New travel expense and clarifications to office expenses

The Parliamentary Business Resources Regulations 2017 (PBR Regulations) was amended on 28 March 2025 (via the Parliamentary Business Resources Amendment (Office and Travel Expenses) Regulations 2025) to provide the following:

• Three (3) additional Australia-wide return fares for dependent children (in total, not per child) of ‘single parent’ parliamentarians for family reunion purposes each financial year.
• Print binding and finishings to paper printed under office expenses.
• Clarify that office expenses restrictions under the PBR Regulations do not operate to limit:
  
  • the way other public resources may be used for conducting a parliamentarian’s parliamentary business,
  • the activities of the parliamentarian, or
  • the meaning of parliamentary business in section 6 of the Act.
• Clarify that the commercial purpose restriction in office expenses does not apply to material produced, communicated or distributed that includes:
  
  • an advertisement pursuing the purposes of:
    
    • a registered charity or not-for-profit (refer to the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission);
    • a public fund established for emergency relief or similar assistance; or
  • a reference to a person or entity, if the purpose is not to promote the person or entity;
    
    • an example is provided of a commercial entity’s logo in material, where the logo’s inclusion is incidental.

Associated amendments have been made to the following webpages on the Ministerial and Parliamentary Services website: Parliamentary Business Resources framework, Conditions for claiming, Parliamentary business (dominant purpose test) and Directing a MOP(S) Act employee factsheet.