Section 3 of the Constitution of Australia deals with the salary of Governor General. The salary of Governor-General is paid from the Consolidated Revenue Fund and is regulated by the Constitution, which fixed the initial salary at £10,000, an amount that would not increase until 1974.
Section 3 of the Constitution states :
The salary remained unchanged at £10,000 until the introduction of decimal currency in Australia in 1966 when it became A$20,000 and remained unchanged until 1974. The 1st Governor-General, Lord Hopetoun, received no allowance for maintaining Government Houses in Melbourne and Sydney nor for staff, travel or other expenses. Instead the Governor-General was required to meet these from the fixed salary.[1] The 2nd Governor-General, Baron Tennyson fared slightly better, with an allowance for the operation of Government House in Melbourne and Sydney,[1] [2] and the Official Secretary to the Governor-General was paid by the Australian government.[1] The Governor-General was required to meet staff salaries and some household expenses from their salary. The requirement to meet staff salaries continued until the retirement of the 12th Governor-General, Sir William McKell, with half his salary going on "staff sustenance". The contribution to household expenses continued until the retirement of the 17th Governor General, Sir Paul Hasluck.[1] Before the appointment of Sir John Kerr as the 18th Governor-General in 1974, the salary was increased to $30,000,[3] and the government covered all expenses.[1] Today, the salary is set to be slightly higher than that of the Chief Justice of the High Court, over a five-year period.[4] Until 2001, Governors-General did not pay income tax on their salary; this was changed after the Queen agreed to pay tax.[5]
| Years of office | Name | Salary | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | 1974–1977 | The Right Hon. Sir John Kerr, | align=right | $30,000 | ||
| 19 | 1977–1982 | The Right Hon. Sir Zelman Cowen, | align=right | $37,000 | [6] | |
| 20 | 1982–1989 | The Right Hon. Sir Ninian Stephen, | align=right | $70,000 | [7] | |
| 21 | 1989–1996 | The Hon. William Hayden, | align=right | $95,000 | [8] | |
| 22 | 1996–2001 | The Hon. Sir William Deane, | align=right | $58,000 | [9] | |
| 23 | 2001–2003 | The Right Rev. and Hon. Peter Hollingworth, | align=right | $310,000 | ||
| 24 | 2003–2008 | Major General The Hon. Michael Jeffery, | align=right | $365,000 | [10] | |
| 25 | 2008–2014 | The Hon. Dame Quentin Bryce, | align=right | $394,000 | [11] | |
| 26 | 2014–present | His Excellency General The Hon. Sir Peter Cosgrove, | align=right | $425,000 | [12] |
The ten thousand pounds specified by the Constitution referred to the currency in use in Australia in 1901, pound sterling. This was replaced by the Australian pound in 1910,[13] [14] which was linked to the gold standard at parity to £ sterling until 1931.[15] When the United Kingdom abandoned the gold standard in 1931, the Australian pound was devalued and traded at a discount to pound sterling of around 25%.[16] The Australian pound was replaced by the Australian dollar on 14 February 1966, where £1 Australian equalled A$2.[17]
It has been argued unsuccessfully that that legislation passed in Australia since 1966 is unconstitutional because it has been signed by Governors-General who were paid in dollars, not pounds as specified by section 3 of the Constitution.[18] [19]