Remuneration Tribunal Determination 2016/07 Official Travel by Office Holders (Cth)

REMUNERATION TRIBUNAL

Determination 2016/07:

Official Travel by Office Holders

This Determination sets out the provisions that apply when an office holder is required to travel for official business away from their office locality, or home base in respect of a

part-time office holder[a].   It comprises:

[a] In this context, part-time office holder does not include a person paid in accordance with the Part Time Work clause of the Holders of Full-Time Public Office Determination.

Contents

PART 1 – GENERAL

PART 2 – TRAVEL ON OFFICIAL BUSINESS

PART 3 – TRAVEL EXPENSES

PART 4 – OFFICIAL TRAVEL BY MOTOR VEHICLE

SCHEDULE A - REMUNERATION TRIBUNAL TRAVELLING ALLOWANCE RATES

PART 1 – GENERAL

1.1Authority:  The Remuneration Tribunal has made this Determination in accordance with sub-sections 5(2A), 7(3) and 7(4), of the Remuneration Tribunal Act 1973.

1.2Effective Date:  This Determination takes effect on and from 28 August 2016.

1.3Effect on Earlier Determinations:  This Determination supersedes and revokes in full Determination 2015/11 – Official Travel by Office Holders (as amended).

1.4Relationship with other Determinations:  The travel tier relevant to individual office holders is determined in the Determinations that set out remuneration for those office holders.  Those Determinations may contain exclusions or limitations in the application of this Determination to an office or offices, which override, to the extent of any inconsistency, the provisions of this Determination.

1.5Coverage:  This Determination applies to the following offices in the Tribunal’s jurisdiction:

·Judicial and Related Offices;

·Holders of Full-time Public Office;

·Holders of Part-time Public Office;

·Secretaries;

·Specified Statutory Offices (SSOs); and

·Principal Executive Offices (PEOs).

1.6Definitions:  The following definitions apply in this Determination:

1.6.1‘agency’ means the agency to which the office holder is appointed, or the agency that administers the entitlements of the office holder if the office is not part of an agency;

1.6.2‘commercial accommodation’ means accommodation in a commercial establishment such as a hotel, motel or serviced apartment;

1.6.3‘employer’ means the Commonwealth and includes any person authorised to exercise powers, perform acts, grant approvals or give directions for, or on behalf of, the Commonwealth; in respect of Principal Executive Offices it means the employing body;

1.6.4‘home base’ means the town or city in which the office holder’s principal place of residence is located;

1.6.5‘office holder’ means a holder of a public office covered by a Tribunal Determination or a holder of a Principal Executive Office;

1.6.6‘office locality’ means the geographic location of the office holders usual place of work on official business;

1.6.7‘official business’ means business pertaining to or required by the duties of the office holder’s office;

1.6.8‘partner’ means the de facto partner of an office holder as defined in the Acts Interpretation Act 1901.

1.6.9‘spouse’ means husband or wife.

1.7General Principles:  Office holders are not expected to gain or lose financially as a result of travelling on official business.  Office holders must only incur or commit the Commonwealth to meet expenses where funds are lawfully available to do so.  Travel may only be undertaken where its purpose is consistent with the duties of the office holder.  In addition, when making travel arrangements, office holders are to consider:

·      the necessity of travel and potential alternatives to travel, such as teleconferencing or videoconferencing;

·      the total cost of travel, including value for money (the ‘best deal’ for the taxpayer);

·      any travel related administrative guidelines put in place by their agency; and

·      the flexibility to maintain an appropriate balance between work and home responsibilities, as well as safety and security.

PART 2 – TRAVEL ON OFFICIAL BUSINESS

2.1Class of Travel:  Where an office holder travels on official business he or she is entitled to travel at the class of travel set out in Table 2A that is consistent with his or her travel Tier.  The office holder can choose to undertake travel at a lower class if that would be more convenient or appropriate.

TABLE 2A – STANDARD OF TRAVEL

Travel Tier of Office	Class of Travel
	Within Australia	Overseas
Tier 1	Highest available	First class or Business class
Tier 2	Business class	Business class
Tier 3	Economy class	Economy class

2.2Upgrade – Accompanying travel:  An office holder may upgrade his or her class of travel in order to accompany a person travelling at a higher class of travel where it is demonstrably in the interest of the Commonwealth to do so.

