How new travel policy affects you

The updated ACU Travel Policy 2016 involves key changes that will affect staff. Find out more.

University’s acknowledgment of staff that needs to travel and book travel for University business and make use of all available travel resources and to utilise the best available airfare.

There has been an agreement with University and Campus Travel regarding preferred hotels to provide better choices and significant discount when booked via Campus Travel.

There is now a requirement that all travel booking will be made through Campus Travel.

There is an update on cost limits for accommodation for all staff, Executive Group and Senior Executive Group. Accommodation should be selected from ACU’s Preferred Hotels and Senior Executive Hotels listings.

When other accommodation is booked it must be within the stated cost limits for each capital city and align with the University’s Reimbursement Policy.

Other key changes include:

• A procedural change of travel funded via ODVCR or Research Funded.
• Clarification on the Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) status on Personal Travel (7.9.1), specifically on where private travel (approved annual/long service leave, at the mangers discretion) is combined with official University travel, the trip must be principally for business purposes; the private travel component must only be incidental to the overall purpose of the trip and cannot exceed 15 annual / long service leave days for it to be accepted as ‘No Private Use’. ‘Private Use’; attracts liability for Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT). In circumstances where approved annual/long service leave is not incidental or is greater than fifteen (15) days, even where incidental, the purpose of travel will be considered ‘Dual Purpose’ and the private travel component of the University business related airfare will not be treated as a University expense.

Further steps:

• Implementation of a new booking tool that makes business travel easy, efficient and compliant which should include booking, approval and expense management.
• Transparent communication on ACU Website, SharePoint as well as offering Workshops.
• Furthermore I would like to point out that this policy is a ‘living document’ and will change continuously.

Read the full ACU Travel Policy here.