5. Remuneration Guidelines for Directors and Senior Executives in Government Owned Corporations

Government Owned Corporations (GOCs) have a charter to operate in a commercial manner and to apply to the maximum extent possible commercial and competitive management practices. Remuneration policies of GOCs should be designed to enhance their ability to attract and retain high calibre staff.

Notwithstanding this, the State Government is subject to high levels of public accountability in all areas of its operations and conduct. Public expectations of accountability extend, by way of ownership, to the Queensland GOC sector.

With respect to remuneration, the over-riding priority of the Government is to ensure that arrangements are:

• consistent with required levels of public sector accountability; and
• broadly aligned with comparable industry benchmarks.

These guidelines aim to ensure an open and transparent approach to GOC remuneration arrangements which are to be fully disclosed to the Treasurer and relevant portfolio Ministers as shareholding Ministers in conjunction with the Premier.

For the purposes of these guidelines:

• "remuneration" means all monetary benefits conferred upon Senior Executives in return for their services, including but not limited to salaries, wages, leave entitlements, salary sacrifice arrangements, performance incentives or bonuses and other allowances or concessions;
• "Senior Executive" has the same meaning as that afforded under the GOC Act; and
• "GOCs" encompass GOC subsidiaries.

In this regard, GOC Boards are expected to:

• establish, approve and maintain a remuneration policy for Senior Executives. All Senior Executive remuneration arrangements should be consistent with this policy. The Board is also required to submit this policy and any amendments or variations to this policy to shareholding Ministers, and to seek the views of shareholding Ministers, in conjunction with the Premier, on this policy.
  • information provided should be sufficiently detailed to enable shareholding Ministers, in conjunction with the Premier, to be satisfied that remuneration arrangements are appropriate, having regard to the Government's over-riding priorities outlined above.
• outline this remuneration policy in the Statement of Corporate Intent (SCI).
• keep shareholding Ministers, in conjunction with the Premier, informed of the remuneration arrangements of Senior Executives on a regular basis, including the policies and processes by which remuneration arrangements have been determined. This advice must be provided in writing and should detail the nature and amount of the proposed remuneration, and the way in which the proposed remuneration has been determined. The advice should be submitted to shareholding Ministers, in conjunction with the Premier, before any variation is made to the Senior Executive's remuneration arrangements.
• detail the nature and amount of each element of the emolument of each Director and each of the five named Senior Executives receiving the highest emolument within the GOC's SCI. This should be completed on a similar basis to that required by Corporations Law for annual Directors' Reports by listed public companies.
• detail the nature and amount of each element of the emolument, excluding any performance based, at risk, incentive bonuses, of each Director (named) and each of the five Senior Executives (by position/title) receiving the highest emolument within the GOC's Annual Report.
• GOCs must disclose in the Financial Statements the aggregate base remuneration (that is, excluding any performance based at risk incentive bonuses) of all Senior Executives whose base remuneration for the financial year is $100,000 or more and the number of executive officers whose total remuneration for the financial year falls within each successive $10,000 band, commencing at $100,000.
• for Annual Reports, a note is to be attached to the relevant disclosures indicating that Senior Executives may also earn performance based at risk incentive bonuses.

September 2000

Last reviewed: 17 July, 2009

Last updated: 22 July, 2009

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