The Public Service Commissioner has approved an additional five senior public servants to receive pay packets in excess of $488,600, but won't reveal the names of the top earners.
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The commission, which oversees integrity and employment matters across the federal public service, previously revealed it had given special pay deals to 20 top public servants since 2022.
The arrangements relate to members of the top tier of the Senior Executive Service (SES), whose salaries are capped at 65 per cent of the lowest paid departmental secretary - the Veterans' Affairs boss.
But the Public Service Commissioner has the power to greenlight pay packages above the limit, with the practice drawing scrutiny after it was used to install Kathryn Campbell in a secretive Defence adviser role, with a $900,000 remuneration package.
![Public Service Commissioner Gordon de Brouwer. Picture by Elesa Kurtz Public Service Commissioner Gordon de Brouwer. Picture by Elesa Kurtz](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/143258707/13a5a101-b797-4bec-9152-35bdd41c9f92.jpg/r0_277_5267_3229_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
The former Foreign Affairs and Human Services secretary was placed on leave without pay following the publication of the robodebt royal commission report, which found she, on the weight of evidence, gave misleading advice to federal cabinet. She later resigned from Defence.
The latest update on the opaque pay process shows current Commissioner Gordon de Brouwer approved five senior bureaucrats to earn above the notional amount, between his appointment in May 2023 and June 2024.
While the commission has refused to release their names, in response to questions from The Canberra Times, it revealed the list included two Services Australia bureaucrats, two within the Defence portfolio, and one from Home Affairs.
The approved remuneration packages range from $550,000 to $623,160, including super and bonuses.
The list includes:
- Agency within the Defence portfolio; $623,160; approved 11/09/2023
- Department of Home Affairs; $590,000; approved 08/03/2024
- Department of Defence; $550,000; approved 15/03/2024
- Services Australia; $600,080; approved 15/03/2024
- Services Australia; $558,536; 12/06/2024
Former Defence deputy secretary Paddy Gourley slammed the practice, calling out the commission for having "no sensible appreciation of what is proper public sector pay policy".
"Setting deputy secretary rates as a proportion of those for secretaries gets things completely around the wrong way," Mr Gourley said.
"Moreover, secretary pay is now way over-generous ... the over-generosity of secretary and SES pay must be ruefully observed by subordinate staff who have been kept on a pretty tight leash."
The Remuneration Tribunal has since announced a 3.5 per cent pay increase for secretaries from July 2024, meaning the notional amount is now $525,935.
The pay rise means the federal public sector's most senior bureaucrat, Glyn Davis, will be earning $1 million going forward.
The commission's executive remuneration policy states senior public servants will only be approved to earn above the notional amount "in exceptional circumstances".
"Exceptions will be considered by the commissioner where compelling circumstances apply, based on job weight and/or market factors," the policy states.
"Proposals need to be supported by appropriate justification, and where market forces are a factor in justifying the level of remuneration, it will be necessary to provide the market data relied on and any other relevant evidence supporting the proposal."