The purpose of the policy is to enhance the scholarly productivity and reputation of the School by supporting staff to attend conferences.

The policy will be administered by the School’s Graduate Research Committee, and will cover both Overseas Conference Leave and Australian Conference Leave.

The Committee shall review this policy and the amounts set for travel and registration every three years and make recommendations to the Head of School if any adjustments are thought necessary.

1.       Scope and Procedures of Conference Leave

1.1        The Committee on behalf of the Head of School approves conference leave, and expenditure related to the conference (including travel, registration, incidentals, accommodation and meals during the conferences), subject to the application process.

Note: All international travel is subject to approval from the Dean of the Faculty of Arts (International Travel Approval Request Form).

1.2      Conference leave is granted for a maximum of two weeks per conference.  Annual leave may be added on to conference leave, but staff should be aware this might have Fringe Benefits Tax implications.

1.3      Staff may apply for conference leave, with or without allowances, by completing a Conference Funding Application Form and a Leave Application Form available from the School’s website, and submitting the completed forms to the Committee via the School’s Administrative Assistant.

2.          Eligibility for Conference Leave and Allowances

2.1        Academic teaching staff at Lecturer Level A or above are eligible to apply for conference leave allowances if they are on a continuing full- or part-time contract, or on a temporary contract of two or more years’ duration, provided that research activity is a requirement of the contract.

Note: These provisions do not apply to any staff member employed within the University, whose salary is wholly provided by funding from external research sources.

2.2      Where staff members are employed on a part-time basis, they are eligible for pro-rata funding: for instance, half-time staff may receive half the total of overseas conference leave funding available to full-time staff within the same time period.

2.3    In any one year an eligible staff member may apply for one overseas conference and one Australian conference or two Australian conferences with full allowances providing they have sufficient funds remaining.

2.4    To receive allowances an applicant must be attending the conference for its duration and presenting a paper or its equivalent at the conference(s) for which any reimbursement is sought.  Chairing a session or attending a workshop is not normally equivalent to presenting a paper.  In cases where a single paper is to be presented jointly by more than one staff member, a single set of allowances may be applied for.

2.5    An abstract of the proposed paper(s) or other presentation is to be submitted with the application, along with confirmation of acceptance of the paper from conference organisers.  Where acceptance has not yet been confirmed, an application may be approved in principle, with payment of allowances to be authorised once confirmation has been received.

2.6      Applications should include evidence of the dates and location of the conference, for example, a copy of the call for papers or a flyer advertising the conference.

2.7      Applications are to include a statement of the ways in which applicants’ previous conference leave (if any) has benefited their teaching and research, listing any publications that have resulted.

2.8    To be granted Conference Leave, applicants should be able to provide evidence of an active research programme, including publications.

3.          Allowances for Conference Attendance

3.1      Conference leave allowances, if approved, will cover up to the full cost of the most appropriate airfare, plus registration (early-bird or member rates only), incidentals (including visas and vaccinations), accommodation costs, and actual and reasonable meals, during the days of the conference only and any unavoidable stopovers.

3.2        Eligible staff are entitled to overseas conference allocations up to a maximum of $8,000 for travel, registration and accommodation (including actual and reasonable meals, excluding alcohol, for the days of the conference and while travelling), in a three-year period. 

3.3        The first three-year period begins in January of the year of the date of the first conference for which allowances are received.  After that a staff member can nominate in writing that they wish to start their three-year period on completion of a three-year cycle otherwise the next cycle will not start until the year they take their next conference.

3.4        For national and international travel, applicants must provide an economical airfare quotation from a University-approved travel agent.  The Committee may seek a further quotation.  If this results in a significantly lower fare than the quotation in an application, a determination as to the fare to be applied will be discussed with the applicant. 

3.5        Where a staff member is not intending to travel directly to the conference, the School will only reimburse costs equivalent to direct travel.  Relevant documentation of travel will be required.

3.6        To gain approval for accommodation and registration allowances, and to receive refunds, applicants must provide conference programmes/application forms and receipts.

Note: Full accounting, including original receipts, must be provided.

3.7        Where applicants receive external funding assistance, either from conference organisers or other sources, this funding is to be declared in the application, and will be deducted from the total allowances provided by the School for that particular conference.

Note: External funding assistance will not be deducted from the amount allowable over the three-year period.

3.8        Where a staff member has been invited as a keynote speaker or key organiser, it is normally appropriate that the organisers of the conference pay their costs, or at least a proportion of them.  Staff are encouraged to explore this possibility with conference organisers if it is not explicitly stated in the invitation.

3.9        Staff members who have resigned will not normally be eligible to apply for conference leave allowances.

3.10    When a conference is cancelled, or a successful applicant decides not to attend after all, it is the responsibility of the applicant to inform the Graduate Research Committee as soon as possible, in order for the payment of fares to be cancelled or, if already paid, reimbursed.  Non-refundable costs will be charged against the applicant’s conference leave allowance.

3.11    Staff in receipt of conference allowances are advised to arrange cancellation insurance.  Staff should where possible avoid purchasing fixed date tickets.

Note: Staff on conference leave should use the University’s Corporate Travel Insurance which provides cover up to a maximum of 90 days.

4.      Accountability

4.1        Staff taking conference leave are required to submit a Conference Leave Report within two months of their return to Research and Postgraduate Committee.  Conference leave report forms are available from the School’s website. 

Note: Copies of these reports will be made available to other members of the School.

4.2    The Committee will not approve further applications from a staff member who has a conference leave report still outstanding.

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