Building 1 Joondalup Campus
ECU's new travel management solution with new corporate travel partner - FCM Travel is now live !! This exciting partnership brings with it our new FCM Travel Hub which incorporates pre-trip approval and online booking tools to enhance and streamline the traveller experience.
Please note:
The Finance and Business Services Centre manages the Authorised University Travel Policy, the 'Six Steps to Travel', the relationships with ECU’s travel service providers and supports the FCM Travel Hub.
As part of the planning process, it’s important to evaluate each trip to ensure it is essential and contributes to the University’s strategic objectives.
It is also important for travellers to plan for and be aware of health, safety, security and cyber related concerns in the region(s) they will visit as the following may be relevant:
The conditions for University travel are governed by ECU’s Authorised Travel Policy and the 'Six Steps to Travel'.
If you’re planning ECU business-related travel or book travel on behalf of others, you must ensure you are familiar with travellers' rights and obligations when travelling on behalf of the University.
As part of the pre-trip approval process, you are required to provide an estimate of the total costs associated with the trip, including:
Quotes for domestic and simple point-to-point international travel can be obtained directly through the FCM Travel Hub - Online Booking Tool (Savi).
For complex international travel quotes please contact a FCM consultant via ecu@fcmtravel.com.au.
Please note: FCM Travel Service/Booking fees will be charged to the relevant School/Centre at the time of booking. Please take these fees into account when budgeting for your travel.
Prior to departure, it is the traveller’s responsibility to ensure they are prepared for international travel and hold the correct documentation in order to travel to the planned destinations and perform the required business activities.
International travellers should have also considered the security, health and cyber related risks their travel poses to ECU, its staff and students. Advice with regard to the risks international travellers need to consider and proposed actions they should be taking, including how they can obtain ECU Secure Loan devices for travel to certain high-risk countries, is available via International Travel Advice.
For general travel advice including how to minimise your telephone and internet costs whilst travelling click here.
Staff planning student Learning Abroad programs should review the Outbound Learning Abroad Governance Guidelines and seek advice from the International Office prior to making arrangements.
University Credit Cards
Staff who intend to utilise their University Credit Card during international Authorised University Travel must advise the Commonwealth Bank of their expected travel dates and destination countries by calling them on Tel: 13 15 76.
Passports
Ensure you hold a current passport with a suitable length of validity. Some destinations require a minimum validity period beyond your planned date of exit. If unsure, you should contact the consulate office of the country you plan to visit.
The maintenance of a passport is considered a personal expense and is not generally claimable from the University. In exceptional circumstances and with approval from the Executive Dean/Dean/Director, the payment of a passport renewal and any associated FBT may be met by ECU.
Visas/Immigration Requirements
Some international destinations require a visa suitable for the purpose of the business travel. Advice and applications are available through the FCM Travel Hub - CIBTVisas. Visas are acceptable travel expenditure if required as part of business travel.
Note: Be aware of overseas immigration requirements. It is essential that each staff member becomes familiar with the immigration/visa requirements for each country being visited (the University’s Travel Agent can assist with this). Some countries require a professional or business visa for anyone who is teaching or lecturing in that country. Entry into such a country with only a social or tourist visa may cause staff to be detained.
Documentation
Make a copy of your passport details, airline tickets, personal insurance policy (if required), visas and credit card numbers in the event they are lost or stolen and leave with your nominated point of contact.
Immunisation
Travelling to certain countries or parts of Australia may put you at greater risk of acquiring a vaccine-preventable medical condition. Some countries will require proof of vaccination against specific diseases as a condition of entry. You can check a country's vaccination requirements for your destination and transit countries through Smartraveller.
Immunisation Guidelines are available from the People and Culture website.
For further information on travel immunisation requirements it is recommended that you vist the Travel Doctor, or a GP.
Risk Management
It is important for travellers to plan for and to be aware of health, safety and security concerns in the region(s) they will visit.
Work Health and Safety considerations extend to travel being undertaken on behalf of ECU. Travellers should consider if a Fieldtrip, Event or Travel risk assessment may also be required. Please refer to the flowchart for guidance.
Student Learning Abroad programs (study tours, clinical placements, work integrated learning, student exchange, etc.) must go through a formal approval process, including risk assessment, before making travel arrangements.
Please refer to the University's Travel Risk Management website for further information.
Insurance
The University provides insurance policies for all staff and students travelling on authorised Edith Cowan University business, irrespective of whether the Authorised University Travel is fully or partly funded (i.e. sponsored) by the University or a third party.
Any travel undertaken on behalf of the University must be authorised prior to the travel being undertaken otherwise travel insurance will not apply to the trip.
Please refer to the University's Insurance website or email insurance@ecu.edu.au.