2.3Upgrade – lengthy flight:  An office holder who is entitled to travel Economy Class may upgrade to Business Class (for domestic and international travel) where the duration of the flight exceeds five hours.

2.4Accompanied Travel:  An office holder may be entitled to be accompanied by his/her spouse or partner for purposes relating to official business at Commonwealth expense when travelling within Australia or overseas in accordance with this Determination.

2.4.1Accompanied travel may only occur when the office holder’s employer certifies in writing that it is demonstrably in the interest of the Commonwealth, given the purpose of the travel, for the office holder to be accompanied by his/her spouse or partner.

2.4.2Where the office holder’s spouse or partner accompanies him/her, the spouse or partner may travel at the same class of travel as the office holder.

2.5Agency travel providers: Office holders are encouraged to use their agency’s travel-related preferred provider arrangements where these exist.

2.6Frequent flyer points:  Frequent flyer points accrued at the Commonwealth’s expense should not be used for private purposes.

PART 3 – TRAVEL EXPENSES

3.1      Payment of travel expenses: Where an office holder travels on official business which requires an overnight absence, travelling expenses will be met in accordance with the provisions in this Part.

3.2Day travel:  Where travel on official business does not require an overnight absence, no travelling allowance is payable.

3.3Accompanied accommodation costs:  Where the Commonwealth meets the travel costs of the office holder’s spouse or partner accompanying him/her in accordance with clause 2.4 (Accompanied Travel), if evidence is provided that there is a difference in cost between a single and double room in the commercial accommodation used, the amount of the difference shall be added to the amount of travelling allowance that would otherwise be paid.

3.4No double payment:  Where the office holder claims or receives travelling allowance or reimbursement of travelling expenses under any other source or entitlement for the same travel, no payment of travelling allowance or expenses will be made under this Determination.

Travel within Australia – Allowance

3.5Travelling Allowance:  For each overnight absence on business travel within Australia, the office holder, where he or she stays in commercial accommodation, will be paid travelling allowance at the relevant rate in Table A1.A of Schedule A, unless the provisions in clauses 3.6 or 3.7 apply.  Subject to those provisions, the full amount will be paid to the office holder for each overnight absence regardless of the time of departure from, or arrival at, his or her office locality or home base.

3.6Part Payment of Travelling Allowance:  The full amount of travelling allowance in Table A1.A of Schedule A will not be paid in the following circumstances:

3.6.1Accommodation paid for:  Where the cost of accommodation is met by an entity other than the office holder, travelling allowance payable is the relevant ‘Total’ amount shown in Table A2.A of Schedule A for the travel Tier applying to the office.

3.6.2Meals paid for:  Where the cost of a meal or meals is met by an entity other than the office holder, the amount of travelling allowance should be reduced by the relevant meal amount(s) referred to in Table A2.A of Schedule A.

3.7Non-commercial accommodation:  Where an office holder does not stay in commercial accommodation, but stays in accommodation such as the home of a family member or friend, a rate of one third of the specified travelling allowance is payable (rounded upwards to the nearest dollar).

3.8Unavoidable higher accommodation cost:  Where an employer certifies that an office holder is required to obtain high cost accommodation, an additional payment may be made to the office holder in accordance with the following:

(a)  the requirement must be due to the unavailability of accommodation of a reasonable standard at a locality, which would have avoided this additional payment.

(b)the additional payment will be based on the excess cost of accommodation over the travel allowance rate, after deducting the relevant ‘Total’ amount shown in Table A2.A of Schedule A (meals and incidentals).

(c)  the additional payment will be calculated on accommodation expenses and travel allowance for the entire trip.

3.9Additional meals:  Where an office holder is absent for a greater number of meal periods than that covered by the travelling allowance payment (the rate nominally covers 3 meals per day) and provides evidence that actual meal costs exceeded the meal component for the absence, payment at the rates set out in Table A2.A of Schedule A may be made for the additional meal(s).  Subject to employer certification, this may include meal periods on the day of return to an office holder’s home base or office locality where, ordinarily, no travelling allowance would be payable.

Travel Overseas

3.10Accommodation:  When travelling overseas on official business, an office holder is entitled to accommodation at Commonwealth expense.  Accommodation should be at a standard reasonably equivalent to that provided for the office holder in Australia.

3.11Meals and Incidentals:  Office holders travelling overseas on official business are to be paid, for meals and incidentals, an amount equivalent to the total meals and incidentals figures for the relevant destinations published in Schedule 1 Table 2 of Taxation Determination TD 2016/13 (or its successor).

