Portable & attractive items overview

An item is considered:

  • Portable: if it can be easily carried or moved. For example, an item would be considered portable if it could easily fit in a backpack.
  • Attractive: if it has a likelihood of being advantageous or profitable. For example, an item would be considered attractive, if there was an active market for the sale of the item; it would not be considered attractive if it could not be used by a body/individual external to the University.

Portable and attractive items: 

  • are non-consumable, (they are considered assets, as defined in ANUP_000376),
  • have a value less than the University’s capitalisation threshold of $10,000 (GST exclusive),
  • can be susceptible to theft or loss due to their portable nature and attractiveness for personal use or resale,
  • are added to the AMS; in the Asset Acquisition Detail tab, in the Capitalization Information section, the appropriate ID is “NONCAPITAL”. 

Purchases of portable and attractive items:

  • have to be recorded using an expense account (for example, 5105 or 5109)

Disposals of portable and attractive items should be actioned through the “Asset Disposal NON-CAPITAL”


Responsibility for the safe custody of portable and attractive items is devolved to the level that makes the purchase decision.


Where business units issue portable and attractive items to employees, contractors or interns (‘Custodians’)for their specific use, they should have appropriate systems in place to ensure that all items issued are returned (or accounted for) on or before the custodian’s last day.