the nearest whole dollar.

9 Date salary adjustments take effect

Any adjustment of the salary of a Supreme Court Judge only takes effect on the later of—

(a) if an adjustment of the salary of a Federal Court Judge takes effect and the relevant determination of the Federal Remuneration Tribunal is not disapproved of by a resolution passed by either House of the Parliament of the Commonwealth under the Remuneration Tribunal Act 1973 of the Commonwealth, the beginning of the day after the last day on which either House of that Parliament could have passed a resolution in respect of that determination;
or

(b) the date on which that relevant determination of the Federal Remuneration Tribunal takes effect.

10 Salary certificate

(1) The Attorney-General must issue a salary certificate specifying—

(a) the salary of a Supreme Court Judge; and

(b) the salaries of the judicial officers specified in the salary table; and

(2) A salary certificate must be issued as soon as practicable after any adjustment to the salaries or sessional rates referred to in subsection (1) takes effect.

11 Conditions of service of judicial officers

A judicial officer is entitled to the conditions of service provided for in any entitlement certificate applicable to that office.

Note to s. 11 inserted by No. 3/2016 s. 49.

Note

See also section 10(1A) of the County Court Act 1958 and section 10(1A) of the Magistrates' Court Act 1989 in relation to conditions of service of dual commission holders.

12 Accrued sabbatical and long service leave

(1) This section applies to the following judicial officers (other than a reserve judicial officer)—

(a) a Judge of the Supreme Court, including the Chief Justice, the President of the Court of Appeal and a Judge of Appeal;

(b) an Associate Judge of the Supreme Court;

S. 12(1)(c) amended by No. 31/2021 s. 20.

S. 12(1)(d) amended by No. 38/2017 s. 68(a).

(d) an associate judge of the County Court;

S. 12(1)(e) inserted by No. 38/2017 s. 68(b).

(e) the Chief Magistrate.

(2) A judicial officer to whom this section applies is entitled on the resignation, retirement or death of that judicial officer to payment out of the accrued sabbatical and long service leave entitlements (if any) in respect of the judicial officer not exceeding a period of 12 months.

S. 13 amended by No. 38/2017 s. 69.

13 Accrued annual leave and long service leave—magistrates

A magistrate (other than the Chief Magistrate or a reserve magistrate) is entitled on the resignation, retirement or death of that magistrate to payment out of any accrued annual leave and long service leave entitlements in respect of the magistrate.

Division 2—Salary sacrifice

14 Salary sacrifice arrangements

(1) A judicial officer, by written notice to the Attorney-General, may enter into an arrangement under which the judicial officer agrees to receive the whole or part of the judicial officer's total amount of future salary as a judicial officer (whether or not payable at a sessional rate) as non‑salary benefits of an equivalent value.

(2) A notice under subsection (1) must specify a date from which the arrangement is to take effect which must be—

(a) the date on which the notice is given; or

(b) a later date.

(3) A judicial officer may vary or revoke a notice given under subsection (1) by written notice to the Attorney-General.

(4) The notice of variation or revocation must specify a date from which the variation or revocation is to take effect which must be—

(a) the date on which the notice is given; or

(b) a later date.

(5) Nothing in this section authorises the salaries or the aggregate value of the allowances payable to a judicial officer to be reduced.

(6) An arrangement referred to in this section does not constitute, and is taken never to have constituted, a reduction in the salary or the aggregate value of the allowances of a judicial officer who enters or entered into the arrangement.

(7) This section does not apply to—

(a) a Judge of the Supreme Court who made an election under section 80A of the Constitution Act 1975 before the commencement of section 3 of the Courts Legislation (Judicial Appointments and Other Amendments) Act 2005; or

(b) a judge of the County Court who made an election under section 13A of the County Court Act 1958 as in force immediately before the commencement of section 7 of the Courts Legislation (Judicial Appointments and Other Amendments) Act 2005.

Part 3—Judicial Entitlements Panel

15 Establishment of Judicial Entitlements Panel

The Judicial Entitlements Panel is established.

16 Functions of Panel

(1) The functions of the Panel are—

(a) to make own motion recommendations
to the Attorney-General in relation to the conditions of service of judicial officers; and

(b) to provide advisory opinions to the Attorney‑General in relation to the entitlements of judicial officers, judicial registrars and non‑judicial members of VCAT; and

(c) to provide advisory opinions to the Attorney‑General in relation to any matter relating to the terms and conditions of office of judicial officers, judicial registrars and non-judicial members of VCAT, including any restrictions applying in relation to any of those offices.

(2) The Panel has any other functions conferred on it by or under this Act or any other Act.

(3) The Panel must act in an independent, impartial and timely manner in carrying out its functions.

(4) Subject to this Act, in the performance of its functions, the Panel—

(a) may inform itself in any manner it thinks fit; and

(b) is not bound by the rules of evidence.

17 Membership of Panel

(1) The Panel consists of 3 members appointed by the Governor in Council on the recommendation of the Attorney-General.

(2) The members appointed to the Panel must be persons who the Attorney-General considers have expertise and experience relevant to the functions of the Panel.

(3) Before making a recommendation for appointment of a member under subsection (1), the Attorney-General must consult with the Chief Justice.

(4) The following persons are not eligible for appointment as a member—

(a) a person who holds or has held—

(i) judicial office in Victoria; or

(ii) a Commonwealth judicial office; or

(iii) judicial office in any other State or a Territory;

(b) a person who holds or has held an office referred to in paragraph (a) on an acting basis or a reserve basis;

(d) a person who holds or has held an office or a position as a non-judicial member of VCAT;

(e) a person employed under Part 3 of the Public Administration Act 2004;

(f) a person who is an insolvent under administration;

(g) a person who has been found guilty or convicted of an indictable offence or an offence which, if committed in Victoria, would be an indictable offence.

18 Chairperson of Panel

The Governor in Council must appoint one of the members to be the chairperson of the Panel.

19 Terms and conditions of office

(1) A member holds office—

(a) for a term not exceeding 4 years specified in the member's instrument of appointment; and

(b) subject to this Act, on the terms and conditions specified in the member's instrument of appointment.

(2) Subject to this Act, a member is entitled to be paid remuneration, allowances and expenses determined by the Governor in Council and specified in the member's instrument of appointment.

(3) A member is eligible for reappointment.

(4) The Public Administration Act 2004 (other than Part 3 of that Act) applies to a member of the Panel in respect of the office of member.

20 Vacancies, resignations and removal from office

(1) The office of a member becomes vacant if the member—

(a) is appointed—

(i) to judicial office in Victoria; or

(ii) to a Commonwealth judicial office; or

(iii) to judicial office in any other State or a Territory; or

(b) becomes the holder of an office referred to in paragraph (a) on an acting basis or a reserve basis; or

(d) is appointed as a non-judicial member of VCAT; or

(e) is employed under Part 3 of the Public Administration Act 2004; or

(f) becomes an insolvent under administration; or

(g) is found guilty or convicted of an indictable offence or an offence which, if committed in Victoria, would be an indictable offence; or

(h) resigns; or

(i) is removed from office under subsection (3).

(2) A member may resign by delivering a signed letter of resignation to the Attorney-General.

(3) Subject to subsection (4), on the recommendation of the Attorney-General, the Governor in Council may remove a member from office.

(4) The Attorney-General must not make a recommendation under subsection (3) unless the Attorney-General is of the opinion that the member—

(a) is or has been absent from 3 consecutive meetings of the Panel without the prior leave of the Panel or without reasonable excuse; or

(b) is or has been engaging in improper conduct; or

(d) is unable to perform the functions and duties of the office for any reason; or

(e) is otherwise unfit to hold office.

21 Acting appointments

(1) The Attorney-General may appoint a person to act in the place of the chairperson or another member who—

(a) is absent; or

(b) for any other reason is unable to perform the duties of the office.

(2) An acting appointment is—

(a) for the term determined by the Attorney-General; and

(b) on the conditions determined by the Attorney-General, including any conditions as to payment of remuneration, allowances and expenses.

