Attachment 1
Before you begin!
Collect the appropriate documentation. If you have any trouble locating these documents please contact your Director.
STEP 1

Documents needed:
1. Application for Approval of Overseas Excursion
2. Application for Approval of Outdoor Adventure Activities
3. Overseas Excursion Information for Parents - sample of letter to parents with excursion details
3. Overseas Excursion Information for Parents - sample consent form to parents
4. Overseas Excursion Information for Parents - sample letter to parents for medical information
5. Medical Information and Consent Form
6. 8A. Risk Assessment Proforma
7. 8B Risk Assessment Guide
8. 8C Risk Management Framework
9. A statement that any required police screening checks are underway.
10. Emergency Plan
11. Immunisation requirements and DFAT contact template
12. Mandatory Procedures statement, Billeting requirements, Financial assistance
13. ACT Insurance Authority Overseas Excursion form – request for travel insurance for
STEP 2
Consider the following when planning your trip:
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Age, maturity and ability of students
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Safety and welfare of students
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Major learning outcomes and relevance to curriculum
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Special responsibilities of staff
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International protocols
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Possible difficulties and challenges
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Basic emergency and contact arrangements
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Use of Travel Provider (see page 5 and 6)
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Read Good Practice in Billeting (see page 7 and 8)
STEP 3 teachers
14. School Board minutes signed by the Board Chair and the Principal
15. Breakdown of costs for all participants
Timing
The Application for Approval of Overseas Excursion form must be lodged as complete as possible with the Director at least four months before the proposed date of the excursion. The date of the application is generally considered the date on which all of the supporting information is complete.
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Attachment 1
Late applications are strongly discouraged, and there is no guarantee that they will be approved.
Where there have been extenuating circumstances and the application will be only slightly late, the principal may support the application with a submission to the Chief Executive. The submission must be expressed in terms of the safety of the students and the adequacy of planning.
At least four weeks prior to departure, the same application is re-submitted for final approval by the
Director.
STEP 4
Gaining approval in principle
Refer to the DET website at: www.det.act.gov.au/ and follow the links to the policy.
If using hard copies of the policy and forms be careful to check that you have the current versions.
1. Read the Overseas Excursions Policy
2. Collect all relevant information
3. Use current application forms and medical forms. The request for medical information and medical consent form that accompanies the policy can be used as they are. They need not be customised.
4. Check that information to parents and parental consent forms include mandatory information and follow the guidelines in the samples. The samples are provided as a guide and MUST be customised for the particular excursion. It is not sufficient to send in the samples as part of the application.
5. Teachers must consult the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to ascertain whether there is current travel advice on the destination country. If there is no advice, then the country is considered safe. Contact can be through the Internet at: www.dfat.gov.au/ . A copy of the travel advice indicating the date and signed by the Teacher in charge is to accompany your application.
6. Principal checks applica tion and all attachments, completes “Principal’s Checklist” and signs application form.
7. Forward completed application to Schools Directorate.
STEP 5
Resubmission for Final Approval
The same application form is resubmitted to the Director at least four weeks before commencement of the excursion.
Four weeks prior to the excursion
Resubmit the signed application form (attachment 2). If there are changes to any of the documents in your initial application, resubmit the relevant documents. Additionally, recent travel advice from
DFAT should be attached (attachment 10), as well as a statement from the teacher-in-charge that medical information and parent consent forms have been received from all students participating in the excursion.
A completed ACT Insurance Authority (ACTIA) Overseas Excursion form should be submitted to
ACTIA to obtain travel insurance for departmental staff while they are on duty. This should be faxed
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Attachment 1 to ACTIA just before resubmitting the application and a copy showing the date faxed should be included in the resubmitted documentation (attachment 12).
After the excursion, the travel insurance cards issued by ACTIA should be returned promptly to the authority.
To help you keep track of all this, two checklists have been developed!!
Safe Travels!
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Attachment 1
Mandatory Procedures Overseas Excursion Checklist
The submitted application must contain the following documentation as required by the Overseas
Excursions Policy (2006) .
Contact Name: _____________________________________________________________
Contact Tel: _______________________________________________________________
Contact Email: _____________________________________________________________
Contact Fax: _______________________________________________________________
School: ___________________________________________________________________
Dates: ____________________________________________________________________
Destination: _______________________________________________________________
Mandatory Procedures Attachments
Attachment 2: Application for Approval of overseas excursions
Attachment 3 : Application for Approval of Outdoor
Adventure Activities, if required
Attachment 4: Overseas Excursion Information for
Parents- Sample letter to parents with excursion details
Attachment 5: Overseas Excursion Information for
Parents- Sample consent form to parents
Attachment 6: Overseas Excursion Information for
Parents- Sample letter to parents for Medical Information
Attachment 7: Medical Information and Consent Form
Attachment 8 A: Risk Assessment Proforma
Attachment 9: Emergency Plan
Attachment 10: Immunisation Requirements and DFAT
Contact
Attachment 11: Mandatory Procedures Statement,
Billeting Requirements, Financial Assistance
Attachment 12: ACT Insurance Authority Overseas
Excursion form- Request for travel insurance for teachers
Attachment 13: A statement with the break down of costings for the excursion
A statement that any required police checks is underway.