3.11.1For the purposes of clause 3.11, Tier 1 office holders receive the amounts specified in the Taxation Determination for the highest salary group, Tier 2 office holders the amounts specified for the middle salary group, and Tier 3 office holders the amounts for the lowest salary group.

PART 4 – OFFICIAL TRAVEL BY MOTOR VEHICLE    

4.1Vehicle travel:  The following arrangements apply to the use of vehicles where the office holder is not supplied with a vehicle by the agency that can be used for the purposes of travel on official business.

4.2Use of vehicle:  An office holder may choose to hire a vehicle or use his or her own vehicle to travel on official business where it is demonstrably in the interest of the Commonwealth to do so.  In such circumstances the Commonwealth will:

(a)  meet the cost of a rental vehicle; or

(b)  pay a motor vehicle allowance at the rate of 66 cents per kilometre where a private vehicle is used for the journey. Any private vehicle used for this purpose must be comprehensively insured.

4.3Agency vehicle:  These provisions do not apply to any journey commenced from the home base of an office holder where he or she is provided with an agency vehicle at that home base.

SCHEDULE A - REMUNERATION TRIBUNAL TRAVELLING ALLOWANCE RATES

A1.  Travelling Allowance Rates:  The Travelling Allowance rates set out in Table A1.A will apply on and from 28 August 2016.

Table A1.A – Rates of Travelling Allowance (accommodation, meals and incidentals) per overnight absence.

Column 1	Column 2		Column 3		Column 4
TIER 1		TIER 2		TIER 3
CAPITAL CITIES
Adelaide		$386		$362		$283
Brisbane		$434		$411		$331
Canberra		$423		$377		$294
Darwin		$464		$441		$342
Hobart		$372		$330		$258
Melbourne		$442		$382		$299
Perth		$442		$399		$329
Sydney		$442		$400		$311
COUNTRY CENTRES
Non-Specified Country Centres (i.e. not specified below)		$372		$268		$227
NEW SOUTH WALES
Albury	$372		$286		$249
Armidale	$372		$286		$249
Bathurst	$372		$286		$249
Bega	$372		$286		$249
Bourke	$372		$319		$291
Broken Hill	$372		$286		$249
Coffs Harbour	$372		$286		$249
Cooma	$372		$286		$249
Dubbo	$372		$286		$249
Gosford	$372		$294		$266
Goulburn	$372		$286		$249
Griffith	$372		$286		$249
Gunnedah	$372		$286		$249
Lismore	$372		$286		$249
Maitland	$372		$306		$278
Mudgee	$372		$289		$261
Muswellbrook	$372		$286		$249
Newcastle	$372		$319		$291
Nowra	$372		$286		$249
Orange	$372		$309		$281
Port Macquarie	$372		$294		$266
Queanbeyan	$372		$286		$249
Tamworth	$372		$286		$249
Tumut	$372		$286		$249
Wagga Wagga	$372		$298		$270
Wollongong	$372		$290		$262
NORTHERN TERRITORY
Alice Springs		$372		$304		$276
Jabiru		$377		$354		$326
Katherine		$372		$288		$260
Tennant Creek		$372		$286		$249
Yulara		$477		$454		$426
QUEENSLAND
Ayr		$372		$286		$249
Bundaberg		$372		$286		$249
Cairns		$372		$307		$279
Charters Towers		$372		$286		$249
Chinchilla		$372		$297		$269
Dalby		$372		$304		$276
Emerald		$372		$310		$282
Gladstone		$372		$341		$313
Gold Coast		$377		$354		$326
Hervey Bay		$372		$311		$283
Horn Island		$377		$354		$326
Innisfail		$372		$286		$249
Kingaroy		$372		$288		$260
Mackay		$372		$315		$287
Mount Isa		$372		$314		$286
Rockhampton		$372		$286		$249
Roma		$372		$293		$265
Thursday Island		$377		$354		$326
Toowoomba		$372		$286		$249
Townsville		$372		$297		$269
Weipa		$372		$292		$264
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Bordertown	$372		$289		$261
Ceduna	$372		$286		$249
Kadina	$372		$286		$249
Mount Gambier	$372		$286		$249
Naracoorte	$372		$286		$249
Port Augusta	$372		$286		$249
Port Lincoln	$372		$324		$296
Port Pirie	$372		$304		$276
Renmark	$372		$286		$249
Whyalla	$372		$317		$289
Wilpena Pound	$372		$321		$293
TASMANIA
Burnie		$372		$314		$286
Devonport		$372		$299		$271
Launceston		$372		$286		$249
Queenstown		$372		$286		$249
VICTORIA
Ararat		$372		$286		$249
Bairnsdale		$372		$286		$249
Ballarat		$372		$286		$249
Benalla		$372		$286		$249
Bendigo		$372		$286		$249
Bright		$372		$306		$278
Castlemaine		$372		$300		$272
Colac		$372		$292		$264
Echuca		$372		$286		$249
Geelong		$372		$286		$249
Hamilton		$372		$286		$249
Horsham		$372		$286		$249
Mildura		$372		$286		$249
Portland		$372		$286		$249
Sale		$372		$286		$249
Seymour		$372		$286		$249
Shepparton		$372		$286		$249
Swan Hill		$372		$286		$249
Wangaratta		$372		$286		$249
Warrnambool		$372		$286		$249
Wodonga		$372		$286		$249
Wonthaggi		$372		$292		$264
WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Albany	$372		$333		$305
Broome	$437		$414		$386
Bunbury	$372		$309		$281
Carnarvon	$372		$305		$277
Dampier	$372		$329		$301
Derby	$372		$344		$316
Esperance	$372		$295		$267
Exmouth	$432		$409		$381
Geraldton	$372		$329		$301
Halls Creek	$376		$353		$325
Kalgoorlie	$372		$313		$285
Karratha	$477		$454		$426
Kununurra	$379		$356		$328
Newman	$372		$349		$321
Northam	$372		$317		$289
Port Hedland	$437		$414		$386
EXTERNAL TERRITORIES
Christmas Island		$372		$334		$306
Cocos (Keeling) Islands		$462		$439		$411
Norfolk Island		$506		$483		$455

