AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT
GRANTS NEWS
August 2014
What’s in this edition?
Welcome
Welcome to the first edition of Grants News
since the introduction of the Public Governance,
Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (PGPA
Act).
It's undoubtedly been a busy few months for all
of us, implementing the PGPA Act as well as the
new Commonwealth Grants Rules and Guidelines
(CGRGs) which also came into effect on 1 July
2014.
Australian Charities and Not-for profit
Commission
Charity Passport is now operational
PGPA Act & the CGRGs
Took effect 1 July 2014
This edition of Grants News includes a range of
helpful information about both the PGPA Act
and CGRGs, as well as some reflections from the
Office of Deregulation, Australian Research
Council and the Australian National Audit
Office.
The grants.gov.au project
Project update
Click on the links to find out more.
Office of Deregulation
Red tape reduction
Contacting Grants News
Subscribe to Grants News
Submit an article:
grants@finance.gov.au
Collaborative opportunities:
To request inter-entity engagement or
to share information on a collaborative
opportunity please contact
grants@finance.gov.au
Focusing on the achievement of programme
outcomes when awarding grant funding
An ANAO perspective
The Australian Research Council
An entity profile
Read about the grants
policy framework
Grants News |
1
PGPA Act & the CGRGs
On 1 July 2014, the CGGs were replaced by the
CGRGs.
What’s different in the CGRGs?
The CGRGs maintain the Commonwealth grants
requirements in place since June 2013. They do
not create any new obligations. However, some
requirements that previously existed in the
Financial Management and Accountability
Regulations 1997 (FMA Regulations) are now
found in the CGRGs.
These changes include:
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moving the definition of a ‘grant’
(previously FMA Regulation 3A) to the
CGRGs (paragraphs 2.3 – 2.5)
moving the requirement to record the basis
for awarding a grant (previously FMA
Regulation 12A) to the CGRGs (paragraphs
4.5 and 4.11).
Helpful PGPA Act terminology
Entity
Includes a Department of State, a
Parliamentary Department, a listed entity,
and a body corporate established by law of
the Commonwealth.
Non-corporate Commonwealth entities
A Commonwealth entity that is not a body
corporate. That is, non-corporate
Commonwealth entities are not legally
separate from the Commonwealth.
Corporate Commonwealth entities
A Commonwealth entity that is a body
corporate that is legally separate from the
Commonwealth.
Accountable authorities
if the Commonwealth
entity is
then the accountable
authority of the entity is
Other changes include:
a Dept of State
the Secretary

a Parliamentary Dept
the Secretary
a listed entity
persons prescribed by
the Rules as the
accountable authority of
the entity
a body corporate
established by a law
of the Commonwealth
the governing body of
the entity, unless
otherwise prescribed by
the Rules
updating terminology, in line with the PGPA
Act and Rules.
What do I need to do?
You should read the CGRGs. Make sure you are
aware of your obligations and familiarise
yourself with the changes in terminology under
the PGPA Act.
The Finance website has updated guidance
material to assist, including:

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
Resource Management Guide No. 411:
Grants, Procurements and Other Financial
Arrangements, which replaces Finance
Circular 2013/01
Resource Management Guide No. 412:
Australian Government Grants – Briefing
and Reporting, which replaces Finance
Circular 2013/02 and
an FAQs page.
If you have any questions, please contact
grants@finance.gov.au.
Module 1 of the Commonwealth Resource
Management eLearning Program, Introduction
to the PGPA Act, is now accessible on the
Finance website. Additional modules will be
added to the training website in coming
months.
Officials
An individual who is in, or forms part of, the
entity. Under subsection 13(3), and without
limiting subsection (2), an official:
(a) includes an individual who:
(i) is, or is a member of, the accountable
authority of the entity; or
(ii) is an officer, employee or member of
the entity; or
(iii) is an individual, or an individual in a
class, prescribed by the Rules;
Note the exceptions of 13(3)(b).
