This Section contains information on the following:

1   Types of Travel Claims

Claims for travel will comprise:

• payments of allowances;
• reimbursement of expenses incurred;
• payment in advance of anticipated travel expenses;
• acquittal of the advance upon return to duty; or
• a combination of any of the above.

The discretion as to whether an allowance can be claimed rests with the Head of School except for overseas accommodation which must be claimed on the basis of actual expenses only. Otherwise payment will be made on the basis of receipts furnished with the claim.

2   Types of Travel Allowances

Allowances paid by the University on account of travel are as follows:

• accommodation allowance;
• meals allowance;
• incidentals allowance;
• mileage allowance; and
• overseas subsistence allowance.

Current travel allowance rates are listed on the Finance and Business Services Home Page under Topics of Interest - Travel Allowances

The daily rate for each allowance is in accordance with the Queensland Public Service standard rates with the exception of the overseas travel allowance. The rates are updated regularly. Any changes to these rates will be advised by memorandum circulated to all Heads of Schools and Directors of Centres/Divisions.

The only exception to the above is where there is an express agreement between the University and a granting body to pay at a different rate, or where an industrial award provides otherwise. In such cases information to this effect should be clearly indicated on the claim form or an extract of the agreement attached to the form.

All allowances must be approved by the Head of School. The Head of School may request evidence of the travel and/or expenditure prior to authorisation of the claim. No receipts are required to be forwarded to Accounts Payable Section, Finance and Business Services Division, to support any claims for travel allowances.

Domestic Accommodation Allowance

Accommodation allowance is payable to staff members who require overnight accommodation whilst travelling in Australia on University business.

The separate rates for different locations within Australia reflect the differing costs of accommodation normally found in these locations. Accommodation allowance cannot be claimed if the staff member is staying in complimentary accommodation.

Domestic Meals Allowance

Meal allowances are provided to cover meals that are not included in the cost of any ticket, conference registration or are not provided on a complimentary basis.

Where the travel does not include an overnight stay, breakfast allowance is not payable.  The lunch allowance may only be claimed where the staff member departs before 6.30 am and is unable to return to the University prior to 1.30 pm.  The lunch and dinner allowance may only be claimed where the staff member departs before 6.30 am and is unable to return to the University or direct to residence prior to 6.30 pm.

Incidentals Allowance

The allowance is payable where an overnight stay is necessary.

Mileage Allowance

Use of Vehicles

University vehicles are to be used, when available, in preference to rental vehicles or privately owned vehicles. When a University vehicle is not available, or not appropriate, the Head of School/Unit may authorise the use of a private vehicle, provided that the vehicle is covered by either a comprehensive or third party property damage insurance policy.

Mileage Allowances, Rates and Forms

Where a private vehicle has been used for University travel, mileage allowance is paid at the prescribed rate depending on the engine size of the vehicle. For the current mileage rates please click here. For a mileage allowance form please click here.

Limits on Long Distance Travel

Where a mileage allowance is paid the total reimbursement for a particular journey should not exceed the equivalent of the full economy class airfare for that journey.

However, the full mileage allowance could be paid in the following cases:

• Where two or more staff are travelling together
• Where bulky or heavy equipment is transported

Travel Between a Staff Member's Home and Place of Work

Generally mileage allowance is not paid for travel between a staff members residence and place of work. This policy still applies if the travel is outside normal hours or involves a second or subsequent trip. However, mileage from home to work may be claimed in the following cases:

• Veterinary clinicians required to make emergency visits to the Veterinary Clinic or clients outside of normal hours
• Where a research grant specifically provides for travel funding, a staff member may claim for travel which occurs on the weekend, after hours or from home, providing the travel is consistent with the aims of the grant. This may involve travel to interview or test research subjects.
• Where travel is from home to the airport, railway or coach terminal, mileage is limited to the distance of a one way trip from home to the terminal on the outward journey and from the terminal to home on the return journey.

