MPs unite to voice concerns after parliamentary clerks and deputies awarded pay rises nearing $100,000 during cost-of-living crisis

Parliamentary clerks have been awarded pay rises so hefty that a group of MPs have branded them “out of touch”.

Parliamentary clerks have been awarded pay rises nearing $100,000 each while their colleagues working in catering or maintenance are facing an increase well below inflation.

MPs from across the political divide have called out the massive bump as being out of step with community expectation during the cost-of-living crisis.

The four executive salaries are not publicly listed and secrecy concerns have been raised but, following a request on Friday, it was confirmed that total remuneration for clerks Rick Crump and Chris Schwarz had risen from $248,946 to about $337,000.

For deputy clerks David Pegram and Guy Dickson, the figure rose from $178,675 to about $265,000.

Only base amounts of their new salaries were supplied but The Advertiser added 11 per cent to account for superannuation, making the before and after figures comparable.

Greens MLC Tammy Franks said the raises were “ludicrous”, and questioned how they could have been approved when the recommendations of a 2021 report on harassment in the parliamentary workplace have still not been fully implemented.

“Shouldn’t that have been a basic KPI?” she said.

South Australian Greens member Tammy Franks. Picture: Supplied

SA-BEST MLC Connie Bonaros. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

She said the raises were especially galling given that other staff in the building – such as library, research, catering, IT support and building maintenance – have had a 1.5 per cent increase floated as part of their enterprise agreement negotiations.

“It’s out of touch and out of order,” she said.

SA-BEST MLC Connie Bonaros said “parliament isn’t improving, it’s deteriorating”.

“I’d like to know what these decisions were based on. Where are the job descriptions? What are the KPIs? Where is the training? Where are the education programs? Because if you ask any member in there, they will tell you they simply don’t exist for members and staff alike,” she said.

One Nation MLC Sarah Game said the increases were greater than the average income of South Australians.

“When most South Australians are struggling to acquire pay increases between 1-3 per cent annually, I find these executive increases totally unacceptable,” she said.

One Nation MLC Sarah Game.

Equal Opportunity Commissioner Jodeen Carney. Picture: Supplied

Equal Opportunity Commissioner Jodeen Carney said the disparity between the clerks’ pay rise and that which could be offered to other parliamentary workers was “striking”.

In a statement provided alongside the figures, the clerks and deputy clerks said they made a salary submission to the presiding officers of the upper and lower houses in November 2022.

“The basis of the submission was that for more than 20 years the clerks and deputy clerks of the two houses had been the lowest paid in Australia and behind all jurisdictions by a significant margin,” they said.

“In addressing the disparity, the presiding officers agreed to re-establish a previous three state average (Victoria, Western Australia and Tasmania) total remuneration benchmark process.”

They said the enterprise bargaining negotiation process for parliamentary staff has begun but no offer has yet been made.

Originally published as MPs unite to voice concerns after parliamentary clerks and deputies awarded pay rises nearing $100,000 during cost-of-living crisis