Relevant money
8(a) money standing to the credit of any bank
account of the Commonwealth or a corporate
Commonwealth entity; or
8(b) money that is held by the
Commonwealth or a corporate
Commonwealth entity.
Proper
When used in relation to the use or
management of public resources, means
efficient, effective, economical and ethical.
Grants News |
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Australian Charities and Not-for
profits Commission Charity Passport
is operational
The Australian Charities and Not-for profits
Commission (ACNC) is pleased to advise that
the Charity Passport – the key to the ACNC’s
‘report once, use often’ framework – is now
operational and can be used by government
entities to reduce red tape for charities.
Through the Charity Passport, the ACNC can
securely share information collected from
registered charities with other government
entities (Charity Passport Partners).
This information includes:






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core charity information
the Annual Information Statement
charity documents
registration information
charitable purpose
responsible persons
ACNC enforcement outcomes.
Why use it?
The report once, use often approach is
consistent with recommendations of the
Productivity Commission, National Commission
of Audit and the Australian National Audit
Office. The new CGRGs also contain report once,
use often principles, which can be applied with
respect to registered charities by using the
Charity Passport. Under the CGRGs,
Commonwealth entities must have regard to
information collected and made available by
regulators, and should not seek this information
from grant applicants/recipients.
The Charity Passport has the potential to
significantly reduce the burden for charities of
duplicative reporting to multiple government
entities. The Charity Passport could therefore
form a valuable part of entities’ contributions to
the Government’s deregulation agenda and red
tape reduction target.
The Charity Passport is being introduced in
two phases:
Phase one uses a File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
repository. This is operating now and
authorised government entities can securely
download the files they need using an FTP
client or a web browser.
The ACNC has released ‘Report Once, Use Often:
Charity Passport guide for government agencies’
to help explain the Charity Passport. Further
information is also available on the ACNC
website.
Want more information?
 charitypassport@acnc.gov.au
 (02) 6216 8908
The grants.gov.au project
The Department of Finance has been tasked to
implement a whole-of-government, web
accessible, electronic grants advertising,
application, and reporting system, over four
years. Grants.gov.au will not supersede
government entities’ grants management
systems. It will replace current advertising
approaches, simplify grant application
processes, support application lodgement, and
replace web-based reporting of grants-awarded
on entity websites.
Grants.gov.au is being implemented in three
phases:
Phase one is nearing completion and has
involved a scoping study to determine the
requirements for the system.
Phase two involves system design which will
be based on the AusTender platform, as well as
user testing (2014 to 2016).
Phase three involves piloting, training and
implementation, with expected completion by
mid 2017.
Key recommendations of phase one:
 grants.gov.au be mandatory for all noncorporate government entities, but optional
for corporate government entities
 all Australian Government grants be
advertised and reported on grants.gov.au,
with limited exceptions
 the advertising, application and reporting
functions should be mandated, with
lodgement to be an optional function for
government entities
 standardised information be used to
advertise grant opportunities and report
grants awarded.
Phase two is a web service interface scheduled
for implementation in early 2015. It will
improve integration with government entities’
IT systems, increase data currency and improve
the experience for entities that use it.
Grants News |
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Office of Deregulation
The Office of Deregulation, within the
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
(PM&C), has a number of oversight roles to
facilitate the reduction of red tape across
government. The Government has committed to
cutting red and green tape by $1 billion a year,
and Deregulation Units have been established
in each portfolio, to implement the deregulation
agenda.
Although the Office of Deregulation and the
separate Office of Best Practice Regulation
(OBPR) work closely together, OBPR maintains
responsibility for advice on Regulation Impact
Statements. The broader responsibilities of the
Office of Deregulation include coordination of
Repeal Days. Documents associated with the
first Repeal Day from 26 March 2014, are
available on-line at www.cuttingredtape.gov.au.
Not all deregulation measures require
legislative amendment to implement. For
example, streamlining of compliance reporting
processes can be achieved through an
administrative decision.