(3) A person appointed under subsection (1) to act has all the powers and may perform all the duties of the member for whom the person is acting.

(4) The Attorney-General may terminate an acting appointment at any time.

22 Meetings of the Panel

(1) The chairperson may convene meetings of the Panel.

(2) At the request of the Attorney-General, the chairperson must convene a meeting of the Panel.

(3) The chairperson must preside at all meetings of the Panel.

(4) At a meeting of the Panel—

(a) the procedure is as determined by the Panel; and

(b) the quorum is 2 members, one of whom must be the chairperson; and

(5) Subject to this Act, the Panel may otherwise regulate its own proceedings.

23 Persons to assist the Panel

(1) If the Panel thinks fit, the Panel may appoint a person or persons to assist the Panel in an inquiry in relation to any own motion recommendation or advisory opinion.

(2) A person appointed under subsection (1) is entitled to the remuneration (if any) determined from time to time by the Secretary.

24 Validity of decisions

An act or a decision of the Panel, including an own motion recommendation or an advisory opinion, is not invalid—

(a) by reason only of—

(i) a defect or irregularity in, or in connection with, the appointment of the chairperson, an acting chairperson, a member or an acting member; or

(ii) a vacancy in the office of a member; or

(b) on the ground that the occasion for an acting chairperson or acting member to act had not arisen or had ceased; or

(c) by reason of the Panel failing to comply with any procedural requirement in relation to the making of the own motion recommendation or the giving of the advisory opinion.

Part 4—Recommendations of the Panel and advisory opinions

Division 1—Own motion recommendations

25 Panel may make own motion recommendations

(1) The Panel may make a recommendation to the Attorney-General on the Panel's own motion in relation to conditions of service of judicial officers, including different conditions of service for different offices.

(2) The Panel may make an own motion recommendation—

(a) to create new conditions of service; or

(b) to adjust existing conditions of service; or

(3) The Panel must not make an own motion recommendation in relation to conditions of service that are inconsistent with any other Act or subordinate legislation.

26 Panel to report own motion recommendations to Attorney-General

(1) The Panel must report any own motion recommendations it makes to the Attorney-General.

(2) A report under subsection (1)—

(a) must be made at least once every 4 years; and

Note

See section 46 regarding transitional report requirements.

(b) may be made at more frequent intervals if the Panel considers it necessary or desirable to do so.

(3) The Panel must provide a copy of a report under subsection (1) to—

(a) the head of jurisdiction of any judicial officer who may be affected by the own motion recommendation; and

(b) the Chief Justice.

Division 2—Advisory opinions

27 Attorney-General may request advisory opinion

(1) The Attorney-General may request the Panel to give an advisory opinion in relation to the following matters for judicial officers, judicial registrars and non-judicial members of VCAT—

(a) entitlements;

(b) terms and conditions of office, including any restrictions applying in relation to any of those offices.

(2) An advisory opinion may be requested in relation to any of the following—

(a) a judicial office;

(b) an office of judicial registrar;

(d) a person who holds an office referred to in paragraphs (a) to (c).

(3) A request for an advisory opinion—

(a) must be in writing; and

(b) may set out any factors the Attorney-General wishes to be taken into account by the Panel in giving the advisory opinion; and

28 Panel must inquire into subject matter of request for advisory opinion

On receiving a request for an advisory opinion from the Attorney-General, the Panel must inquire into the subject matter of the request for an advisory opinion.

29 Panel to report advisory opinion to Attorney-General

(1) The Panel must report to the Attorney-General on any advisory opinion it gives—

(a) within the time specified by the Attorney-General in the request under section 27; or

(b) if no time is specified in accordance with paragraph (a), within a reasonable time.

(2) The Panel must provide a copy of a report under subsection (1) to—

(a) the head of jurisdiction of any judicial officer who may be affected by the advisory opinion; and

(b) the Chief Justice.

Division 3—General requirements for own motion recommendations and advisory opinions

30 Panel to invite certain submissions

(1) Before the Panel makes an own motion recommendation or gives an advisory opinion, the Panel, in writing, must invite a public service body Head nominated by the Minister to make a submission to the Panel providing—

(a) information about relevant economic and remuneration factors in Victoria; and

(b) any other relevant information that the nominated public service body Head considers appropriate.

(2) Subject to subsection (4), before the Panel makes an own motion recommendation or gives an advisory opinion, the Panel must write to the head of jurisdiction of any judicial officers who may be affected by the own motion recommendation or the advisory opinion, as the case requires.

(3) A written notification from the Panel under subsection (2) must request the relevant head of jurisdiction to notify the affected judicial officers that written submissions may be made to the Panel in relation to the matter under consideration.

(4) If the Attorney-General has determined that a request for an advisory opinion is of a personal or confidential nature and the Panel has been requested to give an advisory opinion about a named person or named persons, the Panel must write to the person or those persons inviting the person or persons to make a written submission to the Panel.

(5) The Panel must consider any submission made to the Panel—

(a) on its merits; and

(b) in an expeditious manner.

31 Panel must take certain factors into account

(1) In making an own motion recommendation, the Panel must take into account the following—

(a) the importance of the judicial function to the community;

(b) the need to maintain the standing of the judiciary in the community;

(d) the level and nature of conditions of service of judicial officers in other Australian jurisdictions;

(e) movement in the Consumer Price Index;

(f) the level and nature of conditions in other public offices in Victoria;

(g) how any proposed own motion recommendation affects the total remuneration packages of judicial officers;

(h) relevant economic and remuneration factors in Victoria, including the capacity of the State to meet any proposal for more generous conditions of service;

(i) any other relevant matter.

(2) In giving an advisory opinion, the Panel must take into account—

(a) the factors specified in subsection (1), to the extent that those factors are relevant; and

(b) any factors set out in the Attorney-General's request for the advisory opinion.

32 Reasons

(1) This section applies if the Panel has invited submissions on a subject which it is considering for an own motion recommendation or an advisory opinion.

(2) If the Panel makes an own motion recommendation or gives an advisory opinion on a subject to which this section applies, when making its report, the Panel must give its reasons—

(a) for the recommendation or opinion; or

(b) for not making the recommendation or giving the opinion.

(3) If the Panel decides not to make an own motion recommendation or give an advisory opinion on a subject to which this section applies, the Panel must give its reasons for not making the recommendation or giving the opinion on that subject—

(a) in its report on the own motion recommendation or the advisory opinion, if a report is prepared; or

(b) if no report is prepared, in a written statement to the Attorney-General.

33 Tabling before Parliament of reports

(1) Subject to subsection (3), the Attorney-General must cause a copy of the report of an own motion recommendation to be laid before each House of the Parliament within 10 sitting days after the Attorney-General receives the report.

(2) Subject to subsection (3), the Attorney-General must cause a copy of the report of an advisory opinion to be laid before each House of the Parliament within 10 sitting days after the Attorney-General receives the report.

(3) If the Attorney-General is of the opinion, that a report referred to in subsection (1) or (2) contains personal or confidential information which it is not appropriate to make public, the Attorney-General may—

(a) in the case of a report of an advisory opinion, not lay the report before each House of the Parliament; or

(b) not include the personal or confidential information in the copy of the report to be laid before each House of the Parliament under subsection (1) or (2) and lay the copy of the report in a redacted form before each House of the Parliament.

(4) The Attorney-General may make a determination under subsection (3) in the Attorney-General's absolute discretion.

(5) If the Attorney-General lays before each House of the Parliament a report in a redacted form, the Attorney-General must advise each House of the Parliament that the report is in a redacted form.

34 Tabling of recommendation statement

(1) The Attorney-General must cause a statement to be laid before each House of the Parliament in relation to any own motion recommendation specifying—

(a) whether the Attorney-General intends to accept, vary or accept only part of the own motion recommendation; and

(b) if the Attorney-General does not accept the own motion recommendation give reasons for the non-acceptance.

