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Policy 027:
Travel & Accommodation Policy

1. Purpose

Decisions whether an AUQA staff member or auditor will travel to a particular country at a particular time and for a particular purpose are made on academic and professional grounds.

The policy applies to AUQA staff, and, in the case of audit-related travel, to honorary auditors, except that AUQA cannot override the instructions or requirements of an auditor’s employer in relation to whether they are permitted to travel.

See also ‘Administrative Arrangements for Honorary Auditors’, AUQA Audit Manual

2. Policy

Requirement

• Staff will not be unreasonably required to undertake international travel.

Travel Class

• All air travel funded by AUQA is by economy class.
  
  Some exceptions apply for overseas travel:
  
• Due to the tight timeframe for any overseas visits that may occur as part of an audit, panel members are entitled to business class fares for these visits. International auditors are entitled to an economy class return air fare, travelling by the most direct route between their home base and the venues for the Portfolio Meeting and Visits. If international auditors travelling to AUQA have an air travel time of more than 15 hours, business class travel will be considered. For 12 – 15 hours of air travel time a Premium Economy fare will be considered, where available. Air travel time is calculated from first take off to final landing. Travel is by economy class if periods of annual leave are taken at either end of the work-related activity.
• An auditor may participate in a Portfolio Meeting via teleconference in exceptional circumstances.

Bookings

• All travel bookings should be made through the AUQA office by submitting a Travel Booking Form to the Events & Travel Manager. The form is available here http://www.auqa.edu.au/qualityaudit/formsforauditors/
• An itinerary for approval will be sent to the Auditor once the booking form has been processed. Special care should be taken when completing the form and approving the itinerary, as changes after approval incur significant fees.
• Independent travel arrangements may be made only with prior approval of cost from the Events & Travel Manager. In all instances the intention is to secure the best fare available. AUQA normally books ‘Super Saver’ fares.
• Stopovers are permitted, provided there is no extra cost to AUQA.
  
  Frequent Flyer points
• Frequent Flyer points acquired from travel paid by AUQA must be used for AUQA purposes.

Accommodation and local transport while travelling

• Accommodation should provide a safe and secure environment and be convenient to the place of work.
• The accommodation should provide value for money. In many countries, this means that accommodation will be at the 3 or 4 star level (although in some areas, 5 star level accommodation may be required).
• Public transport (including taxis) should normally be used, if it is a safe and economical means of travelling locally.

Security

Before overseas travel is confirmed, the current status of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s (DFAT’s) travel advice for that country is consulted www.dfat.gov.au. From time-to-time travel advisories are changed, and these will be updated by AUQA as required.

• Current DFAT travel advisories fall into seven broad levels:

1. To exercise good personal security awareness.
2. To be alert to their own security.
3. To exercise caution and be aware of developments that might affect their safety.
4. To exercise a high degree of (or “extreme”) caution. If the Australian Government judges that the overall threat environment in a country is high, Australians are advised to exercise a high degree of caution.
5. To defer non-essential travel (or “consider” deferring non-essential travel). There may also be advice to Australians in the country to consider leaving unless they have compelling reasons to stay.
6. To defer (or avoid) all travel. There may also be advice to Australians in the country to depart as soon as possible using available commercial means.
7. Not to travel and, for Australians in the country, to depart immediately by whatever means available. In some situations, such as ongoing or imminent conflict, the advice may be for Australians in the country to remain indoors in as safe a place as is possible.

1. If there is no DFAT advisory or the level is 1, 2 or 3, travel will proceed.
2. If the advisory level is 6 or 7, travel will not proceed, and if this level of advisory is declared while staff are already in that country on AUQA business they will leave it expeditiously.
3. If the advisory level is 4 or 5, the explicit approval of the Executive Director must be sought for the travel.

3. Guidelines for Travel in Case C

1. Is the travel to a particularly problematic part of the country? Eg the far south of Thailand or the Philippines or the far west of Indonesia would be more problematic that the vicinity of the capital.
2. Will the travellers be escorted at all times by local contacts, including being met at the airport on arrival?
3. Is the intended accommodation deemed to be reasonably secure?
4. Can the activity be conducted at some other time? This would typically include visits to carry out training or other consulting.
5. Visits in relation to an audit are usually deemed essential, and it is rarely possible to change the timing thereof.
6. The timing of conferences is also fixed, but the travel is not usually so essential to AUQA’s activities. Visits to speak at a conference (in Case C) are at the discretion of the staff member.
7. If the travel is approved, the AUQA staff member must
   
   
   • contact the Australian embassy in that country, unless the visit is for less than one day;
   • keep their contact details current at all times, and
   • maintain their email and check in regularly to the home office whilst travelling to ensure they are aware of any changes to the security status of the countries they are visiting.

4. Insurance Issues

Details of Travel Insurance Policy

Schedule of benefits:

TRAVEL against Government Advice:
The insurance cover applies if there is no travel advisory, or there is an advisory of Levels 1-4, or there is an advisory of Level 5 and travel is deemed essential. Otherwise, the insurance does not apply, and in particular Section L of the policy (ie refund of deposits) does not apply if the travel plans were made after the travel advice or warning has been reported in the mass media in relation to any of our intended destinations.

Approval

This policy was approved on 22 November 2005
This version was approved on 03 June 2008