A new way of working: grant funding in DSS
A Partnership Approach to reporting outcomes
Working collaboratively with the sector to facilitate innovation in service delivery
and produce better outcomes for the community.
Overview
As part of this new way of working, the Australian Government is implementing improved
programme performance reporting processes in grant agreements. We will progressively introduce
standardised, prioritised and collaborative reporting processes across many of the Department’s
grants programmes from 1 July 2014 to I July 2015 (see Program Logic fact sheet).
The Department of Social Services (DSS) will streamline reporting requirements, automate
reporting processes and work together to shift the focus of performance measurement from
outputs to more meaningful information about service delivery outcomes.
This means moving away from relying only on the number of services or activities delivered and
who received them, to measuring the benefits that your client received. These benefits will differ
from client to client and can include outcomes such as changes in knowledge, behaviour, goal
attainment or client circumstances. It’s important to remember that we can’t forget about outputs
all together, as they provide important information needed to effectively measure outcomes. We
just need to make sure we get the balance right.
Example
A project aims to improve literacy rates in children. Thirty reading courses were delivered over ten
sessions. The project was a success as client literacy for the group increased by 40%. However, we
need output information (age and gender of clients) to know that on average males in the 5-9 age
group are only achieving 5% improvement. This is less than the rest of the group and suggests that
the service delivery strategy may need to be adjusted to address the needs of this cohort.
Under this new approach to reporting, data requirements are divided into two parts: a small set of
mandatory priority requirements that all funded services report and an optional extended data set
that providers can choose to share with the Department known at the partnership approach. The
partnership approach is intended to be a genuine collaboration between Government and the
sector to exchange knowledge and share resources to inform service delivery.
This fact sheet outlines the simple and easy ways that the extended data in the partnership
approach can be shared with the Department. It also outlines the benefits each organisation will
receive from the Department in exchange for this valued information.
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Key principles of the partnership approach
This approach is geared towards building the evidence base about the effectiveness of DSS
programmes and sharing this knowledge back with providers to inform best practice approaches to
service delivery. In practice, this means:
 Participation in the partnership approach is entirely voluntary and there will be no negative
consequences if a service provider decides not to participate
 Providers are encouraged to participate on the basis that they may already be collecting most of
the extended data or that it would not be burdensome to collect this additional data
 Providers who volunteer will have access to reports focussed on outcomes data generated
through the partnership approach, including de-identified matched data from other DSS
programmes and service providers as well as data from government data sets and follow-up
client surveys
 Access to this rich picture of client outcomes and service trends will be made available to
providers via a suite of self service and DSS generated reports.
 The extended data set will be supported within the DSS Data Exchange portal for those
organisations wishing to use it. It will also be able to be extracted from an organisation’s own
(compatible) data capture tools using bulk uploads and system to system transfers to the DSS
Data Exchange.
The extended data requirements of the Partnership Approach
This small set of extended data requirements is focussed on outcomes, exchanging information
related to:
 Client needs and circumstances: these provide the context for interpreting outcomes data such
as the reason for seeking assistance, referral source, household composition, and income
source. By knowing this important context information, we will have a better understanding of
who achieved what outcomes under what circumstances, and we will be better placed to
replicate this success.
 Client outcomes: these are reported in terms of client satisfaction; progress in achieving
individual client goals; and changes in client circumstances
By opting-in to the partnership approach, service providers agree to collect and report the
additional data items for as many clients as possible, with flexibility to accommodate situations
where it is not feasible or appropriate to collect particular data items. In exchange, DSS will agree
to regularly report back additional data on client pathways and outcomes using de-identified
matched data from other DSS programmes and service providers as well as data from government
data sets and follow-up client surveys.
As part of the partnership approach, service providers will be able to use a new approach to record
client outcomes known as SCORE (standard client outcomes reporting), which is designed to
assist in measuring client change linked to service delivery over time. Providers who already use
their own outcomes measurement tools will be able to continue to use them, and will only need to
convert the results to be reported using the SCORE approach. Assistance will be provided to
support the sector in the easy use of this new tool. Further information on SCORE is available in
Using SCORE to report outcomes fact sheet.
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What does this mean for my organisation?
The implications of volunteering to participate will vary for organisations, depending on their
current practices and internal systems for collecting and recording outcomes information. In
general, organisations that choose to participate will:
 commit to using their best endeavours to report a small set of additional data items related to
outcomes for each client-level unit record—ideally using data that is already collected as part of
existing service and case management practices
 have the flexibility to negotiate relevant arrangements for opting-in—recognising that it may not
be feasible or appropriate to provide the full extended data set in all circumstances
 continue to have the flexibility to collect and record outcomes data using existing outcomes
instruments, methods and practices—with providers simply reporting this information to DSS in
a standard format known as SCORE. This means that if you are using particular tools, such as
the ‘Outcomes Star’, you are encouraged to continue doing so and simply report the extent of
client change to DSS at a natural pre- and post-assessment point using SCORE.
Organisations that choose to participate will also have access to additional outcomes data
generated through the Partnership Approach—which service providers will be able to use for their
own internal business planning and reporting.
If your organisation chooses not to voluntarily participate, you will only be required to collect and
report the mandatory priority requirements (see the Cutting red tape fact sheet).
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