(2) If the Attorney-General intends to vary an own motion recommendation or accept only part of an own motion recommendation, the recommendation statement must give the Attorney-General's reasons for varying the own motion recommendation or accepting only part of the own motion recommendation.

(3) A recommendation statement must be laid before each House of the Parliament by no later than the first sitting day after 4 months from the tabling of the own motion recommendation report under section 33.

35 Entitlement certificates

(1) After receiving a report of an own motion recommendation from the Panel, the Attorney‑General must issue an entitlement certificate if the recommendation statement in relation to that own motion recommendation states that the Attorney-General intends to—

(a) accept the own motion recommendation; or

(b) vary or accept only part of the own motion recommendation.

(2) An entitlement certificate in relation to an own motion recommendation creates an entitlement under this Act in accordance with the terms of that certificate.

Note

Section 3(2)(c) of the Subordinate Legislation Act 1994 provides that an instrument of appointment or an instrument which changes conditions or terms of appointment is an instrument of purely administrative character for the purposes of that Act.

(3) After receiving a report of an advisory opinion from the Panel, if any recommendation in the advisory opinion is a recommendation which could have been the subject of an own motion recommendation, the Attorney-General may issue an entitlement certificate which creates an entitlement under this Act in accordance with the terms of that certificate.

(4) An entitlement certificate—

(a) must specify the date from which the entitlement takes effect, which may be—

(i) the date that the certificate is issued by the Attorney-General; or

(ii) a date that is earlier or later than the date that the certificate is issued; and

(b) may apply, adopt or incorporate any matter contained in any document, code, standard, rule, specification or method, formulated, issued, prescribed or published by any other person, whether—

(i) wholly or partially or as amended by the certificate; or

(ii) as formulated, issued, prescribed or published at the time the certificate is issued or at any time before then; or

(iii) as formulated, issued, prescribed or published from time to time.

36 Publication of entitlement certificate in Government Gazette

The Attorney-General must cause a copy of an entitlement certificate to be published in the Government Gazette as soon as practicable after issuing the certificate.

Part 5—General

37 Register

(1) The Attorney-General must establish and maintain a register.

(2) The register must be kept electronically.

(3) The register must contain the following—

(a) any request of the Attorney-General for an advisory opinion;

(b) any report of an advisory opinion laid before each House of the Parliament;

(d) any entitlement certificate;

(e) any salary certificate;

(f) any recommendation statement laid before each House of the Parliament;

(g) any written statement of reasons provided to the Attorney-General under section 32(3)(b);

(h) any other document prepared or issued under this Act that the Attorney-General considers is appropriate to include in the register.

(4) The Attorney-General must ensure, as far as practicable, that the contents of the register are accessible to the public at all times without charge on an Internet site.

38 Attorney-General to include documents in register as soon as practicable after specified events

The Attorney-General must ensure that—

(a) a copy of any request of the Attorney-General for an advisory opinion (whether in redacted form or otherwise) is included in the register as soon as practicable after the request is made; and

(b) a copy of any report of an advisory opinion (whether in redacted form or otherwise) or any report of an own motion recommendation (whether in redacted form or otherwise) which is laid before each House of the Parliament in accordance with this Act is included in the register as soon as practicable after the report is laid before each House; and

(c) a copy of any recommendation statement which is laid before each House of the Parliament in accordance with this Act is included in the register as soon as practicable after it is laid before each House; and

(d) a copy of any written statement of reasons provided to the Attorney-General under section 32(3)(b) as soon as practicable after the Attorney-General receives the statement; and

(e) any entitlement certificate or salary certificate is included in the register as soon as practicable after the certificate is issued.

39 Request for advisory opinion may be excluded from register or on register in redacted form

(1) If the Attorney-General is of the opinion that a request for an advisory opinion contains personal or confidential information which it is not appropriate to include in the register, the Attorney-General may—

(a) not include the request for the advisory opinion in the register; or

(b) include the request for the advisory opinion in the register in a redacted form.

(2) The Attorney-General may make a determination under subsection (1) in the Attorney-General's absolute discretion.

40 Regulations

(1) The Governor in Council may make regulations for or with respect to any matter or thing required or permitted by this Act to be prescribed or necessary to be prescribed to give effect to this Act.

(2) The regulations may—

(a) be of general or limited application;

(b) differ according to differences in time, place or circumstances;

(d) provide in a specified case or class of cases for the exemption of persons or things or a class of persons or things from any of the provisions of the regulations—

(i) whether unconditionally or on specified conditions; and

(ii) either wholly or to any extent that is specified.

Part 6—Repeals and transitional provisions

41 Repeal of Judicial Salaries Act 2004

(1) The Judicial Salaries Act 2004 is repealed.

(2) On and from the repeal of the Judicial Salaries Act 2004, in any Act (other than this Act), or in any subordinate instrument or in any other document of any kind a reference to the Judicial Salaries Act 2004 must be construed as a reference to this Act—

(a) so far as the reference relates to any period on or after that repeal; and

(b) if not inconsistent with the subject matter.

42 Repeal of Judicial Remuneration Tribunal Act 1995

(1) The Judicial Remuneration Tribunal Act 1995 is repealed.

(2) On the repeal of the Judicial Remuneration Tribunal Act 1995, the Judicial Remuneration Tribunal is abolished and any members of the Tribunal go out of office.

(3) On and from the repeal of the Judicial Remuneration Tribunal Act 1995, in any Act (other than this Act), or in any subordinate instrument or in any other document of any kind a reference to the Judicial Remuneration Tribunal Act 1995 must be construed as a reference to this Act—

(a) so far as the reference relates to any period on or after that repeal; and

(b) if not inconsistent with the subject matter.

43 Certificates under section 15 of the Judicial Remuneration Tribunal Act 1995

(1) Any certificate issued under section 15 of the Judicial Remuneration Tribunal Act 1995 as in force immediately before its repeal is taken to be an entitlement certificate under this Act.

(2) For the purposes of this section, a certificate issued under section 15 of the Judicial Remuneration Tribunal Act 1995 includes the certificate of the Attorney-General issued under section 15 on 30 June 2014 numbered 2/2014 as extended by section 20 of that Act, as in force immediately before its repeal.

S. 43(3) inserted by No. 3/2016 s. 50.

(3) In any certificate referred to in subsection (1), a reference to a magistrate does not include a reserve magistrate unless otherwise specified in that certificate.

44 Pre-existing salary sacrifice arrangements

(1) If, before the commencement of section 3
of the Salaries Legislation Amendment (Salary Sacrifice) Act 2008 (the 2008 Act), a judicial officer entered into an arrangement under which the judicial officer agreed to receive the whole or part of the judicial officer's total amount of salary as a judicial officer as non-salary benefits of an equivalent value, that arrangement has and is taken always to have had full effect according to its tenor as if it had been authorised under—

(a) in the case of a Judge of the Supreme Court, section 82(7A) of the Constitution Act 1975 as in force immediately before its repeal;

(b) in the case of an Associate Judge of the Supreme Court, section 83A(5) of the Constitution Act 1975 as in force immediately before its repeal;

(c) in the case of a judge of the County Court, section 10(7A) of the County Court Act 1958 as in force immediately before its repeal;

(d) in the case of an associate judge of the County Court, section 17AA(5) of the County Court Act 1958 as in force immediately before its repeal;

(e) in the case of a magistrate, clause 10A of Schedule 1 to the Magistrates' Court Act 1989 as in force immediately before its repeal.

(2) Any salary sacrifice arrangement entered into
by a judicial officer which is in force immediately before the commencement of this section continues to have effect in accordance with its terms as if it had been entered into in accordance with Division 2 of Part 2.

45 Certain offices referred to in Judicial Salaries Act 2004

On and from the repeal of the Judicial Salaries Act 2004—

(a) the office of Senior Master of the Supreme Court as referred to in that Act immediately before its repeal is taken to be the office referred to in item 4 of the salary table; and

(b) the office of General Supreme Court Master as referred to in that Act immediately before its repeal is taken to be the office referred to in item 6 of the salary table; and

(c) the office of Specialist Supreme Court Master as referred to in that Act as in force immediately before its repeal is taken to be the office referred to in item 7 of the salary table.

