ACT government executives can claim a $51,000 relocation allowance similar to the "stamp duty" perk criticised recently by the Prime Minister.
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Senior staff hired outside the ACT are eligible for the allowance, covering costs such as real estate agent fees and stamp duty on the sale of their former home.
It was last reviewed by the ACT Remuneration Tribunal in 2016 and applies to heads of service, directors-general and executive appointments.
ACT Remuneration Tribunal chair Anne Cahill Lambert said the allowance was heavily scrutinised and every cent accounted for.
"Latterly we have been itemising our determinations," she said.
"We take into account the consumer price index, labour costs and that sort of thing.
"We also have in our mind the idea that we want to attract and retain good people in the ACT.
"It is also a maximum amount that can be spent.
"Each item has to be justified. It's not, 'Here's $50,000 to get white-gloved people to pack up your house'."
The maximum amount senior staff can claim is $51,533 - up to four times higher than the relocation allowance offered to lower-tier employees.
Nurses, ambulance staff and other public officials are eligible for relocation costs of $12,000, with between $1750 and $2000 on top for each dependant moving with them.
"I have people ask me all the time, 'Why don't nurses get as much as the head of the health department'," Ms Cahill Lambert said.
"I don't decide those emoluments at all. That's something they negotiate through their workplace arrangements. That process is separate to this."
New South Wales, the only other jurisdiction to publish a cap on relocation allowances, offers senior executives up to $65,000 for moving expenses.
"I think our level of transparency is higher than anywhere else," Ms Cahill Lambert said.
"We publish all our submissions and so forth. No one else publishes the reasons for their decisions. Our level of transparency is second to none."
The federal public service was criticised by Malcolm Turnbull after it was reported departmental secretaries were eligible to pay for stamp duty with their moving allowance.
In a letter to the federal Remuneration Tribunal, Mr Turnbull reportedly described the allowance as "beyond community expectations" and requested it be reviewed as soon as possible.
