Management advisory committee members are contractors appointed by the AFMA Commission under Division 5 – Committees, of the Fisheries Administration Act 1991 (PDF, 3.9 MB) (FAA). Appointments are statutory, so members are considered AFMA officers. Members are paid sitting fees and can seek reimbursement for expenses incurred. Member may also be eligible to receive 15.4 per cent superannuation.
Read the Fisheries Management Paper 1 – Management Advisory Committees for more information on the operation of management advisory committees.
Rates for daily sitting fees and travel expenses
Members are eligible to claim a daily sitting fee for attendance at committee meetings, or time spent on MAC business or official travel. Members may also claim reimbursement of expenses incurred while on MAC business, including for flights, accommodation, meals, taxis, parking and incidentals. The rates used to determine the maximum amount that can be claimed for these items are set by the Remuneration Tribunal. Fisheries Management Paper 1 provides guidance on how AFMA administers payments for daily sitting fees and travelling expenses. Your AFMA member can advise on what constitutes MAC business.
The current daily sitting fee amounts are:
- chairs – $862 per day
- members – $646 per day.
View the full Remuneration determination of Public Offices for Part-time Offices.
Calculation of daily fees
Meeting Days
(1) The amount of a daily fee paid to an office holder for a meeting day is:
(a) if the office holder’s qualifying meeting day time is less than 2 hours— 40% of the daily fee; or
(b) if the office holder’s qualifying meeting day time is at least 2 hours and less than 3 hours—60% of the daily fee; or
(c) otherwise—100% of the daily fee.
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), qualifying meeting day time is time that an office holder spends on a meeting day:
(a) attending a formal meeting; or
(b) on authority business; or
(c) on official travel time.
Non-meeting days
(3) The amount of a daily fee paid to an office holder for a non-meeting day is 20% of the daily fee set out in Table 4A for each hour, to a maximum of 5 hours per day, that the office holder spends:
(a) on authority business; or
(b) on official travel time.
Making a claim: for MAC members
Claims for daily sitting fees and expenses must be submitted within three months of the meeting you are claiming for. You can submit your claim by completing the following forms, and sending to your Executive Officer. You must attach copies of receipts for any expenses being claimed. Sitting fees can only be claimed for the number of hours or days that the meeting took place. Allowances are only payable if there is at least one overnight stay (section 3.3 Day Travel in RTD number 2004/03)
- MAC Chair and member daily sitting fee claim form (PDF)
- MAC Travel Allowance and Mileage Rates claim form (Word)
Superannuation
Members are eligible to receive superannuation in line with the superannuation guarantee rate, paid into an Australian Taxation Office authorised superannuation fund.
Members must complete and return the following forms to their Executive Officer:
- Superannuation Standard Choice Form – this is an ATO requirement
- Superannuation fund details form (PDF, 8kb) – details of where superannuation contributions should be paid
- PSSap application form – only for members whose preferred super fund is not Australian Taxation Office authorised.
New management advisory committee members
All new management advisory committee members must complete and return the following forms to their relevant Executive Officer:
- an Australian Taxation Office Tax File Declaration form – available from the ATO or most newsagencies
- a Members Payment Details form (PDF, 304 KB)
- a Vendor Creation form (PDF, 128kb)