Chapter 2: Remuneration components
The key remuneration components covered by this report are Base Salary, Total Remuneration Package (TRP), Total Reward (TR), and allowances.
Base Salary
Base Salary is an employee’s full time equivalent annualised salary. It includes salary sacrifice amounts such as pre-tax employee superannuation contributions made via salary sacrifice arrangements.
Total Remuneration Package
TRP incorporates Base Salary plus benefits. Benefits include: employer superannuation contribution, motor vehicle cost, executive vehicle scheme, cash in lieu of motor vehicle, motor vehicle parking, personal benefits and other supplementary payments.
Total Reward
TR represents the full remuneration amount for each employee, less allowances. TR is the sum of TRP (Base Salary plus benefits) plus bonuses. Bonuses include: individual performance, retention, sign-on, productivity, and performance by the employee’s group or their whole agency.
Allowances
Allowances are payments that sit outside of TR as TR plus allowances. They cover payments for working conditions, qualifications and work-related expenses. The availability of, and eligibility for, allowances depends on specific conditions provided under an employee’s employment instrument, and particular circumstances of positions.
Movement in remuneration components
Remuneration movements are affected by a number of factors such as general wage increases, progressions within salary increments, promotions, engagements and agency transfers.
The population of each classification also affects the impact of overall percentage changes. This is particularly evident in classifications with a small population such as the APS 1, APS 2, Graduate and SES classifications. Remuneration movements in these classifications will be more heavily influenced by changes in headcount than other classifications.
Figure 2.1 shows the annual proportional change in median weighted Base Salaries for non-SES and SES employees over the last five years. This measure weights the average headcount in consecutive years upon the median Base Salary.
Median Base Salaries increased across all classifications in 2019, except the APS 1 classification. Base Salary increases for non-SES classifications have been influenced by general wage increases in enterprise agreements. Base Salary increases for SES were higher than for non-SES classifications. SES increases have been influenced by a repackaging of benefits into Base Salary for some employees.
