Guidelines and procedures for staff seeking funding support from the Business School to attend conferences, seminars, or other work related travel within Australia or internationally.
Conference Travel Funding Guidelines
Guidelines and procedures for staff seeking funding support from the Business School to attend conferences and seminars, within Australia or internationally
Purpose and summary
The Business School provides funding support for academic attendance at major conferences which is seen as an intrinsic part of academic life and aligns with the objective of creating a strong, vibrant research culture within the School.
The allocation and approval of this funding is administered at discipline level. Each Head of Discipline within the Business School decides how the funding is allocated at the beginning of each calendar year and will communicate this to their staff.
This discipline level travel policy replaces all other travel related policies associated with the funding of staff attending conferences or seminars operating within the Business School prior to January 1 2016.
Policy statement
This policy defines the guiding principles for the allocation of travel funds across the UWA Business School. All business-related travel should conform to the University Travel Policy (Pheme login required) and this document should be read in conjunction with that policy.
Eligibility and Conditions
1. The eligibility of a staff member’s request to Business School funding is determined by their Head of Discipline in accordance with the discipline’s travel policy.
2. Before a staff member enters their travel request on the University’s Travel Management System, they are to obtain approval from their Head of Discipline or supervisor for the travel to their requested destination and for the requested dates. This approval needs to be attached to the travel requisition they submit on the Travel Management System.
3. The travel requestor needs to disclose all non-UWA sources of funds available for the trip in their travel request (e.g. contributions to travel costs from other institutions).
4. Where available, travellers should attempt to book conference fees at the Early Bird rate. All travel requests need to be submitted for approval at least 5 working days before the deadline for early bird discounts. Travellers should also factor in the lead time for any visa applications within the necessary approval process and timeline.
5. Airfares must be booked in accordance with the University’s preferred supplier policy and through the University’s travel management system. All fares must represent the most efficient and economical method of travel - the so-called lowest logical airfare. Individuals are not permitted to book airfares directly on the internet or through travel agents. Also, only economy class airfares will be funded.
Attendances at conferences in Perth are considered outside of Travel Guidelines. As such, UWA will pay any reasonable registration fees for relevant conferences in Perth.
Incidental Travel Expenses
Staff will be eligible to claim for all reasonable incidental travel expenses (e.g. meals; taxi fares incurred during the stay and excluding taxis to/from airport; laundry costs; telephone and internet charges etc.) for both domestic and international travel. These expenses will be reimbursed in one of two ways, either:
1. As a per diem allowance based on the schedule of reasonable expenses outlined in the current
ATO guidelines for a Level 1 salary level and fixed for the calendar year. These guidelines specify a reasonable allowance that does NOT require written substantiation for tax purposes. It is recommended however, that staff maintain a travel diary of all expenses with proper documentation; or
2. The reimbursement of actual out of pocket expenses that are in line with the level of reasonable costs outlined in the ATO guidelines (see above) and where a receipt is produced for any single expense over $20.
NB Staff can only seek reimbursement of incidental travel expenses using one of the above payment methods. Under the per diem arrangement, travellers are not permitted to claim for any other incidental expenses other than the taxi fares between home/airport/hotel as previously outlined unless approved by the Deputy Dean prior to travel. Also, in the event that meals are included in the Conference fee, an equivalent dollar amount relating to that meal component(s) will be deducted from the daily per diem allowance.
The maximum per diem allowance is based on the number of conference days plus one. For example, for a 3-day conference, the School will fund a maximum of 4 days per diem.
Travel Fringe Benefits Tax
If a trip has a dual purpose i.e. both a business and private (e.g. holidays) component, the airfare and other travel benefits may be apportioned between business and private. Furthermore, the private component may be subject to Fringe Benefits Tax (see
UWA guidelines).
In the event that an FBT obligation is incurred, the traveller will be expected to reimburse the School for that liability from post-tax personal funds. The FBT liability may be avoided by the traveller contributing to the private component of the travel costs up front. Travellers planning to take dual purpose trips are advised to
contact the Tax team in Financial Services (staff.ask.uwa.edu.au) to receive an FBT estimate before travelling.
NB. The School will only absorb the FBT liability where the individual circumstances that generated the FBT obligation were driven by the School e.g. international lay overs between segments of a business trip instead of returning to Perth.
Travel Diaries
All travellers are required to complete a detailed travel diary within 3 weeks of returning from a business trip. The travel diary is an essential part of finalising any potential FBT liability and failure to do so may result in the traveller incurring the maximum FBT liability.
