Commonwealth Numbered Acts

PUBLIC SERVICE ACTS AMENDMENT ACT 1982 No. 111, 1982 - SECT 43

43. (1) Section 64 of the Principal Act is repealed and the following section
is substituted: Attachment of salaries of officers

''64. (1) Where judgment has been given for the payment of a sum of money, the
person in whose favour the judgment is given (in this section referred to as
the 'judgment creditor') may serve on the Paying Officer of the Department in
which the officer against whom the judgment was given is employed a copy of
the judgment, certified under the hand of the Registrar or other appropriate
officer of the Court by which the judgment was delivered, and a statutory
declaration stating that the judgment has not been satisfied by the officer,
and setting out the amount due by the officer under the judgment.

''(2) Upon the service on him of a copy of a judgment and a statutory
declaration in pursuance of this section, the Paying Officer shall, as soon as
practicable, notify the officer against whom the judgment was given, in
writing, of the service of the copy of the judgment and statutory declaration,
and require him to state, in writing, within a time to be specified by the
Paying Officer, whether the judgment has been satisfied, and, if so, to
furnish evidence in support thereof, and, if the judgment has not been
satisfied, to state the amount then due under the judgment.

''(3) If an officer fails, within the time specified in the notice given to
him under sub-section (2), to satisfy the Paying Officer of his Department
that the judgment debt has been satisfied, the Paying Officer shall, subject
to sub-section (15), in respect of each pay-day, cause to be deducted from the
salary becoming payable to the officer on that pay-day an amount equal to the
normal deduction in respect of the officer and the pay-day, or such lesser
amount as is, in the opinion of the Paying Officer, sufficient to satisfy the
balance of the judgment debt.

''(4) There is payable to the Commonwealth, by a judgment creditor who causes
a copy of a judgment to be served on a Paying Officer under this section, an
administration fee, at the prescribed rate, in respect of the making of such
deduction as is, or such deductions as are, made under this section in
relation to the judgment debt.

''(5) Where an amount is deducted in respect of a judgment debt, under
sub-section (3), from the salary becoming payable to an officer on a pay-day,
the Paying Officer shall, subject to sub-section (6), cause the amount so
deducted to be paid to the judgment creditor.

''(6) Where an amount is deducted in respect of a judgment debt under
sub-section (3) and the whole or part of the administration fee payable in
relation to the debt has not been paid, the Paying Officer shall-

   (a)  apply, in or towards payment of that fee, the amount of the deduction
        or so much of the amount of the deduction as is equal to the amount
        payable by way of, or in respect of, that fee; and

   (b)  if the whole of the amount of the deduction is not applied in
        accordance with paragraph (a)-pay an amount equal to the balance to
        the judgment creditor.

''(7) Upon the application, in or towards payment of the administration fee
payable in relation to that judgment debt, of an amount deducted in respect of
a judgment debt from the salary becoming payable to an officer on a pay-day-

   (a)  the judgment creditor shall be deemed to have paid the amount so
        applied to the Commonwealth in satisfaction, or partial satisfaction,
        as the case requires, of the administration fee;

   (b)  an amount equal to the amount so applied shall be deemed to have been
        paid by the Commonwealth to the officer on account of salary payable
        to the officer on that pay-day; and

   (c)  an amount equal to the amount so applied shall also be deemed to have
        been paid by the officer to the judgment creditor in respect of the
        judgment debt.

''(8) Upon payment being made, in relation to a deduction from the salary
becoming payable to an officer on a pay-day, of an amount to a judgment
creditor under sub-section (5) or (6)-

   (a)  an amount equal to the amount so paid shall be deemed to have been
        paid by the Commonwealth to the officer on account of salary payable
        to the officer on that pay-day; and

   (b)  an amount equal to the amount so paid shall also be deemed to have
        been paid by the officer to the judgment creditor in respect of the
        judgment debt.

''(9) Where more than one judgment and statutory declaration are served on a
Paying Officer in respect of the one officer, the judgments shall be satisfied
in the order in which copies of the judgments are served on the Paying
Officer.

''(10) A person to whom any payment has been made in pursuance of this section
shall notify the Paying Officer immediately a judgment debt in respect of
which payment was made is satisfied.

Penalty: $100 or imprisonment for 3 months.

''(11) If any payment deemed to have been made to a judgment creditor under
paragraph (7) (c) or (8) (b) by an officer in respect of a judgment debt
exceeds the amount due under the judgment, the excess shall be repayable by
the judgment creditor to the officer, and, in default of payment, may be
recovered by the officer from the judgment creditor in any Court of competent
jurisdiction.

''(12) Where an amount is deemed to have been paid by an officer to a judgment
creditor in respect of a judgment debt under paragraph (7) (c) in relation to
a deduction made from the salary becoming payable to the officer on a pay-day
and an amount is also deemed to have been paid by the officer to the judgment
creditor in respect of the judgment debt under paragraph (8) (b) in relation
to that deduction, for the purposes of sub-section (11), the second-mentioned
payment shall be deemed to have been made after the first-mentioned payment.