S. 46 repealed by No. 29/2015 s. 46(3), new s. 46 inserted by No. 1/2022 s. 35.

46 Entitlement certificates

(1) Subject to subsection (2), on and from the commencement of Part 3 of the Justice Legislation Amendment (Criminal Procedure Disclosure and Other Matters) Act 2022 a reference in an entitlement certificate that was in effect immediately before that commencement—

(a) to a Judge of the Supreme Court, is taken to include a reference to the Chief Magistrate who is or has been, on or after that commencement, a dual commission holder as a Judge of the Supreme Court; and

(b) to the Chief Magistrate, is taken to not include a reference to the Chief Magistrate who is, on or after that commencement, a dual commission holder as a Judge of the Supreme Court.

(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to a reference in an entitlement certificate that relates to a matter that is not an entitlement of the Chief Magistrate.

S. 47 repealed by No. 29/2015 s. 47(4).

Pts 7, 8 (Headings and ss 48–89) repealed by No. 29/2015 s. 89.

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Endnotes

1 General information

See www.legislation.vic.gov.au for Victorian Bills, Acts and current Versions of legislation and up-to-date legislative information.

Minister's second reading speech—

Legislative Assembly: 27 May 2015

Legislative Council: 11 June 2015

The long title for the Bill for this Act was "A Bill for an Act to modernise the processes and structures for determining salaries, allowances and conditions of service for judicial officers, to repeal the Judicial Salaries Act 2004 and the Judicial Remuneration Tribunal Act 1995, to make consequential and miscellaneous amendments to other Acts and for other purposes."

The Judicial Entitlements Act 2015 was assented to on 11 August 2015 and came into operation as follows:

Sections 1–3, 48–73 on 12 August 2015: section 2(1); sections 4–47, 74–89 on 1 January 2016: s. 2(3).

INTERPRETATION OF LEGISLATION ACT 1984 (ILA)

Style changes

Section 54A of the ILA authorises the making of the style changes set out in Schedule 1 to that Act.

References to ILA s. 39B

Sidenotes which cite ILA s. 39B refer to section 39B of the ILA which provides that where an undivided section or clause of a Schedule is amended by the insertion of one or more subsections or subclauses, the original section or clause becomes subsection or subclause (1) and is amended by the insertion of the expression "(1)" at the beginning of the original section or clause.

Interpretation

As from 1 January 2001, amendments to section 36 of the ILA have the following effects:

• Headings

All headings included in an Act which is passed on or after 1 January 2001 form part of that Act. Any heading inserted in an Act which was passed before 1 January 2001, by an Act passed on or after 1 January 2001, forms part of that Act. This includes headings to Parts, Divisions or Subdivisions in a Schedule; sections; clauses; items; tables; columns; examples; diagrams; notes or forms. See section 36(1A)(2A).

• Examples, diagrams or notes

All examples, diagrams or notes included in an Act which is passed on or after 1 January 2001 form part of that Act. Any examples, diagrams or notes inserted in an Act which was passed before 1 January 2001, by an Act passed on or after 1 January 2001, form part of that Act. See section 36(3A).

• Punctuation

All punctuation included in an Act which is passed on or after 1 January 2001 forms part of that Act. Any punctuation inserted in an Act which was passed before 1 January 2001, by an Act passed on or after 1 January 2001, forms part of that Act. See section 36(3B).

• Provision numbers

All provision numbers included in an Act form part of that Act, whether inserted in the Act before, on or after 1 January 2001. Provision numbers include section numbers, subsection numbers, paragraphs and subparagraphs. See section 36(3C).

• Location of "legislative items"

A "legislative item" is a penalty, an example or a note. As from 13 October 2004, a legislative item relating to a provision of an Act is taken to be at the foot of that provision even if it is preceded or followed by another legislative item that relates to that provision. For example, if a penalty at the foot of a provision is followed by a note, both of these legislative items will be regarded as being at the foot of that provision. See section 36B.

• Other material

Any explanatory memorandum, table of provisions, endnotes, index and other material printed after the Endnotes does not form part of an Act.
See section 36(3)(3D)(3E).

2 Table of Amendments

This publication incorporates amendments made to the Judicial Entitlements Act 2015 by Acts and subordinate instruments.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Judicial Entitlements Act 2015, No. 29/2015

Assent Date:	11.8.15
Commencement Date:	Ss 46(3), 47(4), 89 on 1.1.16: s. 2(3)
Note:	S. 89 repealed Pts 7, 8 (ss 48–89) on 1.1.17; s. 46(3) repealed s. 46 on 1.1.18; s. 47(4) repealed s. 47 on 1.1.18
Current State:	This information relates only to the provision/s amending the Judicial Entitlements Act 2015

Justice Legislation Further Amendment Act 2016, No. 3/2016

Assent Date:	16.2.16
Commencement Date:	Ss 48–50 on 1.5.16: Special Gazette (No. 114) 26.4.16 p. 1
Current State:	This information relates only to the provision/s amending the Judicial Entitlements Act 2015

Justice Legislation Amendment (Court Security, Juries and Other Matters) Act 2017, No. 38/2017

Assent Date:	29.8.17
Commencement Date:	Ss 68, 69 on 30.8.17: s. 2(1)
Current State:	This information relates only to the provision/s amending the Judicial Entitlements Act 2015

Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal and Other Acts Amendment (Federal Jurisdiction and Other Matters) Act 2021, No. 31/2021

Assent Date:	10.8.21
Commencement Date:	Ss 18–20 on 26.10.21: Special Gazette (No. 596) 26.10.21 p. 1
Current State:	This information relates only to the provision/s amending the Judicial Entitlements Act 2015

Justice Legislation Amendment (Criminal Procedure Disclosure and Other Matters) Act 2022, No. 1/2022

Assent Date:	15.2.22
Commencement Date:	Ss 34, 35 on 29.3.22: Special Gazette (No. 157) 29.3.22 p. 1
Current State:	This information relates only to the provision/s amending the Judicial Entitlements Act 2015

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

3 Explanatory details

No entries at date of publication.

1 Judicial Entitlements Act 2015

Version No. 007

Judicial Entitlements Act 2015

No. 29 of 2015

Version incorporating amendments as at
29 March 2022

TABLE OF PROVISIONS

Section Page

Part 1—Preliminary 1

1 Purposes 1

2 Commencement 1

3 Definitions 2

Part 2—Judicial entitlements 9

Division 1—Judicial entitlements 9

4 Judicial entitlements to be authorised by law 9

5 Salary entitlements of judicial officers 9

6 Salary of reserve judicial officer—full time basis 11

7 Salary of reserve judicial officer—sessional rates 13

8 Salaries to be rounded to nearest whole dollar 15

9 Date salary adjustments take effect 16

10 Salary certificate 16

11 Conditions of service of judicial officers 17

12 Accrued sabbatical and long service leave 17

13 Accrued annual leave and long service leave—magistrates 18

Division 2—Salary sacrifice 18

14 Salary sacrifice arrangements 18

Part 3—Judicial Entitlements Panel 20

15 Establishment of Judicial Entitlements Panel 20

16 Functions of Panel 20

17 Membership of Panel 20

18 Chairperson of Panel 22

19 Terms and conditions of office 22

20 Vacancies, resignations and removal from office 22

21 Acting appointments 24

22 Meetings of the Panel 24

23 Persons to assist the Panel 25

24 Validity of decisions 25

Part 4—Recommendations of the Panel and advisory opinions 26

Division 1—Own motion recommendations 26

25 Panel may make own motion recommendations 26

26 Panel to report own motion recommendations to Attorney-General 26

Division 2—Advisory opinions 27

27 Attorney-General may request advisory opinion 27

28 Panel must inquire into subject matter of request for advisory opinion 28

29 Panel to report advisory opinion to Attorney-General 28

Division 3—General requirements for own motion recommendations and advisory opinions 29

Entitlement by law: Section 4 makes explicit that judicial entitlements must be authorised by law. Salaries, allowances and conditions of service are statutory entitlements determined by or under the Act or by any other law (s 4). The Act therefore converts what might otherwise be administrative arrangements into legally enforceable entitlements once the appropriate instrument (salary certificate or entitlement certificate) is in place (ss 10, 35).

