The Members of Parliament (Staff) Amendment (Providing Certainty and Improving Integrity) Bill 2025 amends the Members of Parliament (Staff) Act 1984 to guarantee minimum personal staffing entitlements for non-government parliamentarians and to prevent the Prime Minister from reducing those entitlements by later determination.

This Bill makes targeted amendments to the Members of Parliament (Staff) Act 1984 (MoPS Act) to enshrine fixed minimum staffing guarantees for non-government MPs and remove executive discretion to cut those baselines. Key features include:

• Insertions to section 3 defining terms such as “allocation entity”, “minority party”, “Senior Adviser allocation” and “total number of Government staff”.
• Amendment of section 7 to omit the Prime Minister’s power to set arbitrary staff numbers under determination.
• Addition of a new section 12A establishing a table of minimum entitlements:
  • Opposition: at least 110 personal staff or 22% of Government staff allocation, whichever is greater.
  • Non-government parties with ≥ 8 MPs: at least 25 staff or 5% of Government allocation, whichever is greater.
  • Minor parties (< 8 MPs) and independents: at least 3 personal staff, including one Senior Adviser.
• Prohibition on any instrument under section 12(2) that inconsistent with the new guarantees (void ab initio).
• Transitional rules allowing the Prime Minister limited rule-making power, excluding any reduction of entitlements or imposition of penalties.
• Funding provision clarifying that expenditure flows from parliamentary appropriations.

These measures ensure that no future Prime Minister—regardless of party—can unilaterally undercut the staffing resources necessary for Parliament’s effective scrutiny of the executive.