Travel to an Alternative Work Place

Mileage allowance is only payable where a staff member travels from his or her normal place of work to an alternative work place. Furthermore, in the case of a staff member travelling to the alternative work place from home, he or she cannot claim more than if the journey had commenced from the normal place of work.

Example 1

If a St Lucia based staff member resides at McDowall and travels to Gatton College, the staff member may only claim the equivalent in mileage allowance as if travel had commenced from St Lucia Campus.

Example 2

If a St Lucia based staff member resides at Ipswich and travels to Gatton College, the staff member may claim mileage for the full number of kilometres travelled.

Overseas Subsistence Allowance

Allowances for overseas subsistence are listed on the Finance and Business Services Home Page at Travel Allowances and are reviewed regularly.  The rates have two components, accommodation allowance and meals and incidentals allowance.  Accommodation allowances per night are listed for the purposes of setting a benchmark for a reasonable level of expenses and estimating expenses for travel advances only.  Overseas accommodation must be claimed on the basis of actual expenses only and supported by original receipts.  Meals and incidentals allowance is the rate as used by the Department of Foreign Affairs as the general rate for overseas missions.  This rate is payable for each full 24 hour period, and part thereof.  Part day periods are paid on a pro rata basis to the nearest half hour.  The period for which subsistence is permitted to be claimed extends from the time of arrival at the overseas destination to the time of departure from the foreign location.  Allowances are not paid in respect of periods of travel where subsistence is included in the fare.

3   Reimbursement of Travel Expenses

Reimbursement of expenses in most cases is on the production of a receipt. Staff members must always endeavour to obtain a receipt.  Where the expense is incurred in Australia and exceeds $50.00, exclusive of GST, the receipt must be in the form of a tax invoice.  A credit card docket or statement is not sufficient to support an input tax credit claim for GST paid.  Only in exceptional circumstances will reimbursement be made on the basis of non­receipted expenditure. Such exceptional situations may include:

• Expenses of a type where the receipt is returned to the service provider, for example, suburban rail tickets and automatic parking tickets.
• Some expenses incurred in overseas countries, for example, local travel and non­hotel/restaurant meals. However, this exception does not apply on account of accommodation costs and other expenses for which it is reasonable to expect a receipt would be obtained.

An explanation for all unreceipted expenses must be included on the claim form.

The amount of travel expenses that will be reimbursed by the University will not normally exceed the amount that would have been paid if a travel allowance had been paid instead. Where the amount claimed exceeds established allowances, both the Australian Taxation Office and the University require that documentation be included to support the higher cost. The Australian Taxation Office requires verification that the payment is not a "fringe benefit".

Such documentation must be submitted with the claim form and include a statement outlining:

• why the costs incurred were higher;
• what efforts were made to obtain suitable alternative accommodation or meals;
• a general comparison of prices;
• whether there was any alternative but to stay at the particular hotel;
• any other reasons for choosing that location or venue; and
• any other relevant information.

Where the hotel chosen coincides with the conference venue, a photocopy of the conference program that indicates the venue as the hotel and any information to demonstrate that a special (discounted) room rate was negotiated by the conference organisers should be supplied.

A staff member may claim reimbursement for travel to and from the airport, railway or coach terminal.

4   Travel Claim Procedures

Sundry Travel

Reimbursement for travelling expenses incurred on official short local trips such as fares and parking fees are to be reimbursed from petty cash upon production of receipts.

Airfares

All University funded air travel must be booked through Campus Travel. The office copy of the order produced by DA Link is to be forwarded to Accounts Payable Section, Finance and Business Services Division. Campus Travel invoices the University on a fortnightly basis. Accounts Payable Section checks the ticketing details on the invoice against the copies of the purchase orders. Any inconsistencies are checked with finance staff. The payment of the account is processed by Accounts Payable Section. Accordingly, Schools are not required to raise a claim form to effect payment.

The University's Purchasing card may be used to book travel through Campus Travel.

Domestic Travel

Finance officers must forward to Accounts Payable Section, Finance and Business Services Division, the following forms:

• a general claim voucher;
• a domestic travel summary form(s);
• receipts, if applicable; and
• a memorandum, where the amount claimed exceeds established allowances.

