Kurtley Beale has endured a tumultuous last month © Getty Images

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Kurtley Beale has been handed a further $3,000 (£1,650) fine after the Australian Rugby Union wrapped up its investigation into his in-flight altercation with former staffer Di Patston.

Beale was last week issued with a $45,000 (£24,000) fine following a marathon disciplinary hearing into alleged misconduct, specifically some inappropriate text messages.

The Waratahs and Wallabies utility was found not to have sent a second message, reportedly the more serious of the two, and escaped with the fine rather than the sacking which many had expected.

But Beale was dealt a further blow on Friday with the ARU fining him the much smaller amount of $3,000 (£1,650) for an incident that was reportedly sparked by a t-Shirt while the Wallabies were en route to South America.

"Mr Beale was found guilty of breaching Wallaby team protocols and fined $3,000 (£1,650), following an ARU Integrity investigation into a verbal altercation with members of the Wallaby management team on a flight on 28 September 2014," an ARU statement read.

"The incident was deemed to be a moderate breach of team protocols and the ARU Integrity investigation found Mr Beale guilty of inappropriate public behaviour as a result of being rude and disrespectful of Wallaby management in public."

Beale is now free to negotiate a contract extension with the Waratahs and ARU. © Getty Images

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Beale wasn't included in new coach Michael Cheika's squad for the Wallabies' tour of Europe but remains a chance to join the team in the coming weeks.

Former Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie resigned his post after the final Bledisloe clash in Brisbane while Patston revealed her personal struggles following the Beale incident earlier this week.

The statement issued by the ARU also revealed the governing body had recommended Beale's contract be terminated over the text messaging scandal.

But they agreed they would abide by any punishment handed down by the tribunal at his Code of Conduct hearing.