A2.  Meal and Incidental Components:  The rates set out in Table A2.A provide the relevant meal and incidental components of the Travelling Allowance rates set out in Table A1.A.  These rates are specified for the purposes of clauses 3.6, 3.8 and 3.9 of this Determination.

Table A2.A – Meals and Incidentals Components

High Cost Centres (including capital cities and specified country centres listed in Table A1.A and not in Table A2.B)			Non-specified Country Centres (including Group 2 country centres listed in Table A2.B)
Tier 1	Tier 2	Tier 3	Tier 1	Tier 2	Tier 3
Breakfast	$34	$29	$27	$34	$27	$24
Lunch	$48	$41	$30	$48	$28	$28
Dinner	$68	$58	$51	$68	$53	$47
Incidentals	$28	$28	$20	$28	$28	$20
Total	$178	$156	$128	$178	$136	$119

Table A2.B – Group 2 Country Centres

Country Centre	Country Centre
Albury (NSW)	Kadina (SA)
Ararat (Vic)	Launceston (Tas)
Armidale (NSW)	Lismore (NSW)
Ayr (Qld)	Mildura (Vic)
Bairnsdale (Vic)	Mount Gambier (SA)
Ballarat (NSW)	Muswellbrook (NSW)
Bathurst (NSW)	Naracoorte (SA)
Bega (NSW)	Nowra (NSW)
Benalla (Vic)	Port Augusta (SA)
Bendigo (Vic)	Portland (Vic)
Broken Hill (NSW)	Queanbeyan (NSW)
Bundaberg (Qld)	Queenstown (Tas)
Ceduna (SA)	Renmark (SA)
Charters Towers (Qld)	Rockhampton (Qld)
Coffs Harbour (NSW)	Sale (Vic)
Cooma (NSW)	Seymour (Vic)
Dubbo (NSW)	Shepparton (Vic)
Echuca (Vic)	Swan Hill (Vic)
Geelong (Vic)	Tamworth (NSW)
Goulburn (NSW)	Tennant Creek (NT)
Griffith (NSW)	Toowoomba (Qld)
Gunnedah (NSW)	Tumut (NSW)
Hamilton (Vic)	Wangaratta (Vic)
Horsham (Vic)	Warrnambool (Vic)
Innisfail (Qld)	Wodonga (Vic)

Signed on this    2nd    day of August 2016

John C Conde AO

PRESIDENT

Ewen G W Crouch AM

MEMBER