My mate is a pilot with virgin, went on staff travel together to the USA about 2 years ago, getting there was fine with Vaus, didn't use delta domestically as i think there is a term that it can only be for your spouse,
etihad was the same. As a group 1 im pretty sure you dont have to have the staff memeber flying with you, I think recently the staff travel system has changed at Virgin. So it may not be the same anymore.
My advice if going on staff travel is
1. Dont fly during peak periods, school holidays etc. You can end up being bumped upto 5 days in a row
2. Book in business class, it will give you the best chance of getting on the plane, because if you book business and there is only premium or economy left, you get the preference over the staff on lower standby fairs
3. Be prepared to take any flight you can out of LAX to get back to Aus, sometimes its easier to get on the LAX-BNE than the LAX-SYD on that day
But as others have said, best to get your daughter to login to the staff travel website for the latest terms