Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-03-08 Daily Xml

Contents

SALARY SACRIFICING

The Hon. J.A. DARLEY (14:49): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the minister representing the Treasurer questions regarding salary sacrificing.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.A. DARLEY: I understand there are a number of salary packaging service providers in South Australia that have been chosen by the government to provide salary sacrificing services to South Australian public servants. Further, I understand that the items that may be salary sacrificed by public servants are dependent upon which government department an individual is employed by.

For instance, a public servant employed by the Department of Health may be able to salary sacrifice more items, including mortgage or rent payments, household utility bills and credit card payments, than a public servant employed by the Department of Treasury and Finance, who is limited to salary sacrificing items such as superannuation payments, lease vehicles and computers. My question to the minister is: what are the reasons for the difference in what can be salary sacrificed by public servants depending on which department they are employed with?

The Hon. B.V. FINNIGAN (Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for State/Local Government Relations, Minister for Gambling) (14:50): I thank the Hon. Mr Darley for his questions, and I will refer them to the Treasurer in the other place to bring back a detailed response. I would point out to the honourable member that a lot of laws relating to superannuation and tax and so on are federal matters but, in relation to state public servants and their salary sacrificing arrangements, I recall that the Public Sector Workforce Relations Unit does some work in that regard in facilitating public servants being able to access those arrangements. I will certainly find out more information and bring back some details.