School Board Minutes, signed by Board Chair and
Principal
Submitted
Yes/No
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Attachment 1
Travel Provider Details
As at March 2005, the ACT DET travel provider is Qantas Business Travel. Schools should in the first instance contact this travel provider. Two other quotes must be obtained if it is considered necessary to use an alternative provider. All quotes and justification for using an alternative provider must be submitted in the application for in principle approval.
Qantas Business Travel Contact Details:
Domestic Bookings:
Ph: 1300 655 856 (Option 1)
Fax: 02 9951 9835
Qantas Business Travel
46-50 Kent Road
Mascot NSW 2020
International Bookings:
Ph: 1300 655 856 (Option 2)
Fax: 02 6250 8291
Qantas Business Travel
Level 4, 10 Moore Street
Canberra ACT 2601
Guidelines for making new/amending existing bookings:
1. Introduce yourself, advising if you wish to
A) Make a new booking; - Quote your Company Profile Number. Advise the name of
Traveller(s) and Qantas Frequent Flyer/Club membership number(s) if known, or
B) Change an existing booking- please quote your Qantas Booking Reference Number or flight details with the passengers name.
2. Advise preferred flight details- i.e. date/time of travel, class of travel. The ACT Government’s normal class for all air travel is Economy Class unless advised. If booking outside Economy class, you will be required to advise the name of the approving officer.
3. For the initial booking, advise contact details at the destination, such as hotel telephone number or mobile phone number.
4. Advise if you require and additional services, such as car hire or accommodation.
5. Electronic Tickets are mandatory for all wholly domestic travel on Qantas and Australian Airlines.
E-tickets simplify the travel process by offering greater convenience, flexibility and reduces paper.
6. Your Qantas Consultant will provide you with a Booking Reference Number. This number must be retained for future reference in relation to this booking.
Contacts:
Tracey Crump, Senior Project Officer
ACT Government
Ph: 02 6207 6025
Email: tracey.crump@act.gov.au
Geoff Woodham, Corporate Account Manager
Qantas
Ph: 02 6250 8222
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Attachment 1
Email: gwoodham@qantas.com.au
QANTAS BUSINESS TRAVEL
GUIDELINES TO “HELP US HELP YOU”
Booking and quoting of airfares:
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Please allow as much lead time as possible between booking and departure.
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Advise if the traveller (s) can be flexible with the departure/arrival dates to take advantage of
“The best fare of the day.”
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Please be specific with departure/arrival times if these are critical.
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If there are objections to flying with certain airlines or aircraft (eg. OH&S issues), please advise this at the time of booking.
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If you have advised Specific Flights for a given itinerary, please indicate if alternative airlines/flights could be used to reduce cost.
Contacts for bookings:
Please let us know where we can best contact your passenger(s) during a journey. We like to include office, mobile, home and interstate phone numbers, where available.
Types of airfares:
For your guidance, the main types of airfares are detailed below. The key benefits of these fares are as follows:
Full Fares: Business Class and Economy Class. No restrictions.
Discount Economy Fares: Return Economy Class fares, maximum and minimum stay requirements, advance booking requirement, payment deadlines and non-refundable. For example,
14 day Apex fare type represents a saving of up to 70% discount off the full Economy Class fare, subject to class availability.
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Attachment 1
GOOD PRACTICE IN BILLETING
This document provides support material for your consideration and use when planning an activity that involves students being billeted.
Billeting relies on the goodwill of host families offering to accommodate visiting students, usually without financial compensation. The majority of parents will appreciate the obligation that the
Department has in relation to the welfare of students and the measures that need to be in place to fulfil that obligation.
If the wellbeing or safety of a student is at risk, or there is a suspicion that this could be so, the student should be relocated to another approved accommodation arrangement and the student’s parents informed that this has occurred.
Principals must ensure that all staff have received training in child protection and are aware of the need to be vigilant in all matters relating to the safety and welfare of students involved in billeting.
Good practice in billeting
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Determine whether billeting is the preferred option for the proposed activity.
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Commence planning as far in advance as possible.
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Appoint a coordinator at both the visiting school and the host school. Coordinators must establish mechanisms for collaboration and regular communication.
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Establish a clear timeline for the billeting process.
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Billet the group of students, where possible, at one school or neighbouring schools so that they can travel together.
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Billet two or more students of the same sex together, where possible. This allows for increased comfort and safety of students and often requires little extra organisation for the host family.
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Provide the names and ages of students to be billeted to the host school as early as possible.
Suggested groupings for multiple billets and individual issues such as special needs should be included. Communication between coordinators can enhance the effectiveness of matching students to host families. Ensure that appropriate information about students is provided to host families.
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Child protection is a critical issue for education authorities worldwide. In organising an overseas excursion, teachers must discuss with the host school DET requirements for child protection.
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Provide for alternate suitable accommodation, should there not be enough families volunteering to host the visiting students.
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Provide a program to all participants in the billeting activity prior to the commencement of the activity. Include: o The agenda o Venues o Meeting times, places and addresses o Group travel arrangements.
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Ensure that requirements and expectations about transporting students to and from group meeting places are made clear to the adults in billeting families. Consider establishing a meeting time each day for billeted students so that they can raise issues.
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Attachment 1
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Provide students to be billeted with information on things that can go wrong and strategies for keeping themselves safe.
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Ensure that lines of communication, including contact phone numbers, are known to all students and their families for contact with the coordinator.
 Concerns about a student’s safety must be taken seriously and appropriate action taken to protect the student.
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