7.15 Overseas travel for official purposes

The Guidelines for Overseas Travel for Official Purposes are issued by the Office of Public Service Merit and Equity and apply to chief executives, employees of Government entities and statutory authorities when their overseas travel is for official purposes. The Guidelines also apply to Government employees performing official duties and require Ministerial approval regardless of the funding source for the costs of the overseas travel (refer paragraph 4.2 of the Guidelines). Travel by Ministers, Ministerial staff and accompanying persons is covered by separate guidelines in the Ministerial Handbook.

Briefly, the Guidelines show the following requirements:

• applications for overseas travel must include an itinerary;
• only trips that are considered essential to the attainment of the organisation's objectives should be considered;
• Government employees are entitled to workers' compensation cover;
• all overseas travel must be notified to the Department of the Premier and Cabinet and the Department of State Development;
• the employee who travelled overseas must provide a travel report upon their return; and
• frequent flyer points accumulated as a result of official purposes should only be redeemed for Government travel purposes.

Last reviewed: 17 July, 2009

Last updated: 22 July, 2009

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