The health and safety of our staff and students is a priority for us under the Senate-approved Risk Appetite Statement.
To enable us to better protect the health and safety of UQ travellers and to make sure UQ meets its duty of care obligations, travel to high risk destinations (including transits) is prohibited unless the following conditions are met:
- The travel is absolutely necessary; and
- The risk to the UQ traveller can be managed to an acceptable level.
As part of UQ’s Travel Rationalisation and Improvement Program (TRIP), important changes have been made to the process for seeking approval for international travel to high risk destinations (DFAT Smart Traveller Level 3, 4 or Not Rated countries/regions).
As communicated to senior executive staff in an email from the acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor (External Engagement) from Monday 15 October 2018, all International Travel Request forms (submitted via UniFi or the Travel Notification Template for non-staff) which include travel to a high risk destination must attach the following forms, duly completed and signed by the Head of School/Director (or equivalent):
1) International High Risk Travel Business Case; and
2) International High Risk Travel Destination Approval Form
The new process outlined above also applies if your itinerary includes a transit through a high risk destination. Transits through a high risk destination must be added as a travel leg in either the UniFi travel request or Travel Notification Template.
The new forms will enable the DVC-EE, the nominated Vice-Chancellor’s Committee member responsible for approving travel to high risk destinations, to properly review the reasons for travel and make fair, consistent and defensible decisions.
The Governance and Risk Division has appointed Jodi Walton as Risk Management Coordinator within the UQ Travel team to enable and ensure travel-related risks are properly considered and managed. Jodi also provides advice and support to UQ senior executives and manages the travel approval process for high risk destinations, on behalf of the DVC-EE.
For more information regarding the high risk destination travel approval process please visit the UQ Travel website.
If you have queries regarding the upcoming changes please contact Jodi (j.walton@uq.edu.au) or the travel management team at travel@uq.edu.au.
