Explanatory Notes
1. Travelling Allowance
Payments made to parliamentarians for overnight stays in locations other than their home base or Daily Expense allowance for Canberra based parliamentarians.
2. Overseas Travel
Payments made for travel undertaken on the following overseas trips:
- Ministerial Visits; Official Visits; Representing Australia; Representing a Minister; and Parliamentary Delegations.
Costs include fares, transport, accommodation, meals, official hospitality, travel and expense advances, passport, equipment, medical, other related overseas travel costs. This also includes costs incurred for accompanying spouses (including de facto partners) and employees.
3. Domestic Scheduled Fares
Payments made for travel by parliamentarians via domestic scheduled services. This total also includes any refunds received during the period.
4. Charter
Payments made for charter travel under the following:
- Ministerial, Office Holder, Presiding Officer, Leader of a Minority Party and Representing the Minister: for official business
- Within Electorate: available to Members representing large electorates and all Senators (except those representing the Australian Capital Territory) in and for the service of their State or Territory
- Special Minister Approved: discretion is provided to the Special Minister of State (SMOS) to approve charter travel within Australia in special cases.
5. Car Costs
Payments made for the following:
- Private-Plated Vehicle #: hire, insurance, maintenance costs and fuel costs of Commonwealth- leased private-plated vehicles used in the Electorate and in Canberra
- Private Vehicle Allowance: parliamentarians use of their private vehicles for travel between Canberra and their home base on parliamentary business
- COMCAR: the cost of COMCAR trips billed for each parliamentarian, the figures exclude costs associated with the Parliament House shuttle service
- Cabcharge: taxi services via Cabcharge
- Other Car Costs: car-with-driver services and short-term self-drive hire cars booked through the contracted travel services provider. This may include taxi fares and values relating to the reimbursement or recovery of payments which appear under the Cabcharge heading.
- Parking: costs associated with parking.
6. Office Facilities +
Payments made for the following:
- Property operating expenses: including lease, power, cleaning
- Office security
- Repairs and maintenance: of both property and its fixtures
- Telecommunications – purchases: the purchase of, servicing, repairs and maintenance of telecommunications
- Office equipment: the purchase of office equipment.
7. Office Administrative Costs
Payments made for the following:
- Office consumables and services
- Publications
- Printing and communications.
8. Telecommunications
Payments made for telecommunication usage costs (fixed and mobile).
9. Family Travel Costs
Payments made for domestic travel, undertaken by the parliamentarian's spouse/de facto partner, nominee, dependent child(ren) or designated person(s) for the following:
- Domestic Scheduled Fares
- Private Vehicle Allowance
- COMCAR
- Cabcharge
- Other Car Costs.
Expenditure against travel provisions may not necessarily relate to travel actually undertaken during the period. This is due to the fact that travel accounts (payments and receipts) can be processed in a reporting period other than the one in which the travel takes place. Other expenditure may have similar accounting and processing procedures.
Goods and services purchased on behalf of Senators and Members are reported exclusive of recoverable Goods and Services Tax (GST). This is in accordance with the requirement that all agencies report all expenditure as exclusive of recoverable GST.
Payments for Daily Expense Allowance and Private Vehicle Allowance incur, but are reported exclusive of, Pay as You Go (PAYG) tax.
# Where Senators and Members make financial contributions for a private-plated vehicle, these have been reflected in the document.
+ Office Facilities appears as an aggregate cost only in the final report.