Another pay rise for federal judges
The Age
Wednesday October 14, 2009
FEDERAL judges have been awarded a second pay rise in a month after a tribunal indicated it would defy a call by Attorney-General Robert McClelland to exercise wage restraint.The Remuneration Tribunal has ruled that the workload of federal judges has become more difficult and flagged a 6 per cent pay rise over the next two years to judges in the Federal Court, Family Court and High Court.The rise follows a separate 3 per cent general increase last month to the judges and results in an overall $15,165 boost in pay for federal and family court judges to $348,825 a year.The latest rise follows a review into whether federal judges should receive higher pay because the expanded role of federal magistrates has changed the work of superior courts and made their cases more complex.The tribunal had indicated last year it would award a 6 per cent rise.But in a letter in May to the tribunal president, John Conde, Mr McClelland said he had "significant concerns with your proposal to increase remuneration by 6 per cent whether over two years or even a one-year period . . . in the current economic climate and while a restructure of the federal courts is being implemented".But the tribunal, which initiated the review, has flagged it will reject the call. It said "economic circumstances" precluded a full 6 per cent increase €“ but proceeded to award an initial rise of 1.5 per cent and flagged three further rises of 1.5 per cent by May 2011. While these future rises will depend on the economic situation, the tribunal noted that "the economic situation appears to be improving, although this is not certain".Mr McClelland's spokesman said the decision was welcome and consistent with the Attorney-General's earlier representations to Mr Conde.The tribunal said it had considered the length of cases, the number of judges on the court and the increasing legal and factual complexity of the judicial workload."Complexity is not a concept that is easily defined," said the tribunal."With respect to the Federal Court, the tribunal noted the increased breadth of law, including the number of legal and factual issues both across caseload and within individual cases, which a Federal Court judge must now consider to fulfil his or her day-to-day duties."The tribunal rejected a claim by Federal Court judges that their pay was too low compared with their High Court colleagues and preserved the relative pay rates between the courts.
© 2009 The Age