The public service's new million-dollar man

The Remuneration Tribunal, which sets the wages for secretaries and parliamentarians, announced a 3.5 per cent pay rise for the offices in its jurisdiction from July 1, 2024.

It will mean a pay bump of about $34,000 for the public service's top secretary, taking his annual remuneration over the million-dollar mark.

The Remuneration Tribunal handed down its decision on Monday. It follows a 4 per cent pay rise in 2023.

The highest-paid secretary, Prime Minister and Cabinet secretary Glyn Davis, currently earns a total remuneration of $977,200 per year.

From July 1, that figure will rise to $1,011,410, given the tribunal's practice is to round up to the nearest $10.

Total remuneration is inclusive of salary, allowances, benefits and superannuation.

Treasury secretary Steven Kennedy will be handed a more than $33,000 pay increase, taking his annual remuneration to about $986,120.

Secretaries in the level three departments, including the Attorney-General's, Defence, Education, Finance, Home Affairs and Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, will take home up to $960,840 per year from July 1.

Other secretaries in this pay bracket include those from the departments of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Employment and Workplace Relations, Foreign Affairs and Trade, Health and Aged Care, Home Affairs, Infrastructure and Social Services.

If secretaries in level three departments are on the lower pay point, their new total remuneration will be $910,270.

The secretaries of the two departments in level four, Industry Science and Resources and Veterans' Affairs, will earn $859,700 in the top pay point or $809,121 on the lower pay point from July 1.

The 3.5 per cent pay rise will also apply to members of parliament, judicial offices and principal executive offices.

The base salary for MPs and senators will rise to $233,660 from July 1.

It means Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who receives 160 per cent on top of the base salary, will earn an annual salary of $607,516.

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, who gets an additional 105 per cent of the base salary, will be earning $479,003 per year.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton gets 85 per cent loading on the base salary, taking his new annual salary to $432,271.

The tribunal noted it considered the annual wage reviews of the Fair Work Commission in its deliberations as well as the federal government's budget outlook.

On June 3, the Fair Work Commission increased the national minimum wage by 3.75 per cent.

The tribunal said its focus was to provide "competitive and equitable remuneration" that was sufficient in attracting and retaining "people of calibre".

Since 2015 the tribunal has awarded a cumulative total of pay increases of 18.25 per cent, which it said was modest.

"In contrast, remuneration increases more generally in the public and private sectors (based on overall March WPI data from 2015 - 2024) have equated to 24.4 per cent," the tribunal said.