''(13) Where an officer ceases to be employed in a Department after a copy of
a judgment given against the officer has been served on the Paying Officer of
the Department or has been forwarded to him under a previous application of
this sub-section and before the Paying Officer of the Department has been
notified that the judgment debt has been satisfied-

   (a)  the Paying Officer shall forthwith after the officer ceases to be
        employed in the Department inform the judgment creditor, in writing,
        that the officer has ceased to be so employed and of the date on which
        he has ceased to be so employed; and

   (b)  if the officer, upon ceasing to be employed in that Department,
        becomes employed in another Department-

        (i)    the Paying Officer shall also inform the judgment creditor of
               the name of the Department in which the officer has become
               employed, of the fact that deductions will be made, in respect
               of the judgment debt, by the Paying Officer of that Department,
               and of the address of that Paying Officer in order that the
               judgment creditor may comply with any obligation imposed upon
               him by sub-section (10); and

        (ii)   the Paying Officer of the first-mentioned Department shall
               forward to the Paying Officer of the other Department all
               documents held by him in relation to the judgment debt,
               together with a statement containing particulars of the
               deductions (if any) made in relation to the judgment debt.

''(14) Where documents relating to a judgment given against an officer are
forwarded to the Paying Officer of a Department (in this sub-section referred
to as the 'relevant Paying Officer') in accordance with sub-section (13)-

   (a)  if the time specified in the notice given to the officer under
        sub-section (2) in respect of the judgment had expired before the
        documents were so forwarded and the officer had failed, within that
        time, to satisfy the Paying Officer concerned at that time that the
        judgment debt had been satisfied-

        (i)    the relevant Paying Officer shall, subject to sub-section (15),
               in respect of each pay-day, cause to be deducted from the
               salary becoming payable to the officer on that pay-day an
               amount equal to the normal deduction in respect of the officer
               and the pay-day or such lesser amount as is, in the opinion of
               the relevant Paying Officer, sufficient to satisfy the balance
               of the judgment debt; and

        (ii)   sub-sections (4), (5), (6), (7) and (8) apply to and in
               relation to those deductions in like manner as they apply to
               and in relation to deductions made in accordance with
               sub-section (3); or

   (b)  in any other case-sub-sections (3), (4), (5), (6), (7) and (8) apply
        as if the copy of the judgment and the statutory declaration concerned
        had been served on the relevant Paying Officer and any notice given to
        the officer in relation to that judgment under sub-section (2) had
        been given by the relevant Paying Officer.

''(15) Where a Paying Officer is satisfied that the deduction of the amount
that he would, but for this sub-section, be required to deduct from the salary
of an officer under sub-section (3) or (14), as the case requires, would cause
severe hardship to that officer, he may deduct a lesser amount.

''(16) If, under sub-section (13), more than one judgment and statutory
declaration are forwarded to the Paying Officer of a Department in respect of
the one officer, the Paying Officer forwarding them shall indicate to the
Paying Officer to whom they are forwarded the order in which they were served
under this section, and, for the purposes of sub-section (9), they shall be
treated as if they had been served upon the first-mentioned Paying Officer in
that order.

''(17) The foregoing provisions of this section shall not apply in relation to
any officer whose estate the Paying Officer is satisfied has been sequestrated
either voluntarily or compulsorily for the benefit of his creditors, and who
has not yet obtained a certificate of discharge.

''(18) In this section, unless the contrary intention appears-

'net salary', in relation to an officer and to a pay-day, means the amount of
salary becoming payable by the Commonwealth to the officer on the pay-day
after deduction from that salary of-

   (a)  any sum deducted from that salary under Division 2 of Part VI of the
        Income Tax Assessment Act 1936;

   (b)  any sum deducted from that salary under Part IV of the
        Superannuation Act 1976; and

   (c)  any other sum deducted from that salary for a prescribed purpose;

'normal deduction', in relation to an officer and to a pay-day, means an
amount equal to 20% of the net salary of the officer in respect of that
pay-day or such greater amount as the officer has, by instrument in writing
delivered to his Paying Officer, specified as the normal deduction for the
purposes of this section;

'officer' includes employee;

'pay-day' means a day on which salary becomes payable to an officer;

'Paying Officer', in relation to a Department, means such officer as the Chief
Officer of that Department appoints as Paying Officer for the purposes of this
section;

'salary', in relation to an officer, means any moneys payable by the
Commonwealth to the officer by way of salary or wages, and includes any moneys
payable by the Commonwealth to the officer by way of an allowance that is a
prescribed allowance for the purposes of this section but does not include any
moneys payable to the officer by way of a weekly payment of compensation under
the Compensation (Commonwealth Government Employees) Act 1971.''.

(2) Where, for the purposes of section 64 of the Principal Act as in force at
any time before the date of commencement of this section, a person has done,
or omitted to do, any act or thing, that person shall, in the application, on
or after that date, of section 64 of the Principal Act as amended by this Act,
be deemed to have done, or to have omitted to do, that act or thing, for the
purposes of section 64 of the Principal Act as so amended.