An electorate support budget (ESB) is provided to all parliamentarians to allow for the travel of electorate employees and the employment of relief electorate employees. You can employ non-ongoing and casual employees solely against the ESB. You cannot employ ongoing employees solely against the ESB.
All salary costs for employment against the ESB are debited from the ESB. This includes salary paid during all leave periods taken by an employee and the salary of any person employed as a ‘replacement’ during a period of leave. Other non-salary payments to the employment such as employer superannuation contributions, casual loading, electorate staff allowance, studies assistance, discretionary payments, severance benefits and payment in lieu of unused leave are not debited from the ESB.
Parliamentarians are advised of their ESB at the beginning of each financial year. The ESB is a dollar amount calculated in accordance with Schedule C of Determination 2023/10: Staff travel and relief staff arrangements (see related resources).
Queries about staff employment costs debited from the ESB should be directed to the MaPS helpdesk.
Details of employee travel are available in the PEMS "Travel Expenses" tile and via the "Reporting - Office Information" tile to assist you to monitor and manage your ESB. Queries about travel should be directed to the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority (IPEA).
All parliamentarians may nominate one electorate employee to travel without debit from the ESB or swap the travel arrangements of an electorate employee with a personal employee. Details of this are set out in Determination 2023/10. Nominations are made through the IPEA, by completing the electorate employee travel nomination form (see related resources).
Keeping track of budgets
Budget reports are available for the office to track budget expenditure.
If you are authorised to access the "Reporting - Office Information" tile within PEMS, the following budget reports are available:
- office expenses budget
- family reunion travel
- electorate support budget
- travel allowance for party political duties other than in Canberra, and electorate duties outside your electorate
- travel on unscheduled commercial services within your electorate
- privately leased office costs (satellite office expenses budget).
These reports will provide details of expenditure claimed. It is important for you to maintain a running record of all committed expenditure to accurately track against budgets.
If the ESB is exhausted, it is a debt owed to the Commonwealth and must be repaid by the parliamentarian.