Note: ECU reserves the right to withdraw travel approval if the DFAT advice level changes due to adverse situations (such as natural disaster, military conflict, terrorism, virus outbreak, etc.) and it is required that you leave the location. If you do not follow DFAT advice to leave the location, insurance cover will cease, and approval will be retracted.
The University requires a Travel Diary to be completed by staff for all business travel, for the entire travel period (including any personal travel), in order to determine whether Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) is applicable for dual purpose travel as well as to support the University’s duty of care obligations to authorised University travellers. It is important to:
As a guide, business activity should exceed three hours on a particular day, including travel, in order for it to be considered a BUSINESS DAY. This includes:
However, this doesn’t apply to instances where staff extend their travel beyond the dates that the business related activity commences or concludes, e.g. once business matters are finalised, staff will return at the earliest opportunity or use personal leave (whilst being mindful of FBT obligations) to extend their stay, noting it as ‘Private Travel’ in the Pre-Trip Approval system. Travellers should look to minimise lapse days between more than one work related activity. Lapse days are defined as days in between more than one work related activity where no University Business is undertaken.
Recovery time, in line with the below guidelines, will also be considered a BUSINESS DAY:
A “PRIVATE DAY” is defined as any day not considered a business day, and specifically includes:
Personal travel may be permitted in conjunction with official domestic or international travel provided the main or predominant purpose of the travel is properly documented as being legitimate University business, the private element of the trip is incidental, and the University is not funding any part of the private component.
For the purposes of travel at ECU, private travel is considered incidental if the private days do not exceed 40% of the Total Trip Duration (Maximum Private Days Allowable). For example, Maximum Private Days Allowable for a trip beginning Monday and ending Sunday, would be two days without being subject to FBT.
Where employees include private travel that exceeds the Maximum Private Days Allowable, the travel will be deemed to have a dual purpose being business and private.
Travel directly to, or returning from a "non-business destination" indicates dual purpose travel and any request to do so in connection with Authorised University Travel will be considered on a case by case basis. A non-business destination, is a destination solely for the purpose of private travel.
The liability of all costs related to any PRIVATE DAYS within Authorised University Travel rests solely with the employee. This excludes unavoidable and approved 'stand by' days such as weekends that fall between any business-related travel. If travel includes Private days on an otherwise normal working day, Annual or other forms of leave must be booked through the Staff Kiosk.
Employees will be required to pay 50% of the cost of a return airfare* to the “business destination” if the travel is deemed to have a dual purpose, whether the travel is determined as having a dual purpose prior to or following the trip. *Definition of Return Airfare - is a flight to a destination and back to the original departure point.
Any pre-trip approval requests that indicate FBT is payable will be automatically sent to the University's Travel Agent to process the 50% personal contribution by the employee.
If travel is deemed to be dual purpose following completion of a trip, and where the University has paid 100% of the return airfare to the business destination, the employee acknowledges that the University has advanced them the amount of their private portion as an agent of the employee and the employee must reimburse the university immediately for 50% of the cost of the return airfare* to mitigate FBT implications. FBSC Travel will contact employee with payment to be facilitated by PayOnline.
Under no circumstances will the University approve extended payment terms for the employee to pay their 50% share, since this will be deemed to be a financing benefit and subject to FBT.
Note that, if a third party pays the airfare for Authorised University Travel, the University is still liable for FBT and the above conditions apply in relation to the employee’s responsibility to pay the University 50% of the cost of the return ticket to the business destination.
Employees must notify their Manager when a spouse, partner or dependant is to accompany them on an official business trip. Details are to be provided in the Pre Trip Approval (PTA) request. Costs incurred by the accompanying spouse/partner/dependant will not be met by the University.
Approval to undertake Authorised University Travel and travel-related expenditure must be obtained in advance.
A Pre-Trip Approval (PTA) or Manual authorisation is not required in the following circumstances:
Note: ECU reserves the right to withdraw travel approval if the DFAT advice level changes due to adverse situations (such as natural disaster, military conflict, terrorism, virus outbreak, etc.) and it is required that you leave the location. If you do not follow DFAT advice to leave the location, insurance cover will cease, and approval will be retracted.
The online Pre Trip Approval tool (PTA) via the FCM Travel Hub is the method by which ECU staff and guests obtain approval to undertake business travel on behalf of the University.
Approval still needs to be sought for flights/accommodation/car hire, even if a third party is paying for any of the travel components or when an ECU vehicle or student accommodation is used. Please include all components in your Pre-Trip Approval (PTA).
For assistance please refer to the user guides and training videos available in the FCM Travel Hub.
