57. Where a role needs to be filled for 2 or more working weeks, higher duties allowance will be paid to any employee temporarily occupying the role acting at a classification level higher than their substantive classification level.
58. Higher duties allowance will be equal to the difference between the employee’s current salary and the salary that would be payable if they were promoted to the higher classification level, or a higher amount determined by the Director-General.
59. Where an employee is found to be eligible for salary progression at their acting classification level, they will receive an appropriate increase in the rate of higher duties allowance. The employee’s salary level will be retained for all future periods of acting regardless of elapsed time.
60. Where an employee is assigned only part of the higher duties, the Director-General will determine the amount of allowance payable.
61. Employees will continue to receive payment for temporary assignment of duties while on paid leave and during public holidays for the period that the temporary assignment would have continued but for the leave or the public holiday.
62. Higher duties allowance will be payable while an employee is acting at a higher classification level as part of a job-sharing arrangement where the duration of the arrangement is at least 2 working weeks.
63. The Director-General may shorten the qualifying period for higher duties allowance on a case by case basis.

64. Mature Aged Workers – Employees aged 54 years and over who are approaching, or genuinely contemplating age retirement may be reimbursed, on a one-off basis, up to $751.28 (inclusive of GST) to assist in pre-retirement financial planning, and/or career counselling. This allowance will be increased on 13 March 2025 and 12 March 2026 using the most recently released December quarter all groups CPI as published by Australian Bureau of Statistics.
65. Eye Testing – An employee whose job involves screen-based work may seek an eye test once every two years and where spectacles are prescribed for operating screen-based equipment, the employee will be reimbursed up to $98.53 for single lenses and up to $172.42 for multifocal lenses, in accordance with specified limits as set out in the relevant policy. This allowance will be increased on 13 March 2025 and 12 March 2026 using the most recently released December quarter all groups CPI as published by Australian Bureau of Statistics.
66. An employee will be reimbursed for reasonable costs for loss or damage to clothing or personal effects which occurred in the course of their work.

67. A workplace responsibility allowance will be paid where National Archives has appointed or eligible peers have elected an employee to one of the following roles:

    a. First Aid Officer;

    b. Health and Safety Representative;

    c. Emergency Warden;

    d. Harassment Contact Officer; and

    e. Mental Health First Aid Officer.

68. An employee is not to receive more than one workplace responsibility allowance unless approved by the Director-General due to operational requirements.
69. The rate will be:

70. As a salary-related allowance, this value will continue to be increased in line with headline wage increases. These increases are incorporated in the rates in the table above.
71. The full allowance is payable regardless of flexible work and part-time arrangements.
72. An employee’s physical availability to undertake the role will be considered by agencies when appointing and reappointing employees to these roles. This is noting that not all workplace responsibility roles will necessarily require a physical presence in the workplace for the role to be successfully undertaken, such as Harassment Contact Officers, Mental Health First Aid Officers and Health and Safety Representatives depending on work group arrangements.
73. Casual employees who are eligible to receive a workplace responsibility allowance will be paid the full amount (noting the minimum rate), as varied from time to time provided, they engage in work during any given pay cycle, irrespective of the frequency and duration of the work undertaken.
74. An employee will continue to be paid the allowance while on paid leave and during public holidays provided the employee would have been entitled to the allowance for the period of leave or the public holiday.

75. A community language allowance will be paid where the Director-General determines that an employee is regularly required to use their ability to communicate in Braille or a language other than English (including First Nations languages and Auslan) in the course of their work, and the employee meets the required level of competency set by the Director-General. 

    Further information is included in policy.

The allowance is paid in accordance with the employee’s level of competency:

77. The allowance is calculated annually and paid fortnightly.
78. The full allowance is payable regardless of flexible work and part-time arrangements.
79. The allowance is payable during periods of paid leave.
80. The allowance counts as salary for superannuation purposes and for calculating retirement and redundancy entitlements.

81. Where it is considered to be cost efficient, approval may be given for an employee to use a private vehicle for National Archives’ official purposes and receive a motor vehicle allowance in accordance with the Australian Taxation Office Determination or the cost of alternative car hire, or economy airfare, whichever, is the lesser.

82. A meal allowance is payable to an employee in accordance with Attachment B who:

    82.1 works overtime after ordinary duty for the day, to the completion of, or beyond a meal allowance period without a break for a meal; or

    82.2 is required to work overtime either before or after ordinary duty for the day and who breaks for a meal, but is not entitled to overtime payment for that break; or

    82.3 Is required to work on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday (in additional to normal hours of duty) extending beyond a meal allowance period, provided the employee takes an unpaid meal break.

83. A meal allowance period means the following periods:
    • 7.00am to 9.00am
    • 12 noon to 2.00pm
    • 6.00pm to 7.00pm
    • midnight to 1.00am.
84. This allowance will be increased on 13 March 2025 and 12 March 2026 using the most recently released December quarter all groups CPI as published by Australian Bureau of Statistics.

85. A disruption/disturbance may exist where there are detrimental effects on the working conditions of employees, that the supervisor agrees is unusual, caused by factors including, but not limited to, one or more of the following: loss of amenities, dust, noise, fumes, odours, asbestos, heat, vibrations, cold, wet, dirt, mould, or pests are present.
86. National Archives will take reasonable steps to ensure that employees’ working conditions are not adversely affected by the factors mentioned in clause 85. Such steps may include, but not be limited to, moving the employee to temporary accommodation, allowing short breaks away from work, directing employees to proceed on Other Paid Leave or temporarily providing equipment or facilities to improve conditions.
87. Where a disruption/disturbance still exists, the National Archives will recompense each affected employees $14.22 per day. If employees are relocated, they will be reimbursed for any additional costs associated with that relocation but will not receive the recompense for the disruption.
88. This allowance will be increased on 13 March 2025 and 12 March 2026 using the most recently released December quarter all groups CPI as published by Australian Bureau of Statistics.

89. Where an employee is recalled to duty to meet an emergency, and no notice of the recall was given to the employee before ceasing ordinary duty, the employee will be paid for such emergency duty at the rate of double time. The time for which payment will be made will include time necessarily spent in travelling to and from duty. The minimum payment under this clause will be two hours.

90. Where the Director-General directs an employee to be contactable and to be available to perform extra duty outside ordinary hours, the employee will be paid Restriction Allowance of $3.47 per hour. The allowance increases to $3.61 per hour from 13 March 2025 and to $3.73 from 12 March 2026.
91. Where the employee is recalled to the workplace, the time spent on duty and time spent travelling to and from the workplace will be included in the determination of the amount of overtime payment. The minimum payment is two hours.
92. Where an employee is contacted but not required to attend the workplace, the minimum payment is one hour.
93. An employee cannot be paid Restriction Allowance for the period where the overtime payment provision applies.