Salary linkage and percentages: The Act fixes the salary architecture around the salary of a Supreme Court Judge. A Supreme Court Judge is entitled to be paid at the same rate as a Federal Court Judge (s 5(1)). Other judicial offices are paid as a percentage of the Supreme Court Judge salary according to the table in s 5(2). This creates two mechanical links: (a) an external link to the Federal Remuneration Tribunal through s 5(1) and s 9, and (b) an internal relativity system that fixes pay relativities between offices via percentages set in statute.

Timing and rounding: Salaries must be rounded to the nearest whole dollar (s 8) and adjustments to the Supreme Court Judge salary take effect only after the Federal Forum process that determines Federal Court Judge salaries is concluded, or on the Federal determination's effective date, whichever is later (s 9). The Attorney‑General must issue a salary certificate as soon as practicable after adjustments take effect (s 10(2)).

Reserve judicial officers: The Act separates reserve officers engaged on a full time basis from those engaged on a sessional basis and prescribes how their pay is calculated. Full time reserve officers are paid the appropriate rate under the salary table (s 6(1)), with a statutory deduction if the person receives a non‑contributory pension (s 6(2)). Sessional payment is 1/235th of the relevant non‑reserve salary per sitting day, with a formula to reduce that sessional rate if a non‑contributory pension applies (s 7(1)-(2)).

Conditions of service and entitlements: The Act defines "conditions of service" in s 3 to include a broad list of leave entitlements, allowances and non‑salary benefits, but expressly excludes salary, pensions and superannuation from that definition. "Entitlement certificate" is the instrument that, when issued by the Attorney‑General, creates a conditions‑of‑service entitlement under the Act (s 35(1)-(2), s 11).

Judicial Entitlements Panel: The Panel is a statutory body of three members appointed by the Governor in Council on the Attorney‑General's recommendation after consultation with the Chief Justice (s 17(1), (3)). The Panel's functions include making own motion recommendations on conditions of service and giving advisory opinions to the Attorney‑General about entitlements and terms of office for judicial officers, judicial registrars and non‑judicial VCAT members (s 16). The Panel must act independently and impartially and may inform itself in any way it sees fit, not being bound by rules of evidence (s 16(3)-(4)).

Procedural constraints and inputs: Before making recommendations or opinions, the Panel must invite a public service body Head nominated by the Minister to provide information on economic and remuneration factors (s 30(1)), and must notify heads of jurisdiction to allow affected judicial officers to make submissions (s 30(2)-(3)). The Panel must take particular factors into account, including the importance of the judicial function, maintenance of judicial standing, attraction and retention, comparators in other jurisdictions, CPI movement and the State's capacity to fund more generous conditions (s 31).

Attorney‑General’s role and parliamentary oversight: The Attorney‑General requests advisory opinions (s 27), receives Panel reports (ss 26(1), 29(1)), must lay reports and recommendation statements before Parliament within specified timeframes (ss 33-34), and issues entitlement and salary certificates (ss 10, 35). The Attorney‑General also has explicit discretion to redact or withhold reports from Parliament and the public register if they contain personal or confidential information (ss 33(3)-(4), 39(1)-(2)).

Public register and publication: The Attorney‑General must maintain an electronic register including requests for advisory opinions, reports, entitlement and salary certificates and other related documents, and must ensure, as far as practicable, that the register is publicly accessible without charge (ss 37-38).

Regulatory and transitional features: The Governor in Council may make regulations to give effect to the Act (s 40). The Act contains several transitional provisions preserving or converting instruments and arrangements under the repealed legislation into the new framework, notably converting certificates under the repealed Judicial Remuneration Tribunal Act 1995 into entitlement certificates under this Act (s 43), and preserving pre‑existing salary sacrifice arrangements (s 44).

Directly affected persons and offices: The Act applies to a wide list of judicial officers defined in s 3, including the Chief Justice, President of the Court of Appeal, Judges of Appeal, Supreme Court Judges, Associate Judges, reserve Judges and Associate Judges, Chief Judge and Deputy Chief Judge of the County Court, County Court judges and associate judges, Chief Magistrate, Deputy Chief Magistrate, Deputy State Coroner, magistrates, reserve magistrates and reserve coroners. It also applies to judicial registrars in various courts and to non‑judicial members of VCAT for the purposes of advisory opinions (ss 3, 16(1)(b)-(c), 27(1)).

Those who decide: The Attorney‑General performs central decision roles: requesting advisory opinions (s 27), receiving and tabling Panel reports (ss 26-29, 33), issuing salary certificates and entitlement certificates (ss 10, 35), and exercising absolute discretion to redact or withhold reports or requests from the public register and Parliament where they contain personal or confidential information (ss 33(3)-(4), 39(1)-(2)). The Governor in Council appoints Panel members and the chairperson and sets member remuneration (ss 17-19). The Panel itself, once appointed, makes recommendations and gives advisory opinions (Part 4, ss 25-29).

Who pays and budgets: The Act creates statutory entitlements to pay and conditions; payment will be administered through the State's payroll machinery under the relevant salary and entitlement certificates. While the Act does not specify a budget line, s 31(1)(h) requires the Panel to consider the capacity of the State to meet any proposal for more generous conditions, making the State fiscally relevant to the Panel's deliberations. In practical terms, the State (the executive) is the payer of salaries and benefits once they are declared entitlements.

Administrative bodies and inputs: The Act requires the Panel to invite a public service body Head nominated by the Minister to provide information about economic and remuneration factors (s 30(1)). Heads of jurisdiction must be notified where their judicial officers may be affected and are requested to inform those judicial officers that they may make submissions to the Panel (s 30(2)-(3)). The attorney‑general must provide copies of Panel reports to heads of jurisdiction and the Chief Justice (ss 26(3), 29(2)).

Excluded, restricted or specially treated groups: The Act contains specific exclusions. Section 17(4) prohibits appointment to the Panel of persons who hold or have held judicial office (including acting or reserve judicial office), those who have been judicial registrars or non‑judicial VCAT members, public service employees under Part 3 of the Public Administration Act 2004, insolvents under administration, and persons convicted of indictable offences. Section 14(7) excludes certain Supreme Court and County Court Judges who made previous retirement or salary election under older Acts from the salary sacrifice regime. These provisions affect the composition of the Panel and limit who may access particular salary‑sacrifice mechanisms.

Indirect stakeholders: Parliament receives and scrutinises reports and recommendation statements (ss 33-34). Employers and administrators in courts, payroll sections and human resources will need to implement entitlement certificates and salary certificates once issued (ss 10, 35-36). Judicial officers seeking salary sacrifice arrangements must engage with the Attorney‑General in writing and comply with the notice, variation and revocation procedures in s 14.

Public and transparency stakeholders: The Act requires an electronic public register maintained by the Attorney‑General to contain key documents and, as far as practicable, be publicly accessible without charge (ss 37-38). The Attorney‑General retains discretion to exclude or redact personal or confidential material (s 39). The balance of public transparency and confidentiality affects journalists, researchers and the public interested in judicial remuneration and conditions.

Rights created by statute: The Act creates statutory entitlements to salary, allowances and conditions of service. Section 4 states a judicial officer is entitled to the salary determined by or under the Act, to allowances determined by or under the Act or any other law, and to conditions of service determined by or under the Act or any other law. A judicial officer is specifically entitled to the conditions of service provided for in any applicable entitlement certificate (s 11). Entitlement certificates issued by the Attorney‑General create enforceable entitlements under the Act (s 35(2)).

