Travel for parliamentarians and MOP(S) Act employees is administered by the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority (IPEA). Queries about travel should be directed to IPEA.
Domestic travel
Domestic travel arrangements for MOP(S) Act employees are set out in Determination 2020/15: Staff travel and relief staff arrangements, the domestic travel guideline and the leave and public holiday guideline (see related resources).
MOP(S) Act employees travelling on official business are entitled to travel allowance where the travel requires an overnight stay away from the employee’s work base. Employees who travel to Canberra on official business on a Sunday or public holiday may be entitled to excess (Canberra) travel leave.
Short-term employment, work base and travel
Parliamentarians should take care where an employee with short-term employment arrangements is required to travel. For casual employees, each day or part-day worked constitutes a separate engagement. The work base for a casual employee is the location where they spend the most time on duty during an engagement, or during a period of consecutive engagements. Any break in service, such as a working day on which the casual employee does not work, ends a period of consecutive engagements.
If a non-ongoing or casual employee has a work base other than where the employee lives, the travel to and from the employee’s home is the employee’s responsibility.
To avoid non-ongoing or casual employees engaged for short periods being required to bear the costs of travel, parliamentarians who require support staff in Canberra may wish to send an ongoing employee from their electorate office, or employ a non-ongoing or casual staff member who resides in the Canberra area.
Overseas travel
Overseas travel arrangements for MOP(S) Act employees are set out in the overseas travel guideline (see related resources).