In the event approval has not been sought for travel prior to booking/departure (note this is out of Policy and there are insurance coverage implications), a retrospective trip approval must be sought via the ‘Other’ option in PTA and a completed Travel Diary spreadsheet must be attached. Travellers to include information in the ‘Reason’ for travel as to why no approval was sought before the travel was booked/undertaken.
The ECU Student Travel Approval Form is the method by which ECU students obtain approval to undertake course-related travel. Students complete the form and submit it to the relevant School/Centre for processing.
Staff planning student Learning Abroad programs should review the Outbound Learning Abroad Governance Guidelines and liaise with the International Office for program approval. The program approval must first be in place before individual student travel is authorised.
The ECU Student Travel Study Abroad Form is to be used to approve travel for ECU students who are travelling to participate in a study experience (Student Exchange, Study Tour, International Placement, etc).
Where appropriate, the online Pre-Trip Approval tool (PTA) via the FCM Travel Hub may be used to obtain approval for students to undertake travel. The approval process must managed by a School/Centre staff member on behalf of the traveller.
Note for Travel Arrangers: Should the students ‘Supervisor/Research Supervisor’ not be selectable as the Level 1 approver in the PTA request, please upload a copy of their approval to the PTA as a supporting document, then select the Executive Dean/Dean or Director as both the Level 1 and Level 2 approver.
FCM Travel is the University’s preferred supplier for travel management services. The use of a travel management company (TMC) assists the University in meeting its duty of care obligations by providing a single source of traveller tracking in case of emergency.
Booking fees charged by the TMC are paid by the relevant School/Centre at the time of booking. Refer Service Fees.
All travellers require a traveller profile in the FCM Travel Hub before any quotes or bookings can be requested. These are automatically created for all ongoing and fixed term staff through integration with ECU’s Payroll system. Upon first accessing the FCM Travel Hub, travellers will be prompted to add in their personal details, credit card, passport information etc.
For casual staff, contact payroll@ecu.edu.au to request they add the travel code to their record. Their traveller profile will then be created in the FCM Travel Hub in the next daily HR feed.
Traveller profiles for guests and students are to be created manually by a Travel Arranger in the FCM Travel Hub. The Employee ID convention for guests should be the traveller’s mobile number. For children, use a parent’s mobile number with the child’s initials. This field must be unique for each profile.
The University's Travel Agent must be notified of any changes to Traveller Profiles either by updating the FCM Travel Hub or, where that is not possible, in writing to the Travel Agent.
Travel Arrangers
Notes:
The preferred method of booking domestic and simple point to point international travel is through the FCM Travel Hub - Online Booking Tool (Savi). This secures the booking for you instantly.
Once a Pre-Trip Approval (PTA) request has been approved, open the approved PTA and either click ‘Book Online’ or ‘Send to FCM’. ‘Book Online’ takes you through to Savi to book the travel yourself and pre-populates the data already input into the PTA, or ‘Send to FCM’ sends the approved PTA to the FCM Consultants who will contact you to finalise the booking.
The preferred method of booking complex international travel is offline, i.e. consultant assisted. Please use the “Send to FCM” button in the Pre-Trip Approval (PTA) request or contact a consultant by phone or email.
FCM can help with flights, accommodation, tours and transport for groups through their dedicated Group Travel Team. Contact the FCM group travel experts via groups@fcmtravel.com.au when:
Note: Approvals need to be in place prior to any bookings being made and there is no need for each traveller to have a traveller profile as group bookings are handled differently.
Travellers on Authorised University Business must book traditional accommodation (registered hotels) via the University's Travel Agent, either via the FCM Travel Hub or through the consultant.
However, Travellers are permitted to book accommodation directly with:
The University's Travel Agent must be advised of all registered hotel, Airbnb and Booking.com bookings so that details can be included in the itinerary and, therefore, visible through their live traveller tracking system in case of emergency.
Airbnb
Booking.com
Staff travelling on behalf of the University are expected to obtain and utilise a University credit card to pay for travel and travel-related expenses. Other payment options are available where applicable.
Split payments across numerous University credit cards is against Policy so please ensure the transaction and daily limit of the corporate credit card is enough to cover the full cost of travel.
If you do not hold a University Credit Card, you can either:
In exceptional circumstances, consideration will be given to the use of advances up to the value of AU$500, subject to Executive Dean/Dean/Director approval, to meet the cost of travel-related expenditure. Any greater amount must be justified by the employee and approved by the Executive Dean/Dean/Director.
Forward approved Application for Advance Form to Accounts Payable or relevant Academic Unit Finance Team in advance of scheduled payment runs (see Month-end and Year-end Financial Process timelines within the Financial Services Procedures).