Salary determination duties: The Attorney‑General must issue a salary certificate specifying the salary of a Supreme Court Judge, salaries of other judicial officers under the salary table, and sessional rates for reserve judicial officers, and must do so as soon as practicable after any adjustment takes effect (s 10(1)-(2)). Any adjustment to the Supreme Court Judge salary is tied to the Federal Remuneration Tribunal determination for Federal Court Judges and the Parliamentary disallowance process under Commonwealth law (s 9).

Panel duties: The Judicial Entitlements Panel has a statutory duty to make own motion recommendations and provide advisory opinions on conditions of service and entitlements (s 16(1)). The Panel must act independently, impartially and in a timely manner (s 16(3)) and may inform itself in any manner it thinks fit (s 16(4)). Before making recommendations or giving advisory opinions, it must invite a nominated public service body Head to provide information about relevant economic and remuneration factors and must notify relevant heads of jurisdiction so affected judicial officers can provide submissions (s 30). When making own motion recommendations, the Panel must take into account a specified list of factors including the importance of the judicial function, comparators in other jurisdictions, CPI movement and the capacity of the State to meet proposals for more generous conditions (s 31(1)).

Attorney‑General duties and discretions: The Attorney‑General may request advisory opinions in writing and may specify factors and timeframes for the Panel to consider (s 27). The Attorney‑General must cause reports of own motion recommendations and advisory opinions to be laid before each House of Parliament within ten sitting days, subject to the Attorney‑General's discretion to withhold or redact personal or confidential information (s 33). The Attorney‑General must lay a recommendation statement within a set period (s 34). Where the Attorney‑General accepts, partially accepts or varies an own motion recommendation, the Attorney‑General must issue an entitlement certificate to give effect to the accepted elements (s 35).

Procedural duties for transparency and record keeping: The Attorney‑General must maintain an electronic register that includes requests for advisory opinions, reports, entitlement certificates, salary certificates and related documents and ensure the register is as publicly accessible as practicable without charge (ss 37-38). The Attorney‑General must include relevant documents in the register as soon as practicable after prescribed events occur (s 38). The Attorney‑General also has a statutory duty to publish entitlement certificates in the Government Gazette as soon as practicable after issuing them (s 36).

Rights to engage in salary sacrifice and retirement payments: Judicial officers have a statutory right to enter into written salary sacrifice arrangements by notice to the Attorney‑General (s 14(1)). The notice must specify an effective date and may be varied or revoked by further written notice (ss 14(2)-(4)). The Act expressly prohibits treating salary sacrifice arrangements as constituting a reduction in salary or aggregate allowances (ss 14(5)-(6)). Certain judicial officers are excluded from the salary sacrifice regime if they made earlier elections under specified earlier Acts (s 14(7)). Separate statutory rights exist for payment out of accrued sabbatical and long service leave on resignation, retirement or death for specified judicial officers up to a 12 month limit (s 12), and for magistrates (other than Chief Magistrate) payment out of accrued annual and long service leave on resignation, retirement or death (s 13).

Administrative procedural rights and immunities: The Panel is not bound by rules of evidence and may appoint persons to assist in inquiries, with remuneration determined by the Secretary (s 16(4); s 23). Acts and decisions of the Panel cannot be invalidated merely because of defects in appointments or vacancies in membership or procedural failings (s 24).

Obligations on consultation and reasons: If the Panel has invited submissions, then when it makes a recommendation or gives an opinion it must give reasons in its report for the recommendation, opinion or for not making one (s 32). The Attorney‑General must lay a recommendation statement stating whether the recommendation will be accepted, varied or not accepted, and must give reasons when not accepting or when varying a recommendation (s 34).

Absence of criminal penalties for substantive entitlements: The Act does not create criminal offences or explicit financial penalties for non‑compliance by judicial officers with regard to salaries, conditions or entitlements. Instead, the Act structures entitlements and administrative processes. The Act does include qualifications and prohibitions, for example exclusion from Panel appointment on certain grounds, including being an insolvent under administration or having been found guilty or convicted of an indictable offence (s 17(4)(f)-(g)). Those latter matters are disqualifying criteria for office rather than penalties imposed by the Act.

Enforcement through statutory entitlement instruments: Enforcement of salary and conditions will primarily operate through the statutory entitlement instruments the Act creates. Entitlement certificates issued by the Attorney‑General create entitlements under the Act (s 35(2)); salary certificates set out the pay rates (s 10). Where an entitlement certificate or salary certificate exists, a judicial officer's right to payment and specified conditions become statutory entitlements, enforceable by the usual mechanisms available for statutory entitlements and public law obligations. The Act itself does not prescribe an internal enforcement tribunal, nor specific remedies, but statutory entitlements can be the basis for administrative review or judicial review where relevant, subject to the usual court processes.

Administrative controls and safeguards: The Act includes procedural safeguards intended to ensure deliberation and transparency. The Panel must invite specified submissions (s 30), take into account enumerated factors (s 31), provide reasons where submissions were invited (s 32), and have its reports laid before Parliament (s 33). These steps function as administrative controls: non‑compliance with these statutory duties could expose the Panel or the Attorney‑General to legal challenge through administrative or judicial review channels, although the Act itself does not create or specify penalties.

Protection against invalidity: Section 24 protects acts and decisions of the Panel from being invalidated solely because of appointment defects, vacancies or procedural non‑compliance. This limits the use of formality‑based challenges to unwind Panel decisions. It is a statutory safeguard that prioritises the substantive effect of Panel decisions over procedural strictness.

Removal from office as sanction: The Act gives the Governor in Council power to remove a Panel member on the Attorney‑General's recommendation if specified grounds are met, including absenteeism, improper conduct, neglect of duty, inability to perform duties or general unfitness (s 20(3)-(4)). That is an administrative enforcement mechanism for maintaining standards of office among Panel members.

Discretionary redaction and non‑disclosure: The Attorney‑General has absolute discretion to withhold or redact reports containing personal or confidential information from tabling before Parliament or the public register (ss 33(3)-(4), 39(1)-(2)). While this is not a penalty mechanism, it is an enforcement power affecting transparency. Misuse of that discretion could be subject to political scrutiny or legal challenge under public law.

Regulation‑making power: The Governor in Council may make regulations conferring powers, duties or exemptions or differing by circumstance (s 40). Regulations can create further enforceable administrative duties or exemptions, and may set out penalties if the Governor in Council so prescribes, subject to the limits and process of subordinate legislation. The Act does not itself set out any monetary fines or coercive penalties in the main text.

Repeals and transitional continuity: The Act repeals the Judicial Salaries Act 2004 and the Judicial Remuneration Tribunal Act 1995 (ss 41-42). It preserves continuity by construing references to the repealed Acts in other instruments as references to this Act where consistent (ss 41(2), 42(3)). Certificates issued under the repealed Judicial Remuneration Tribunal Act 1995 are taken to be entitlement certificates under this Act (s 43(1)-(2)). These provisions ensure that prior determinations and administrative instruments remain effective where intended.

Commonwealth link via Federal Remuneration Tribunal: Section 5(1) explicitly ties the salary of a Supreme Court Judge to the salary payable to a Federal Court Judge under the Federal Court of Australia Act 1976 and the determinations of the Federal Remuneration Tribunal. Section 9 governs the timing of salary adjustments, making an adjustment to the Supreme Court Judge salary contingent on the Federal Remuneration Tribunal determination taking effect and not being disapproved by either House of the Commonwealth Parliament under the Remuneration Tribunal Act 1973. This creates an inter‑jurisdictional dependency where a Commonwealth remuneration determination drives a State judicial salary change.

Constitutional and statutory cross‑references: The Act incorporates definitions and cross‑references to other Victorian statutes governing judicial offices and part‑time commissions, for example the Constitution Act 1975, County Court Act 1958, Supreme Court Act 1986, Magistrates' Court Act 1989, Coroners Act 2008 and the Public Administration Act 2004 (see definitional provisions in s 3). Those cross‑references define who is a "judicial officer", what constitutes part‑time service arrangements and who is a "public service body Head". They anchor the Act within the broader statutory framework governing judicial office and public administration.

