Section 3 – Allowances and reimbursements

Higher duties allowance

Where a role needs to be filled for two or more working weeks, higher duties allowance will be paid to any employee temporarily occupying the role acting at a classification level higher than their substantive classification level.
Higher duties allowance will be equal to the difference between the employee’s current salary and the salary that would be payable if they were promoted to the higher classification level, or a higher amount determined by the Secretary.
Where an employee is found to be eligible for salary progression at their acting classification level they will receive an appropriate increase in the rate of higher duties allowance. The employee’s salary level will be retained for any future periods of acting regardless of elapsed time.
Where an employee is assigned only part of the higher duties, the Secretary will determine the amount of allowance payable.
Higher duties allowance will be payable while an employee is acting at a higher classification level as part of a job sharing arrangement where the duration of the arrangement is at least two working weeks.
The Secretary may shorten the qualifying period for higher duties allowance on a case‑by‑case basis.
The additional payment for higher duties is treated as pay for the purposes of determining other allowances based on pay.
An employee who is temporarily assigned for a period of two weeks or more at a classification that attracts different conditions of service, will receive the conditions of service of the temporary classification, subject to any limitations advised by the relevant manager to the employee.
An employee who is receiving a higher duties allowance and is granted paid leave, or who observes a public holiday, will continue to receive the higher duties allowance during that absence, for as long as that absence falls within the period that the employee is temporarily assigned higher duties.
An employee may decline a request to act at a classification higher than their substantive position.
Where an employee covered by this agreement is temporarily assigned to a Senior Executive Service classification, the employee’s rate of payment will be determined by the Secretary.

Workplace responsibility allowances

A workplace responsibility allowance will be paid where an agency has appointed or elected an employee to one of the following roles:
1. First Aid Officer;
2. Health and Safety Representative;
3. Emergency Warden;
4. Harassment Contact Officer; and
5. Mental Health First Aid Officers.
An employee is not to receive more than one workplace responsibility allowance unless approved by the Secretary due to operational requirements.

The minimum rate will be:

Rate from commencement of the agreement	Rate from 13 March 2025	Rate from 12 March 2026
$30.51 per fortnight	$31.67 per fortnight	$32.75 per fortnight

As a salary‑related allowance, this value will continue to be increased in line with headline wage increases. These increases are incorporated in the minimum rates in the table above.
The full allowance is payable regardless of flexible work and part‑time arrangements.
An employee’s physical availability to undertake the role will be considered by Treasury when appointing and reappointing employees to these roles. This is noting that not all workplace responsibility roles will necessarily require a physical presence in the workplace for the role to be successfully undertaken, such as Harassment Contact Officers and Health and Safety Representatives depending on work group arrangements.
Casual employees who are eligible to receive a workplace responsibility allowance will be paid the full amount (noting the minimum rate), as varied from time to time provided they engage in work during any given pay cycle, irrespective of the frequency and duration of the work undertaken.

Travel allowance

An employee who undertakes travel on official business and is required to be away from home overnight will be paid an allowance for meals and incidental expenses. An allowance for accommodation will be paid where there are reasonable and actual costs involved. Wherever possible Treasury will prepay accommodation costs.
In some circumstances, an allowance will be payable for travel that does not involve an overnight absence.

Overtime meal expenses

An employee who is required by their manager to work overtime and takes a meal break during the overtime will be paid a meal allowance at the applicable rate set by the applicable determination made by the Australian Taxation Office, in addition to any entitled overtime.
An employee is not eligible for the overtime meal allowance where Treasury provides the employee with a meal.

Departmental Liaison Officer allowance

An employee who performs duties of Departmental Liaison Officer is entitled to an annual allowance as determined by the Secretary. An employee receives this allowance for overtime worked instead of payment of penalty rates or Time Off In Lieu.
In exceptional circumstances, the Secretary may decide to pay overtime (for an employee up to the APS 6 classification) or provide Time Off In Lieu (for an Executive Level employee).

Lifestyle contribution

In recognition of the benefit to Treasury of employees undertaking initiatives of their own, each eligible ongoing employee may apply for a single payment of $600 each calendar year to contribute towards maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Further information on payment of the lifestyle contribution can be found in policy.
In the calendar year that this agreement commences, an employee is not eligible for the lifestyle contribution if in the same calendar year the employee received the lifestyle contribution in clause 6.8 of the Treasury Enterprise Agreement 2018–2021.

Family responsibilities

Where employees may be called upon to respond to an unexpected workplace demand, managers may approve reimbursement of reasonable expenses arising from additional family care arrangements made necessary where an employee is required to travel away from their normal work location for business purposes or is directed to work outside their normal patterns of work. Wherever possible, employees should alert their manager when that situation might arise.

Loss, damage and indemnity

The Secretary may approve reimbursement to an employee for loss or damage to clothing or personal effects, which occurred in the course of the employee’s work.

Community language allowance

A community language allowance will be paid where the Secretary determines that an employee is regularly required to use their ability to communicate in Braille or a language other than English (including First Nations languages and AUSLAN) in the course of their work, and the employee meets the required level of competency set by the Secretary. Further information is included in policy.

The allowance is paid in accordance with the employee’s level of competency:

Table 1: Community language allowance rates
Rate	Standard	Rate from commencement of the agreement	Rate from 13 March 2025	Rate from 12 March 2026
1	An employee who has adequate language skills, as determined by an individual or body approved by the Secretary, for simple communication.	$1,435 per annum	$1,490 per annum	$1,541 per annum
2	An employee who is certified by the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI) as a Translator or Interpreter at any level; or is assessed to be at the equivalent level by an individual or body approved by the Secretary.	$2,870 per annum	$2,979 per annum	$3,080 per annum

The allowance is calculated annually and paid fortnightly.
The full allowance is payable regardless of flexible work and part‑time arrangements.
The allowance is payable during periods of paid leave.
The allowance counts as salary for superannuation purposes and for calculating retirement and redundancy entitlements.