The Premier has approved a new policy for travel by Parliamentary Secretaries on official business (attached).

This policy conforms with the general standards of the policy guidelines on travel by Ministers. Travel by Parliamentary Secretaries must be approved by the Premier and the Minister is required to justify the purposes of the trip, the specific objectives of the trip, the time and place of the trip and why the Parliamentary Secretary should go instead of the Minister.

Travel will be funded from the within the Ministerial Private Office allocation and should be arranged by the government appointed contractor.

With regard to allowances, Parliamentary Secretaries will receive the same rates of allowance as Ministers while travelling on official business.

An amendment to the Ministerial Handbook will be forwarded to you in the near future. If you have any further enquiries please contact Joseph Hanna on 9228 4954.

C. Gellatly
Director General

TRAVEL BY PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARIES ON OFFICIAL BUSINESS

TRAVEL INAUSTRALIA

Travel by Parliamentary Secretaries should only be taken for official business in pursuance of their duties as determined by the Premier or relevant Minister and be strictly regulated by the relevant Minister. The cost of all travel by Parliamentary Secretaries is to be met by the Ministerial'Private Office allocation.

Travel by air should be arranged by the Minister's Office through the Government appointed contractor, such bookings being authorised by Departmental warrant. Departmental warrants should not be used for travel between the Parliamentary Secretary's electorate and Sydney unless the travel is for the specified purpose of their duties as a Parliamentary Secretary.

Should it become necessary to cancel a booking made through the travel agency for a Parliamentary Secretary's air travel, arrangements should be made for the agency to be advised prior to the flight and for the air ticket(s) to be returned immediately to enable the appropriate credit be claimed.

In relation to class of travel, the Premier has urged Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries to adopt the practice which applies to officers employed in the NSW public sector and members of statutory bodies, unless there is some overriding factor.

The practice involves the use of economy class for travel to ACT, Victoria, South Australia and Queensland destinations south of and including Brisbane. For other domestic travel, business class may be used.

When in country areas, Parliamentary Secretaries may travel by light aircraft and/or use rental car services if this is regarded by the relevant Minister as essential for carrying out official inspections or the fulfilling of Ministerial commitments and when the use of commercial airlin-1 facilities, an official motor car or available forms of transport are considered to be inappropriate.

TRAVEL OVERSEAS

As for travel within Australia, overseas travel by Parliamentary Secretaries should only be undertaken for official business in pursuance of their duties as determined by the Premier or relevant Minister and be strictly regulated by the relevant Minister. The cost of all overseas travel undertaken by Parliamentary Secretaries is to be met by the Ministerial Private Office allocation.

The Premier's approval in principle should be obtained before a Minister enters into any firm commitments for an official visit by a Parliamentary Secretary. The initial approach should be made well in advance of the anticipated date of departure and at that stage the following should be provided:

• reasons for the proposed visit;
• the specific objectives relating to the Minister's portfolio, and arrangements

proposed for the inter-Government consultations and/or industry representative discussions, and reasons why a Parliamentary Secretary should undertake the visit rather than the Minister;

• the period of expected absence from Australia; and
• the country or countries to be visited.

Also, a copy of the detailed itinerary, as finally settled, should be referred for the Premier's consideration and approval well before the date of departure.

Parliamentary Secretaries will receive the same allowance rates as Ministers when proceeding overseas on official business.

The following guidelines are to apply for official visits:

1. official visits are to be kept as short as possible and should not exceed 7 days. These visits are to be for a specific purpose and will need to be justified in terms of their relevance to New South Wales Government operations. It is expected that any such visits will be to the Asia region unless exceptional circumstances apply;
2. Parliamentary Secretaries are not to proceed on private leave during an official visit;
3. visits at the invitation and expense of another Government (fully looked after by the host) - Parliamentary Secretaries only to attend;
4. attendance at international functions, openings of Government offices overseas, important conferences, trade missions or related trade matters, travel significant to the future development of the State and reciprocal visits - a Parliamentary Secretary may attend and a senior Departmental officer where appropriate. Each proposal is to be considered on its merits;
5. where visits are sponsored and the costs are to be met by a private/commercial organisation, the invitation should be declined;
6. the same protocols that apply to Ministerial overseas travel in relation to certain overseas destinations will also apply to Parliamentary Secretaries (see 6-8 to 6-9).