Public Administration Act relationship: Section 17(4)(e) excludes persons employed under Part 3 of the Public Administration Act 2004 from appointment to the Panel, while s 19(4) applies the Public Administration Act 2004 (except Part 3) to Panel members. This means certain public service employees are disqualified from Panel membership, but Panel members otherwise fall within the Public Administration Act framework for public office conduct and entitlements.

Subordinate legislation and administrative instruments: The Act contemplates the use of entitlement certificates that may adopt or incorporate documents, codes, standards, rules or specifications issued by other persons (s 35(4)(b)). It also permits regulations under s 40 that can confer discretionary authority, impose duties or provide exemptions. The Act therefore interacts with subordinate instruments when entitlement certificates or regulations adopt or modify existing policies or standards.

Salary sacrifice and prior election regimes: Section 14 permits salary sacrifice arrangements under the Act but excludes certain judicial officers who made elections under earlier provisions of the Constitution Act 1975 and County Court Act 1958 as in force prior to amendments (s 14(7)). Section 44 treats pre‑existing salary sacrifice arrangements made before the 2008 amendment as having full effect and preserved under the relevant pre‑existing law or as if they had been authorised under the new statutory equivalents, thereby ensuring legal continuity between the old election regime and the current salary sacrifice framework.

Parliamentary oversight and confidentiality: The Act creates duties to table Panel reports and recommendation statements before both Houses of Parliament (ss 33-34) but also allows the Attorney‑General absolute discretion to withhold or redact confidential or personal information (ss 33(3)-(4), 39(1)-(2)). This interacts with parliamentary privilege, parliamentary processes and any general laws about confidentiality and information disclosure.

Protection against procedural invalidity: Section 24 limits invalidity challenges to Panel acts and decisions based on appointment defects, vacancies or procedural irregularities. This provision interacts with public law doctrines of jurisdictional error and procedural fairness, potentially narrowing the ground for legal challenges focused on procedural technicalities.

Short summary of amendments recorded in this version: The consolidated version of the Act incorporates amendments up to 29 March 2022. The Table of Amendments in the endnotes records a number of amending Acts and their commencement dates and affected provisions. Significant amendment entries included in the endnotes are:

Justice Legislation Further Amendment Act 2016, No. 3/2016 (assented 16 February 2016), with certain sections commencing 1 May 2016 (Special Gazette 26 April 2016). The endnotes identify s 3(2) note and amendments relevant to the salary table as being affected by this Act (s 5 note).
Justice Legislation Amendment (Court Security, Juries and Other Matters) Act 2017, No. 38/2017 (assented 29 August 2017), with specified sections commencing 30 August 2017. The Act inserted and amended provisions, notably changes to s 12 and s 13 as recorded in the text.
Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal and Other Acts Amendment (Federal Jurisdiction and Other Matters) Act 2021, No. 31/2021 (assented 10 August 2021), with ss 18-20 commencing 26 October 2021. These amendments updated definitions and the salary table, adding the Deputy Chief Judge and adjusting percentages.
Justice Legislation Amendment (Criminal Procedure Disclosure and Other Matters) Act 2022, No. 1/2022 (assented 15 February 2022), with ss 34-35 commencing 29 March 2022, affecting entitlement certificates and related transitional provisions (see s 46).

Commencement staging: The Act's initial provisions (Parts 1 and those specific sections) commenced on 12 August 2015 (the day after assent), while most of the Act came into operation on 1 January 2016 under s 2(3). The endnotes note that Parts 7 and 8 and certain other headings and sections were repealed on 1 January 2017 and additional repeals and insertions occurred in subsequent years (endnotes, Table of Amendments).

Transitional provisions: Part 6 provides transition rules. Notable transitional items include the repeal and substitution of references to the old Acts (ss 41-42), conversion of certificates under the repealed Judicial Remuneration Tribunal Act 1995 into entitlement certificates (s 43), preservation of pre‑existing salary sacrifice arrangements (s 44), and conversion of old office labels to items in the salary table (s 45). Section 46 contains a later amendment (and partial repeal and re‑insertion history) to address how entitlement certificates refer to dual commission holders following the 2022 amendments.

Legislative notes and explanatory material: The endnotes include the Minister's second reading speech dates, the long title, and a short description of the Bill's purpose as enacted. The Explanatory Details section in the endnotes is empty in this version, but the Table of Amendments and commencement notes are maintained.

Practical effect of amendments: The amendments have adjusted definitions, added roles to the salary table (for example Deputy Chief Judge), altered entitlements and streamlined the institutional arrangements. The legislation consolidates longstanding salary and entitlement arrangements and migrates instruments from the old Tribunal model to the new Panel and entitlement certificate model.

Regulatory scope for future change: Section 40 allows the Governor in Council to make regulations of general or limited application, which can differ across circumstances and confer discretionary authorities or exemptions. This creates a route for future subordinate changes that do not require primary legislation.

No judicial decisions or litigation are named or recorded in the text of the Act or its endnotes. The endnotes provide legislative history, commencement dates and amendment entries but do not list any cases applying or interpreting the Judicial Entitlements Act 2015. The Act contains provisions designed to limit procedural invalidity challenges in relation to Panel acts (s 24), which may affect the grounds on which any future litigation might proceed, but the Act itself does not recount any litigation.

Consequently, for research purposes based solely on this statutory text, there is no case law cited. Users seeking litigation on the application, interpretation or constitutional aspects of this Act will need to consult court databases and legal reporting services for decisions after the commencement dates noted in the Table of Amendments. Potential litigation avenues implied by the Act would include administrative law challenges to the Attorney‑General's exercise of discretion in withholding or redacting reports (ss 33(3)-(4), 39(1)-(2)), judicial review of entitlement certificate decisions where a person claims statutory entitlements have been improperly denied or misapplied (s 35), or challenges to the Panel's procedures or findings where there is alleged jurisdictional error; however, s 24 circumscribes invalidity arguments based solely on appointment or procedural defects.

Researchers should also examine decisions under constitutional or employment law principles that touch on judicial remuneration, separation of powers, or entitlement enforcement against the State. Any litigation that tests the Federal Remuneration Tribunal link under s 5(1) and s 9 would likely engage Commonwealth mechanisms and could raise interjurisdictional issues. None of those cases are mentioned in the Act text.

