Federal politicians will receive a 4 per cent pay rise from Thursday, the largest single increase in nearly a decade, taking the base salary of a backbencher from $217,000 to $225,680.
The Remuneration Tribunal, the body that determines the pay and entitlements of public office holders, said the decision was made after a number of “conservative” pay reviews.
MPs will receive their largest pay rise in nearly a decade.Credit: James Davies
“When determining remuneration for the broad spectrum of public offices within its jurisdiction, the tribunal’s primary focus is to provide competitive and equitable remuneration that is appropriate to the responsibilities and experience required of the roles, and that is sufficient to attract and retain people of calibre,” the tribunal said in a note accompanying its decision, which was uploaded to its website on Monday night.
“In setting remuneration, the tribunal continues to set rates below those of the private sector in recognition of the public service being provided by the officeholders.”
The decision takes the salaries of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese from $564,200 to $586,768 and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton from $401,450 to $417,508.
This does not include various allowances, many of which were increased by a modest amount late last week.
The increase is larger than the wage price index which, over the past 12 months, has grown by 3.6 per cent.
The decision also applies to other public office holders such as judges and some executive appointments whose pay increase was backdated to July 1 this year.
The tribunal said it had reached its decision after considering economic data such as inflation and the recent minimum wage decision.
It said MPs and other office holders had not received any increase in base salary in 2020 and 2021 and had only had a “modest increase” of 2.75 per cent in 2022.
The increase is the largest increase in a single year since 2014.
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