G/3.4 Borrowings

Policy Owner	Executive Director, Finance and Deputy Chief Financial Officer
Approval Date	09/12/2009
Approval Authority	Council
Date of Next Review	01/12/2012

3.4.1 Policy Statement
3.4.2 Borrowings
3.4.3 State government borrowings program
3.4.4 Records and reporting
Related Documents
Modification History

3.4.1 Policy statement

QUT may borrow, with the approval of the Treasurer of Queensland, in accordance with Part 5 of the Statutory Bodies Financial Arrangements Act 1982.

The principles applying to borrowings are as follows:

Council, following recommendation from Finance and Planning Committee, recommends all borrowings to the Treasurer of Queensland for approval via the relevant Government Department
borrowings must be in Australian currency and undertaken in Australia
borrowings will generally be from Queensland Treasury Corporation (QTC), with any guarantee or conditions being approved by the Treasurer of Queensland
funds required to meet borrowing repayments are to be accounted for in the triennial budget and commitments are to be reported in the University's Financial Statements
the University's liquidity level is to be maintained at all times to meet all reasonably anticipated operating cash flow requirements of the University, as and when they fall due; and
total borrowings should be a mixture of fixed and floating interest rates wherever practicable.

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3.4.2 Borrowings

Borrowings may be approved in the following limited circumstances:

to further the University's research activities and to commercialise intellectual property
to support the Asset Management Program
to address unexpected shortfalls in cash flows (limited to the QTC Working Capital Loan Facility on 30 day terms).

The Executive Director, Finance and Deputy Chief Financial Officer has delegated authority to approve access to funds from the QTC Working Capital Loan Facility for up to 30 days and within pre-approved limits.

All other borrowings require Council approval following recommendation from Finance and Planning Committee. Such recommendations are to include a detailed business case clearly identifying the benefits of the loan, including a detailed cash flow projection prepared on a discounted cash flow basis.

All borrowings are approved within the context of the published University Consolidated Budget and Capital Management Plan.

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3.4.3 State government borrowings program

QUT has access to loan arrangements through Government funding programs (eg Smart State Research Facilities Fund, State Borrowing Program for Universities) which adhere to the borrowing principles listed above. Specific terms and conditions relating to these loans are available from the Executive Director, Finance and Deputy Chief Financial Officer.

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3.4.4 Records and reporting

The Executive Director, Finance and Deputy Chief Financial Officer ensures that all borrowings are recorded in a central register and that source documents are safeguarded.

The Vice-President (Finance) and Chief Financial Officer provides a status report on borrowings as part of the quarterly report to Finance and Planning Committee.

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Modification History

Date	Sections	Source	Details
05.05.21	G/3.4.2, G/3.4.3, G/3.4.4	Director, Governance, Legal and Performance	Minor editorial changes to align with Repositioning QUT for a post-COVID world organisational change - effective 31.01.21
10.07.18	All	Vice-Chancellor and President	Revised policy to include department name change from Corporate Finance to Finance Resource Management
09.12.09	All	Council	Revised policy
19.06.08	All	Acting Executive Director, Finance and Resource Planning	Policy reviewed – no change required
14.12.05	All	Council	New policy (endorsed by Planning and Resources Committee 14.11.05)

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