Staff members should be supplied with copies of the relevant forms prior to travelling. Upon return the staff member must pass the completed form(s) to the finance officers.

Please refer to Section 5.2.3 "General Claims" for guidelines on the completion of a general claim voucher.

Travel Allowance Forms

The Domestic travel summary form may be found at www.bs.uq.edu.au/forms/forms.htm.   The Domestic travel summary form may be printed from the web (OTSR.XLS and OTAS.XLS) and completed manually.

The domestic travel summary form is a double­sided form. The front side is used to summarise the overall costs of the travel, and the reverse side, titled "Travel Allowances" is used to detail allowances claimed. The total amount for subsistence allowances (including meals and incidentals) is entered under Section A ­ Subsistence, at the front of the form. The total amount for mileage allowance is entered under Section B ­ Travel, on the front page. Mileage allowance is calculated using the Mileage Allowance Claim Form. Refer to www.bs.uq.edu.au/forms/forms.htm for an example of the form.  No receipts are required to be forwarded to Accounts Payable Section to support any claims for travel allowances.

The value of all actual expenditure to be reimbursed is also entered on the front side of the form. Expenditure is categorised into three sections: Subsistence, Travel and Sundry Expenses, each of which represents a different posting code level.  The columns are used to differentiate between receipted and unreceipted expenditure and calculate the GST component and to arrive at a total amount claimed for each posting code. If travel expenses are to be allocated between two or more sources of funds, it may be advisable to complete a separate domestic travel summary form for each account.  The total amount of GST should be distributed to the GST Clearing account 812XXXX99101, where XXXX is the School's cost centre code.

As stated above, under Section 5.2.4.3, claims for reimbursement of expenses must be supported by receipts.  Where the expense exceeds $50.00, exclusive of GST, the receipt must be in the form of a tax invoice.   A credit card docket or statement is not sufficient to support an input tax credit claim for GST paid.  Only in exceptional circumstances will reimbursement be made on the basis of non­receipted expenditure. All unreceipted expenses will be accompanied by an explanation as to why receipts are not supplied.

Refer to Section 5.2.4.3 above for details that must be supplied where expenses incurred exceed established allowances.

Travel Diary

A travel diary must be completed where a staff member is travelling away from home for more than five nights and the staff member is claiming expenses other than those covered by travel allowances. Refer to Section 5.2.8 "Taxation" for information on travel diaries. Refer to www.bs.uq.edu.au/forms/forms.htm for an example of a Travel Diary form.

A travel diary does not have to be submitted with a general claim voucher if the travel is within Australia and was undertaken exclusively in the course of the staff member's employment. For this exclusion to apply, the staff member must have signed the claimant's certification on the general claim voucher.

Overseas Travel

Finance officers must forward to Accounts Payable Section, Finance and Business Services Division, the following forms:

• a general claim voucher;
• an overseas travel summary form(s);
• receipts, if applicable;
• a memorandum, where the amount claimed exceeds the rate of applicable travel allowances; and
• a travel diary.

Staff members should be supplied with copies of the relevant forms prior to travelling. Upon return the staff member must pass the completed form(s) to the finance officer.

Please refer to Section 5.2.3 "General Claims" for guidelines on the completion of a general claim voucher.

The format for the Overseas travel summary form may be found at www.bs.uq.edu.au/forms/forms.htm.  The Overseas travel summary form may be printed from the web (TSO1.PDF and TSO2.PDF) and completed manually.  An overseas travel summary form is to be completed for each country visited.

The overseas travel summary form is a double­sided form. The front side is used to summarise the overall costs of the travel, and the reverse side, titled "Overseas Subsistence Allowance" is used to detail subsistence allowance claimed. The total amount for subsistence allowance is entered under Section A ­ Subsistence, on the front side of the form.  Overseas subsistence rates are listed on the Finance and Business Services Home Page under Topics of Interest - Travel Allowances.   Note that overseas accommodation must be claimed on the basis of actual expenses supported by receipts.  Overseas accommodation allowances are listed for the purposes of estimating overseas accommodation expenses for travel advance claims and setting a benchmark for a reasonable level of expenses.

