Image: Bill Abbott
While universities are widely known as a bastion of knowledge and learning, their travel habits have come under intense scrutiny.
In a new report from the Victorian Auditor-General’s Office (VAGO) titled Universities: 2014 Audit Snapshot, it has been found that universities across the state have been unable to demonstrate value for the $137 million spent on travel and accommodation that year.
As public sector agencies and departments have come under intense pressure in recent years to become more frugal as a result of government austerity policies, it wouldn’t be long before educational institutions would have their routines put under the microscope.
Although there are clear benefits to university travel, such as attending conferences, visiting international universities and general research trips, Victorian Auditor-General John Doyle has accused universities of being lax at complying with existing policies and procedures.
“Consequently, universities cannot always demonstrate public money is spent prudently on travel and for the benefit of the university,” the report said.
The report found that not all university travel and accommodation policies covered areas of public interest, such as who can utilise frequent flyer points or what benefits are derived from travel undertaken.
Another finding was the absence of supporting documentation, including an acquittal of the benefits to be obtained from travel.
According to the report, this means the universities cannot show that the use of public funds for travel was to the betterment of the university.
The report also found that there are “poor levels” of compliance with the travel and accommodation policies and procedures, such as travel diaries not being completed, which is important because there are tax requirements for travel diaries to be kept to demonstrate what travel has been undertaken for business purposes, and what has been personal travel.
Mr Doyle warned that universities are at risk of tax penalties where travel diaries are required but have not been kept.
However VAGO is rarely short on solutions, which is why Mr Doyle has given three stern recommendations to Victorian universities in order to mitigate any future risks.
These recommendations include reviewing travel policies and procedures and ensure they are comprehensive and address areas of public interest including ownership and use of frequent flyer points.
The second recommendation said to strengthen the procedures covering monitoring and oversight of supporting documentation and acquittal of travel benefits.
The last recommendation is to implement regular reviews of compliance with travel and accommodation policies and procedures and take action where noncompliance is identified.
