The Department of Finance has published Resource Management Guide 424 (RMG-424), a 90-page handbook that underpins the new Australian Government Travel Policy effective 1 September 2026. The guide, released online on 17 September, consolidates and replaces earlier domestic (RMG-404) and international (RMG-405) travel instructions for public servants and government-funded bodies. Key changes include a mandatory “Best Value Fare” approach, tighter advance-booking expectations, and sustainability considerations such as carbon-offset reporting. Officials must document the reason for any fare chosen over the lowest logical option, and business-class travel is now restricted to flights longer than nine hours with ministerial approval. For international trips, RMG-424 introduces a digital pre-travel risk assessment and reminds officials that personal loyalty points earned on government travel cannot be redeemed for upgrades. The guide also signals future integration with the Australian Travel Declaration, foreshadowing a fully digital itinerary-approval workflow by 2027. Travel-management-companies (TMCs) servicing Commonwealth accounts have 30 days to align booking platforms and reporting dashboards with the new data fields. Vendors that fail to comply risk breach notices and loss of panel status. Private-sector suppliers contracted to government projects—especially in defence and aid—should similarly review their travel policies to ensure pass-through compliance. While the reforms target public spending, they set a broader benchmark for duty-of-care and carbon transparency that large corporates may choose to emulate, particularly when bidding for federal contracts.
Source: Department of Finance
