Information sessions:
New grant agreements
November 2014
Acknowledgement of Country
We acknowledge the traditional owners on whose land we meet today.
We pay our respects to their elders past and present.
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What will be covered in this session
• Changes to grant agreements
• Content in the streamlined grant agreement
• Reporting requirements (the DSS Data Exchange)
• Supplementary conditions
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What will not be covered today
• Outcomes of the recent selections processes
• Matters other than content in grant agreements
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Why we are making changes
The ‘new way of working for grants’
• new grant programmes
• longer term grant agreements where
appropriate
• a move towards a single grant agreement
• a new and streamlined approach to
programme performance reporting
• simplified financial acquittal reporting
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Agreement types
1. Streamlined – majority of grants
2. Comprehensive – complex grants
3. Letter of Offer – small, one-off grants
4. Memorandum of Understanding
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Streamlined agreements
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General grant conditions
• Terms and conditions or
header agreement
• Plain English
• Significant reduction in number
and complexity
• Updated to align with relevant
legislation
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Input for each Activity
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Data reporting
DSS Data Exchange:
• Client level data
• Six monthly reporting periods
• Partnership approach (optional)
• Performance Indicators
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Financial Acquittal Reporting
• Reduced and simplified
• The type of acquittal will depend on the Activity
being delivered.
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Service Stocktake Report
• Covers compliance, operational and financial reporting
requirements
• Submitted using a short template
• Will include financial declarations if applicable
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Supplementary Conditions
• Additional requirements
• Included where appropriate
• Examples include:
– Equipment and assets
– Relevant qualifications or skills
– SACS supplementation
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Social and Community Services (SACS)
• SACS Supplementation will be included in new
agreements for eligible organisations funded for in-scope
programmes.
• The methodology for calculating SACS supplementation
will remain the same.
• Organisations will still only have to provide a declaration
that the supplementation was spent for that purpose.
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Summary
• New grant agreements implement the Australian
Government’s commitments
• All future DSS grant agreements will reflect this approach.
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Short Break
Next topic:
The DSS Data Exchange
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A new way of working for
grants
The DSS Data Exchange
Principles underpinning the DSS Data
Exchange:
1. Reduce red tape
2. Shift the focus of reporting from outputs to
outcomes
3. Work collaboratively with civil society
organisations to support innovation in
service delivery
The DSS Data Exchange IT system
Three simple ways to submit
data:
1. System-to-system transfer
2. Bulk upload
3. Web-based portal
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The DSS Data Exchange Framework
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First name
Last name
DOB
Gender
Postcode
Indigenous status
CALD
Disability
Client survey
•
Service delivery
information (Activity,
outlet delivered from,
date of service)
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SCORE goals
SCORE circumstances
SCORE satisfaction
SCORE community
Client needs and circumstances
• Reason for seeking assistance
• Referral source
• Referral made
• Household composition
• Household income
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SCORE
Post-assistance
Specific purpose
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Language spoken at home
Length of time in Australia
Ethnicity/country of origin
Migration visa category
ABS
AIHW
Census
Others
DSS Data Exchange Programme Logic
DSS Purpose: Improving the lifetime wellbeing of people and families in
Australia
Outcomes of DSS
grants
Did we achieve
what we expected?
1. Clients have improved circumstances
2. Clients achieve their goals/resolve their issues
How well is it being
done?
3. Clients are satisfied with the responsiveness of
services
How much is being
done?
4. Services are available to individuals and families
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DSS Purpose: Improving the lifetime wellbeing of people
and families in Australia
SCORE
Goal SCORE
Circumstances SCORE
 Knowledge & access
to information
 Physical health
 Skills
 Personal & family safety
 Behaviours
 Confidence to make
their own decisions
 Engagement with
support services
 Mental health & self-care
 Age-appropriate
development
 Social networks &
community participation
 Family functioning
Satisfaction SCORE Community SCORE
 The service listened to  Group/Community
me and understood
knowledge, skills &
my issues
behaviours
 I am satisfied with the
services I have
received
 Organisations’
knowledge &
practices
 I am better able to
deal with issues that I
sought help with
 Community
structures & networks
 Amelioration of impact  Financial resilience
of crisis
 Employment, education and
training
 Material wellbeing
 Safe, affordable housing
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Client Goal SCORE
SCORE goal domain
1:
2:
3:
4:
No progress in
achieving goals
5:
Goals fully
achieved
Changed knowledge
and access to
information
No progress in
increasing
awareness and
knowledge in areas
relevant to clients’
needs and
circumstance
Limited progress to
date in achieving
knowledge goals—
but emerging
engagement
Limited progress to
date in achieving
knowledge goals—
but strong
engagement
Moderate progress
to date in
achieving
knowledge goals
Full achievement of
goals related to
increasing
awareness and
knowledge in areas
relevant to client’s
needs and
circumstance
Changed skills
No progress in
increasing skills in
areas relevant to
clients’ needs and
circumstance
Limited progress to
date in achieving
skills goals—but
emerging
engagement
Limited progress to
date in achieving
skills goals—but
strong engagement
Moderate progress
to date in
achieving skills
goals
Full achievement of
goals related to
increasing skills in
areas relevant to
client’s needs and
circumstance
Changed behaviours
No progress in
changing behaviours
in areas relevant to
client’s needs and
circumstance
Limited progress to
date in achieving
behaviour goals—
but emerging
engagement
Limited progress to
date in achieving
behaviour goals—
but strong
engagement
Moderate progress
to date in
achieving
behaviour goals
Full achievement of
goals related to
changing behaviours
in areas relevant to
client’s needs and
circumstance
Using SCORE
• Outcomes measurement is inherently challenging
• SCORE is designed to be flexible not prescriptive
• SCORE can be administered in 3 easy ways:
1. your staff members’ own assessment
2. a joint assessment (staff and client)
3. a client self assessment
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Partnership approach
• The partnership approach is entirely
voluntary
• Grant agreement clause:
You agree to participate in the partnership
approach, to provide some additional
information (as outlined in the DSS Data
Exchange Protocols) in exchange for the
receipt of regular and relevant reports.
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Reports
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Timeframes
• Implemented as part of new grant agreements
• 12 month transition period:
1 July 2014 – 1 July 2015
• Priority requirements available in web-based
portal now
• Partnership approach available in web-based
portal March 2015
• Self-service reporting available July 2015
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More Information
• http://www.dss.gov.au/grants/programme-reporting
Questions
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For more information
• DSS grants website https://www.dss.gov.au/grants
• Subscribe to receive alerts when new information is
made available
Questions
Mailbox
Grants
grants@dss.gov.au
DSS Data Exchange
dssdataexchange.helpdesk@dss.gov.au
DSS Data Exchange (IT)
Dataexchange.developersupport@dss.gov.au
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