If a non-employee requires an advance from the University, the Application for Advance Form must be supported by an approved Exemption from Policies form . The coordinating staff member should complete the request on behalf of the non-employee.
For Research-related international travel, an employee can elect to receive a per diem allowance for meals and other sustenance (e.g. snacks, coffees) and minor incidental expenses (e.g. taxis) under the following conditions:
Day of Arrival at Destination (local times)
| Arrival before 10am | Full Daily Per Diem available |
| Arrival between 10am - 3pm | Lunch and Dinner Per Diem only available |
| Arrival after 3pm | Dinner Per Diem only available |
Day of Departure from Destination (local times)
| Departure Before 10am | Breakfast Per Diem only available |
| Departure between 10am - 3pm | Breakfast and Lunch Per Diem only available |
| Departure after 3pm | Full Daily Per Diem available |
The incidentals amount applies in full to each day of travel covered by the allowance.
The per diem allowance is not available:
Personal Taxation Issues
Per diem allowances are not included on the employee’s Payment Summary (or equivalent ATO reporting), no tax will be withheld.
Staff travelling on behalf of the University should be aware of Emergency Assistance options, be mindful of travel expenses, and ensure copies of Tax invoices are obtained for all travel expenditure.
Download the FCM Mobile App (with White FCM Logo) which you can use for itinerary management and travel alerts.
If you experience an emergency of any kind while travelling – either involving you or students you are supervising, please contact AIG TravelGuard. They can provide support as required, regardless of the situation.
Refer to Travel Risk Management website for more information regarding:
Travellers can also contact the FCM After Hours Team via +61 08 6466 5036 in emergency situations only.
Accommodation, sustenance meals and incidental expenditure should be in line with the reasonable amounts published annually by the Australian Taxation Office. Refer to the link to the ATO Reasonable Travel Expenditure Rates available from the Financial Services website. Please note that the limits for meals apply on a per-meal basis, and for the purposes of international travel the applicable daily rate is apportioned as follows:
Unreasonable or excessive expenditure of University funds on alcohol while on Authorised University Travel is deemed inappropriate and treated as entertainment expenditure subject to FBT.
Entertainment of Guests
For the entertainment of guests whilst travelling on University business refer to the University’s Entertainment and Catering Expenditure Guidelines.
Telephone and Internet Usage
Business calls and internet usage are acceptable travel expenses. Whilst away from home, personal calls to home whilst conducting business interstate or overseas are acceptable, as long as they are kept to a reasonable amount. Refer to ITSC’s Mobile Phones website for information on how to minimise phone costs while overseas.
Excess Baggage
Business travel that necessitates the cartage of ECU materials and leads to an excess baggage fee will be covered.
Laundry Service
Reasonable laundry expenses will be considered for reimbursement if travelling on business for more than four nights.
Invoices and Receipts - An original tax invoice / receipt must be obtained for all travel-related expenditure. Where a tax invoice/invoice or receipt cannot be obtained, a Statutory Declaration must be provided.
Travellers are authorised to use ground transport (Taxis, Uber and rental cars) in addition to public transport, i.e. buses and trains. Refer to Ground Transportation web page for more information.
When returning from travel ECU staff must ensure their Travel Diary accurately reflects their exact activities for each day of their trip as well as reconcile relevant credit card expenses.
Upon return from Authorised University Travel, it is the travellers responsibility to ensure the Travel Diary in their Pre-Trip Approval (PTA) reflects exact activities and must include ALL travel days from the date of departure to the date of return. It must also identify any personal travel included within the trip. This must be handled in a timely manner, within 14 days of completion of trip.
If dates of travel haven't changed but activities have, please update the Travel Diary in your PTA. You cannot add or remove dates.
If dates of travel have changed once a PTA has reached the ‘actioned’ status but is prior to the departure date, a new PTA including the updated Travel Diary will need to be submitted and approved.
If dates of travel have changed post trip, seek approval via the ‘Other’ option in PTA and attach a completed Travel Diary spreadsheet.
Monitoring will be carried out by the FBSC Travel to ensure compliance and the FBSC Tax Team may also undertake spot-checks from time to time.
All Travel expenses are reconciled via Expense8.
For more information see ECU Credit Cards.
Where no University credit card is available, only bona fide claims for travel-related expenses will be reimbursed. Refer to Reimbursement Guidelines.
All advances, withdrawal of cash via credit card and claims for cash reimbursement must be reconciled/submitted within 14 days of the last day of travel accompanied by approval from the delegated financial authority. Any claims that do not reference a travel approval request (PTA) number must be submitted along with a copy of the relevant Travel Approval.
Advise Payroll of any changes to what was included in your Application for Per Diem Payments (e.g. travel cancelled or returned earlier than planned)?
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