Commonwealth Consolidated Acts Commonwealth Consolidated Acts(1) A Parliamentary Service employee is entitled to review, in accordance with the determinations, of any Parliamentary Service action that relates to his or her Parliamentary Service employment. However, a Parliamentary Service employee is not entitled to review under this section of Parliamentary Service action that consists of the termination of the employee's employment.
(2) The determinations may prescribe exceptions to the entitlement.
Note: For example, the determinations might provide that there is no entitlement to review if the application for review is frivolous or vexatious.
(3) Without limiting subsection ( 1), determinations made for the purposes of that subsection may provide for the powers available to the Merit Protection Commissioner, or any other person or body, when conducting a review under the determinations.
(4) Determinations for the purposes of subsection ( 1):
(a) may provide for an initial review to be conducted within the relevant Department; and
(b) may provide that applications for review of particular kinds of Parliamentary Service action are to be made directly to the Merit Protection Commissioner; and
(c) must provide for an application for review to be referred to the Merit Protection Commissioner if the applicant is not satisfied with the outcome of an initial review within the relevant Department; and
(d) in the case of a review following an application or referral to the Merit Protection Commissioner--must provide for the review to be conducted by:
(i) the Merit Protection Commissioner; or
(ii) a person nominated by the Merit Protection Commissioner; or
(iii) a 3 member committee constituted in accordance with the determinations.
(5) A person or body that has conducted a review under this section may make recommendations in a report on the review but does not have power to make any binding decision as a result of the review, except as provided by the determinations.
(6) If the Merit Protection Commissioner is not satisfied with the response to recommendations contained in a report on a review under this section, the Merit Protection Commissioner may give a report on the matter to the Secretary of the relevant Department and to the Presiding Officers, for presentation to the Parliament.
(7) In this section:
"action" includes a refusal or failure to act.
"Parliamentary Service action" means action by a person in the capacity of a Secretary or Parliamentary Service employee.
"relevant Department" , in relation to Parliamentary Service action, means the Department in which the person who did the action was at the time of the action.