Whole-of-Australian-Government Travel Services
The Travel Contract Management Section TCMs, a Branch of the Procurement Division in the Department of Finance and Deregulation, is responsible for establishing coordinated Whole-of-Australian-Government (WoAG) travel arrangements.
Phase 1
In May 2010, the Australian Government announced the outcome of Phase 1 of the WoAG Travel Arrangements with the establishment of a panel of travel management companies (TMCs) through which all Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 (FMA Act) agencies and relevant participating Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997 (CAC Act) bodies must book air travel. (The Australian Government has also negotiated a range of competitive discounted airfares on domestic and international routes which can only be booked through the TMCs).
The Suppliers to WoAG Travel Arrangements were appointed through an open approach to market tender process. All FMA Act agencies and relevant participating CAC Act bodies began transitioning to the new travel arrangements from 1 July 2010 through an interim agency contract, which was coordinated by the Department of Finance and Deregulation Travel Contract Management Section (TMCs). The WoAG Travel Fact Sheet provides information for agencies about the new travel arrangements.
Agencies are required under the Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines – December 2008 to achieve value for money when purchasing goods and services. This includes procuring official air travel.
More specifically in relation to official air travel, agencies achieve value for money by purchasing:
- the Lowest Practical Fare (LPF) for domestic official air travel - see Finance Circular 2009/10 - ‘Use of the Lowest Practical Fare for Official Domestic Air Travel’
- the Best Fare of the Day for international official air travel - see Finance Circular 2009/11 - ‘Best Fare of the Day for International Official Air Travel’, and
- The Australian Public Service Code of Conduct, which states that a Commonwealth officer must not take advantage of an officer's functions in order to obtain a personal benefit. For further guidance, including on the use of frequent flyer points, see Chapter 10 of the APS Code of Conduct in practice [
].
Please note that Finance is currently conducting a Lowest Practical Fare Policy Review to identify and remedy any issues in implementing the policy.
Phase 2
The Travel Arrangements Taskforce is continuing with Phase 2 of the travel services coordinated procurement processes for the Australian Government, which involves separate tenders for travel and related (payment) card services, accommodation program management services and car rental services. Tenders have now closed for Phase 2, and Finance intends to have contracts in place by mid-2012.
A Position Paper [
417KB] articulating the indicative strategy for the Government’s Phase 2 travel services arrangements was released on AusTender [] in November 2011. The paper also sets out key interrelationships and dependencies; explores implementation at the officer level; and suggests areas that could be reviewed for potential future value in Government travel contracting arrangements. The strategy was developed through consultation with Government agencies and industry, with the latter including publicly released Requests for Information relating to card services and accommodation services in mid‑2011.
Contact for information on this page: tcms@finance.gov.au.