Anthony Albanese says extra MP staffing is about pressure on staff not favours

The increase to five federal electorate staff is the first since 2007. The number of three electorate staff was established in 1984 before the days of widespread email.

The staffing environment in the 47th Parliament was set by the Prime Minister last June, shortly after taking office, when he cut the advisory staff of independents and minor parties from four (two advisers and two assistant advisers) to one. Mr Albanese had always regarded the number of advisory staff - separate to frontline electorate staff - under the Morrison government as politically inflated.

It led to crossbench uproar with independent Zali Steggall accusing Mr Albanese of "gagging" the teal independents. The decision was partially reversed for Senate crossbenchers, with the adviser staff positions returned to two.

Budget papers reveal $159 million over 4 years (or $39.9 million every year) has been allocated from 2023-24 for additional frontline electorate staff resources for each parliamentarian.

"This is the right thing," the Prime Minister told RN Breakfast. "There used to be 80-odd thousand people in an electorate when I was first elected. Mike Freelander has almost 150,000 people."

"So, it's one added pressure which is there, because there hasn't been an increase in the size of ... on the number of electorates. So, for some people, it's almost doubled."

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The extra funding will also extend travel expenses for every parliamentarian, with the budget papers explaining the need for parliamentarians to be "engaged and responsive to the increased needs of the community."

Mr Albanese has also acknowledged the impact of technology on an electorate staffer's work.

"Previously, you would get letters in the mail when I was first elected. Now, you have emails, you have social media, you have so much pressure on electorate staff. And that is across the board," he said.

The extra staffer has been welcomed by independent ACT senator David Pocock who said, since the election, he has responded to 4847 emails directly from constituents while also managing more than 17,000 from around the country.

"When Australians are facing such huge cost-of-living pressures I understand why some people might be concerned about politicians getting an extra staff member," he said in a statement.

"But after almost a year in the job, it's clear to me that an additional electorate staff member will help provide more support to people in our electorate at a time when they really need it.

"This is a small but welcome change that will deliver tangible benefits to our community."

Ms Steggall has also welcomed the move, but queried his decision over advisory staff.

"The addition of an extra staff member will be a welcome relief for electorate teams nationwide and is consistent with the Jenkins Review findings to ensure safe workplaces," she said.

"However, I am disappointed that the PM did not revisit his decision to arbitrarily allocate two advisory staff for four cross bench MPs in the House and only one for the other eight."

The Prime Minister denied the change to staffing was a consequence of the Sally Rugg Federal Court case.

Ms Rugg settled her workplace law case against Dr Ryan and the Commonwealth for $100,000 and the settlement involved no admission of fault. The case centred around Ms Rugg's allegations that she was required to work "unreasonable" additional hours in breach of the Fair Work Act.

"One of the things that court case was about, of course, was pressure on staff of Members of Parliament," he said. "But that pressure is there across the board, independents, Labor, Liberal, National, and this is across the board.

"It is not singling anyone out for any favours. And this is necessary because of that pressure."

There is also $15 million in the budget for renovations to Parliament House and $57.3 million over four years to improve the culture of parliamentary workplaces for both parliamentarians and staff.

This includes $51.7 million to establish the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service as an independent statutory authority to provide human resources, and work health and safety support to parliamentarians and staff employed under the MoP(S) Act.