Federal link and timing trap (ss 5(1), 9). The Act ties the Supreme Court Judge salary to the Federal Court Judge salary and defers the effective date of State salary adjustments to the conclusion or effective date of the Federal Remuneration Tribunal determination. That means a change at Commonwealth level, and any Parliamentary disallowance process under the Remuneration Tribunal Act 1973, directly controls when a Victorian Supreme Court Judge's pay can change. Users should not assume the State can adjust Supreme Court Judge salaries independently or immediately; timing is constrained by s 9.
Entitlements require an entitlement certificate to become statutory (ss 11, 35). The Panel may recommend changes, but an entitlement only becomes a statutory condition of service once the Attorney‑General issues an entitlement certificate in response to an accepted or partially accepted recommendation (s 35(1)-(2)). The Panel's own motion recommendations are proposals, not automatic entitlements (s 25). Practitioners should track the Attorney‑General's recommendation statement and the ensuing entitlement certificate; absence of a certificate means no new statutory right yet.
Attorney‑General's absolute discretion on redactions and non‑tabling (ss 33(3)-(4), 39(2)). The Act gives the Attorney‑General absolute discretion to withhold or redact reports from Parliament and the public register if they contain personal or confidential information. This is a legal discretion likely to attract scrutiny but not constrained by prescribed statutory tests. Expect reduced public visibility in such cases and plan for potential information asymmetries.
Panel appointment exclusions limit expertise pool (s 17(4)). Persons who hold or have held judicial office, judicial registrars or non‑judicial VCAT members are prohibited from appointment to the Panel. While the text makes that exclusion explicit, it can be surprising to stakeholders who expect former judges to sit on such panels. The exclusion reduces the experiential overlap between the Panel and the judiciary; the Attorney‑General must consult the Chief Justice before recommending appointments (s 17(3)), which creates a consultation channel but not a veto.
Section 24 limits procedural‑form challenges. The Act protects Panel decisions from being invalidated merely because of defects or irregularities in appointment or procedural compliance (s 24). This restricts a common basis for legal challenge and focuses any judicial review on substantive or jurisdictional grounds rather than technical procedural mistakes.
Salary sacrifice is regulated but not absolute (s 14). Judicial officers may enter salary sacrifice arrangements by written notice to the Attorney‑General (s 14(1)), and the arrangement is not to be treated as a reduction in salary or aggregate allowances (ss 14(5)-(6)). However, specific judges who elected under older regimes are excluded (s 14(7)). Also, the Act does not prescribe tax or superannuation consequences; participants must still consider taxation, superannuation and administrative consequences under other laws and payroll practice.
Reserve pay formula complexity (ss 6-7). Reserve judicial officers engaged on a sessional basis are paid 1/235th of the relevant salary per sitting day (s 7(1)), and a formula in s 7(2) reduces that rate where the person receives a non‑contributory pension. Payroll administrators need to implement these rules precisely; the statute prescribes numeric fractions and deductions that require accurate data on pension entitlements.
Public service Head input and Ministerial nomination (s 30(1)). The Panel must invite a public service body Head nominated by the Minister to provide information on economic and remuneration factors. That creates a structured channel for executive input into what are nominally independent Panel processes and may influence the Panel's assessment of the State's capacity and remuneration context (s 31(1)(h)). Practitioners should anticipate coordinated government submissions and plan engagement accordingly.
Entitlement certificates can incorporate external instruments (s 35(4)). Entitlement certificates may adopt or incorporate codes, rules or standards formulated by other bodies and may do so retrospectively or for future amendments. That means entitlement content can effectively outsource details to external documents, which may change over time and raise questions about parliamentary visibility and review.
Rounding and small arithmetic details matter (s 8). Salaries are rounded to the nearest whole dollar and 50 cents rounds up (s 8). For high‑volume payroll processes and sessional payments, such small arithmetic details have aggregate cost and recordkeeping effects.

For courts, payroll and HR administrators

Implement salary certificates and entitlement certificates promptly. The Attorney‑General must issue a salary certificate after any adjustment takes effect (s 10(2)) and publish an entitlement certificate in the Government Gazette as soon as practicable after issuing it (s 36). Payroll and HR should monitor the Attorney‑General's Gazette notices and the electronic register (s 37(4)) and update pay lines and leave accruals in accordance with the certificates.
Apply the salary table percentages and reserve formulas exactly. Section 5 sets percentage relativities; ss 6-7 specify full time and sessional calculations and the pension deduction rules. For sessional payments use the 1/235th fraction and apply the deduction formula in s 7(2) where a non‑contributory pension applies. Round all salaries to the nearest whole dollar according to s 8.
Track Federal determinations for timing. Because s 9 links State salary adjustments to Federal Remuneration Tribunal determinations and any Parliamentary disallowance process, payroll and finance teams should monitor Federal Tribunal determinations and the Commonwealth Parliament calendar to identify the date on which State salary adjustments may take effect.

For judicial officers and their advisors

Use written notice procedures for salary sacrifice. Section 14 requires a written notice to the Attorney‑General specifying the effective date for any salary sacrifice arrangement and allows variation or revocation by further written notice. Ensure notices specify an effective date that is the date of receipt or a later date as permitted (s 14(2)-(4)). Confirm whether any prior elections under pre‑2005 regimes apply to the officeholder (s 14(7)).
Confirm entitlements only once an entitlement certificate is issued. A Panel recommendation alone does not create a statutory entitlement. Do not assume that an own motion recommendation or advisory opinion confers rights until the Attorney‑General issues an entitlement certificate in accordance with s 35. Where in doubt, request a copy of the operative entitlement certificate and confirm its Gazette publication (s 36).
Keep records for retirement leave pay‑outs. Sections 12 and 13 create specific pay‑out entitlements for accrued sabbatical and long service leave for certain senior judges and for magistrates respectively on resignation, retirement or death. Document accrued leave balances and ensure that entitlements do not exceed the statutory ceiling (s 12(2) caps pay‑outs at a period not exceeding 12 months).

For the Judicial Entitlements Panel and advisers

Follow the invitation and consultation duties. Before making own motion recommendations or giving advisory opinions, the Panel must invite the nominated public service body Head and notify heads of jurisdiction to enable submissions by affected judicial officers (s 30). If you invite submissions, reasons must be given in any report for recommendations or decisions (s 32). Timeliness is a statutory duty (s 16(3)); workplans should reflect mandatory timeframes such as the four year reporting frequency for own motion recommendations (s 26(2)(a)).
Take account of specified factors and state them in reasons. Section 31 lists mandatory factors the Panel must take into account when making own motion recommendations; the Panel must explain how these factors informed its conclusions in the report (s 32). Ensure reasoned reports address judicial function importance, standing, attraction and retention, interjurisdictional comparators, CPI movement, public office conditions in Victoria, and State capacity to fund changes among other relevant matters (s 31(1)(a)-(h)).

For the Attorney‑General and departmental counsel

Follow statutory tabling and time limits. The Attorney‑General must table reports and recommendation statements in Parliament within prescribed times (ss 33-34). If the Attorney‑General intends to accept or partly accept a recommendation, an entitlement certificate must be issued (s 35(1)-(2)). The Attorney‑General must lay a recommendation statement no later than the first sitting day after four months from the tabling of the own motion recommendation report (s 34(3)). Maintain clear records to meet these deadlines.
Use redaction discretion with care and document reasons. Sections 33(3)-(4) and 39(1)-(2) permit the Attorney‑General to withhold or redact confidential or personal information at the Attorney‑General's absolute discretion. If invoking that discretion, document the factual basis for confidentiality to withstand potential scrutiny. Publish as much as practicable on the public register (s 37) to preserve transparency consistent with privacy obligations.
Draft entitlement certificates carefully. Entitlement certificates may adopt external documents, apply retrospectively or prospectively, and specify the commencement date (s 35(4)(a)-(b)). Ensure that entitlement certificates are consistent with other Acts and subordinate legislation, as Panel recommendations cannot be inconsistent with other law (s 25(3)). Ensure entitlement certificates are published in the Gazette and placed on the register promptly (ss 36, 38(e)).

For heads of jurisdiction and public service nominees

Prepare submissions that address s 31 factors. The Act requires the Panel to invite a public service body Head to provide information about economic and remuneration factors in Victoria (s 30(1)). Provide data and analysis on State capacity, CPI movement, public office comparators and other relevant economic metrics that the Panel must consider (s 31(1)(d), (e), (f), (h)).
Notify and assist judicial officers to make submissions. If notified by the Panel, inform affected judicial officers that they may make written submissions to the Panel (s 30(3)). Ensure any internal conflict-of-interest protocols are followed when coordinating submissions.

General compliance and governance points

Maintain the public register and monitor for updates. The Attorney‑General must keep an electronic register and make documents accessible as far as practicable without charge (ss 37-38). Regularly check the register for salary certificates, entitlement certificates and reports to confirm the current state of entitlements.
Be attentive to subordinate instruments. Regulations made under s 40 can alter administrative detail, confer authorities and create exemptions. Monitor the Victorian Government Gazette and legislative instruments for any regulations under this Act.
Consider external legal and tax consequences of salary sacrifice. Section 14 regulates the internal administrative mechanics of salary sacrifice but does not deal with tax or superannuation consequences under Commonwealth law; seek independent tax and superannuation advice when structuring arrangements.
Document everything. Given the Attorney‑General's discretionary powers and the statutory procedures for Panel consultation and reasons, maintain contemporaneous records of notices, submissions, reports, certificates, Gazette publications and register entries to support administrative and legal compliance.

Judicial Entitlements Act 2015

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Judicial Entitlements Act 2015

Source text: opening excerpt

1 Judicial Entitlements Act 2015

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How it interacts with other laws

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