No receipts are required to be forwarded to Accounts Payable Section to support any claims for overseas meals and incidentals allowance.

The value of all actual expenditure to be reimbursed is also entered on the front side of the form. Expenditure is categorised into three sections: Subsistence, Travel and Sundry Expenses, each of which represents a different posting code level. The three columns are used to differentiate between receipted and unreceipted expenditure and to arrive at a total amount claimed for each posting code. If travel expenses are to be allocated between two or more sources of funds, it may be advisable to complete a separate overseas travel summary form for each account.

The conversion of local currency to Australian currency is to be completed by the School. The exchange rate at the time the expense was incurred is to be used and not that at the time when the claim is being prepared. Finance officers can contact the Claims Officer, Accounts Payable Section, to obtain the relevant exchange rate.   Alternatively, an exchange rate may be obtained from a currency converter on the web, www.oanda.com is recommended.  If one of the expenses was charged to a credit card then the exchange rate used by the credit card company may be applied to the other expenses claimed.  A copy of the credit card statement must be attached to the claim to provide support of the exchange rate used.

As stated above, under Section 5.2.4.3, claims for reimbursement of expenses must be supported by receipts. Only in exceptional circumstances will reimbursement be made on the basis of non­receipted expenditure. All unreceipted expenses will be accompanied by an explanation as to why receipts are not supplied.

Refer to Section 5.2.4.3 above for details of information that must be supplied where the amount claimed on account of reimbursement of expenses exceeds the rate of applicable travel allowances.

A travel diary must be completed by all staff members travelling overseas for periods over five nights. Refer to Section 5.2.8 "Taxation" for information on travel diaries. Refer to Appendix C for an example of a Travel Diary.

5   Travel Advances

A general claim form must be prepared to request an advance of funds for anticipated travel expenses. Please refer to Section 5.2.3 "General Claims" for guidelines on the completion of a general claim voucher. The general claim voucher must be marked prominently "ADVANCE" at the top of the form and is to include the following:

The following conditions must apply:

• the travel must be on University business and be University funded;
• the travel must not have occurred;
• the estimated cost of the travel expenses exceeds $200;
• the general claim voucher authorising the advance is received in Accounts Payable Section, Business Services Division, at least 14 days prior to departure; and
• the staff member does not have another advance outstanding.

Any of the following types of expenditure may be included in the claim form when requesting a travel advance.

Subsistence: An estimate of either the accommodation and meals expenses less any deposits already paid or the amount of the subsistence allowances that will be payable for each location visited.

Fares: An estimate either of fares, including taxis and fuel expenses that will be incurred or of the mileage allowances that will be payable on return.

Incidental Expenditure:  An estimate of the following expenses, if applicable:

• purpose of the travel;
• departure & arrival dates for each city/town/location visited;
• an estimated cost for each type of expense and details of how the estimate was calculated.  Refer to Section 5.2.4.4 for details on types of expenditure that may be included;
• the account codes to be charged and the amount distributed against each code.

6   Travel Acquittals

On return from travel the advance must be acquitted immediately. The forms that must be completed are the same ones as required in respect of domestic and overseas travel.   A Travel Diary must be provided for overseas travel acquittals where the period of travel is more than five nights.  Finance staff must forward the appropriate forms to Accounts Payable Section, Finance and Business Services Division. The general claim voucher must be marked prominently "ACQUITTAL" at the top of the form and must include the date and amount of the original advance.

If the amount advanced exceeds the total costs of the travel, then the difference must be refunded to the University immediately. This situation can occur where the original itinerary has been curtailed. The procedures to be complied with are as follows:

• the staff member must provide a cheque or cash to the value of the unexpended portion of the advance;
• these funds are to be banked to the credit of the "Suspense Advances" account, number 8 13 0568 01 101. The receipt is to be retained. The money must not be credited to any other account; and
• a copy of the receipt is to be attached to the general claim voucher.