One of the many measures announced on the
first Repeal Day concerned the administration
of medical research grants by the National
Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC), to
implement an election commitment. Elements
of this reform include a streamlined grant
administration process for the NHMRC to
reduce information requirements and initiate
an early triage of grant applications unlikely to
be successful. The NHMRC has also streamlined
application and assessment processes, and
extended some grants from three to five years
to allow for greater certainty for grant
recipients.
Given the scope of grants activities across the
Commonwealth, there are likely to be further
opportunities for streamlining grants
administration to reduce red tape for business,
community groups or individuals. The low-risk
grant agreement template provides a starting
point to streamline grants administration.
Focusing on the Achievement of
Programme Outcomes When
Awarding Grant Funding:
An ANAO perspective
A key message from ANAO audits of grant
programmes over the years, and highlighted in
the ANAO’s grants administration Better
Practice Guides, is that selecting the best grant
applications promotes optimal outcomes for
least administrative effort and cost. Another
recurring theme in the ANAO’s audits of grants
administration has been the importance of
grant programmes being implemented in a
manner that accords with published
programme guidelines, and those applications
that are funded are the ones most likely to
further the programme’s objectives.
In this context, ANAO’s recent audit of the
Building Better Regional Cities Program (BBRC)
(Audit Report No.25 2013–14) highlighted the
risks to achieving value for money programme
outcomes when funding is awarded to projects
assessed as lacking merit. Specifically, emphasis
was given to spending the programme’s
$100 million budget, notwithstanding that the
recommended applications were expected to
deliver fewer than 60 per cent of the
programme target for additional affordable
homes, and that most of the applications had
been assessed by the department to lack
sufficient merit and/or as not providing value
for money. This situation was compounded
when it was decided to apply unpublished
eligibility criteria which meant that funding was
denied to some of the better credentialed
applications.
The award of programme funding in this
manner has been reflected in the BBRC
programme performing poorly in terms of
delivering the benefits envisaged when the
programme was announced. Specifically, the
programme is costing more than was budgeted,
is delivering significantly less in the way of
additional affordable housing than the
programme target and many of the contract
projects have been delayed in delivery. Key
recommendations from ANAO to guard against
similar results from other programmes
included that:
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advice to decision-makers address the
extent to which the population of
recommended projects are expected to
deliver results that are consistent with the
overall programme objectives and related
performance targets;
advice to decision-makers also address the
merits of not awarding some or all of the
available funding where a shortfall in
programme performance is expected; and
key programme design parameters and
targets should be reflected in published key
performance indicators and reported
against.
Grants News |
4
The Australian Research Council:
An Entity Profile
research strength against international
benchmarks.
The ARC is an Australian Government statutory
agency. Its mission is to deliver policy and
programmes that advance Australian research
and innovation globally and benefit the
community.
The NCGP comprises two main elements—
Discovery and Linkage—under which the ARC
funds a range of complementary schemes to:
support researchers at different stages of their
careers; build Australia’s research capability;
expand and enhance research networks and
collaborations; and develop prestigious centres
of research excellence.
In seeking to achieve its mission, the ARC
provides advice to the Government on research
matters and administers the National
Competitive Grants Programme (NCGP), along
with Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA).
Through the NCGP, the ARC supports the
highest-quality fundamental and applied
research and research training through national
competition across all disciplines (with the
exception of clinical medicine and dentistry).
ERA assesses research quality within
Australia's higher education institutions and
gives government, industry, business and the
wider community assurance of the excellence of
research conducted. It also provides a national
stocktake, by research discipline areas, of
The ARC Assessment Cycle commences with the
production of funding rules. There is a rigorous
peer review assessment process that begins
when a funding round closes to applications
and prior to reaching the point of
announcement. This process is demonstrated in
the diagram below.
Want more information?
 ARC website
 communications@arc.gov.au
ARC Assessment Cycle
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