1.
Overview of funding .............................................................................................................. 3
2.
Scheme objective .................................................................................................................. 3
3.
Allocation of funding ............................................................................................................. 3
3.1 Applications ........................................................................................................................................ 3
3.2 Grant funding limits ............................................................................................................................ 4
3.3 Grant period ....................................................................................................................................... 4
3.4 Unclaimed funding ............................................................................................................................. 4
4.
Selection criteria ................................................................................................................... 4
4.1 Eligibility Criteria................................................................................................................................. 4
4.2 Assessment criteria ............................................................................................................................ 5
5.
Co-contribution of funding .................................................................................................... 6
6.
Conditions of funding ............................................................................................................ 6
6.1 Funding agreement ............................................................................................................................ 6
6.2 Performance management and monitoring framework ................................................................... 7
7.
Administration ...................................................................................................................... 7
7.1 Scheme administration ...................................................................................................................... 7
7.2 Approver of funding ........................................................................................................................... 7
7.3 Conflicts of interest ............................................................................................................................ 8
7.4 Grants reporting ................................................................................................................................. 8
7.5 Privacy ................................................................................................................................................ 8
7.6 Taxation .............................................................................................................................................. 8
7.7 Feedback mechanism ......................................................................................................................... 8
8.
Further information ............................................................................................................... 9
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As part of the 2015-2016 Budget, the Australian Government provided funding under the ‘Native Title
Respondents Scheme’ appropriation on an ongoing basis. This funding supports the Native Title Respondents
Funding Scheme (NTRFS) and the Native Title Officer Funding Scheme (the scheme).
The NTRFS and the scheme facilitate native title respondents’ fuller participation in the resolution of native title claims.
Funding under the scheme for the 2016 grants will be administered under these guidelines.
There is a separate guideline for the NTRFS, which is available on the Attorney-General’s Department website
( www.ag.gov.au
).
The objective of the scheme is to facilitate efficient and effective resolution of native title claims. This will be achieved through funding peak industry bodies and other organisations that represent native title respondent groups to assist with the cost of employing a native title officer. Native title officers will educate members of peak bodies or organisations about native title issues, facilitate grouping of respondents in claim areas and coordinate instructions to legal representatives.
The department is seeking value for money. To ensure grant funds are administered in an efficient, effective, economical and ethical manner, they will be awarded to the organisations that best meet the selection criteria and provide value for money.
All eligible organisations may apply for available funding in an open, competitive, merit-based selection process. Applications will be open for a period of two weeks and grant applicants will be required to submit a formal application for funding. It is preferred that applications be emailed to the department at
finass@ag.gov.au. Hard copy applications will also be accepted (see address at section 8 ).
Applications open 30 November 2015 and close 5pm EDST 11 December 2015.
Incomplete applications will not be assessed. To be complete, applications must address all selection criteria
(see section 4 ). Complete applications will be assessed by a selection panel appointed by the department,
comprising officers with native title and/or grants expertise who do not have actual or perceived conflicts of interest with the grant applicants or identified personnel named in the applications. Panel members will give complete applications a score between 1 and 10 for each assessment criteria, with scores between 5 and 10 representing varying degrees of suitability.
Grant applicants will be notified of the outcome of the selection process in writing. Feedback will be available on request.
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A total of $200,000 is available per calendar year under this ongoing scheme.
Grants may be approved to a maximum of $50,000 per organisation per year. As such, a minimum of four grants may be made per year (provided there are at least four suitable applicants). However, the department may determine that a greater number of smaller grants be offered (for example, eight grants of $25,000), depending upon the number and relative merits of grant applications received.
Grants will be awarded for a maximum 12-month period.
Any native title officer funding that is unclaimed or unspent at the end of the grant period must be returned to the department in accordance with any requirements specified in the Funding Agreement.
Applications for grants will be assessed against the following selection criteria:

The eligibility criteria, which includes the following considerations:
 the eligibility of the grant applicant
 the scope of proposed work
 consideration of the native title officer’s role in accordance with the scheme objectives, and
 the native title officer duty statement. and

The assessment criteria—see section 4.2
.
(a) Who is eligible to apply
To be eligible for funding, grant applicants must be peak industry bodies or other organisations that employ, or are seeking to employ, native title officers to assist respondents in the resolution of native title claims.
Applications will not be accepted from individuals (including consultants), law firms, sole practitioners or consulting firms.
(b) Scope of eligible work
Grants under this scheme will be a contribution by the Commonwealth towards the cost of employing a native title officer. Native title officers may be engaged on a full-time or part-time basis and their role may form part of a larger role within the organisation.
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The native title officer role may vary between organisations. Generally, the role will include educating peak body/organisation members on native title issues, providing administrative assistance to members, facilitating the grouping of respondents in claim areas and coordinating instructions to legal representatives. However, native title officers are not a legal representative and cannot provide legal advice to members about native title. A sample duty statement for native title officers is available on the Attorney-General’s Department (AGD) website.
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Funding will not be provided for:
 retrospective costs
 activities that duplicate work already funded or significantly funded by the Commonwealth
 administrative expenses, including the ongoing or running costs of an organisation, for example, general operation, secretariat or support expenses
 costs incurred in dealing with the department in relation to the grant
 non-native title officer work, or
 capital equipment and capital works.
(c) Interests for which assistance is not to be granted
Funding under the scheme will not be provided to applicants if the respondent’s interests to be assisted by the native title officer:
 are previous exclusive possession acts
 have extinguished native title according to law
 are low impact future acts
 are Scheduled interests
 relate to connection or other anthropological issues
 relate to compensation, or
 relate to their claim to hold native title (refer to subsection 213A(7) in the Native Title Act 1993
(Cth)).
In addition to considering eligibility, applications for grants will be assessed against the following assessment criteria:
(a) The nature of the respondents’ interests and rights that the native title officer will be assisting. For example, consideration will be given to:
 the ‘sector’ the grant applicant represents (for example pastoralists, commercial fishers, local governments, miners etc.)
1 A sample duty statement can be found at: http://www.ag.gov.au/LegalSystem/Legalaidprogrammes/Commonwealthlegalfinancialassistance/Pages/Native-title-officerfunding-scheme.aspx
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 whether the respondents’ interests are likely to be adversely affected in a real and significant way if the native title claim is recognised
 the likely benefit to the respondents of participating in native title proceedings
 the native title issues that the respondents are likely to face in the native title proceedings, and
 the degree that the respondents’ native title interests are capable of being protected under the
Native Title Act 1993 or by another party to the native title proceeding relative to other applications for funding.
(b) Value for money— consideration will be given to the number of respondents likely to benefit from the engagement of the native title officer and the number and scope of current claims the respondents are actively involved in.
(c)
The grant applicant’s ability to match the department’s investment—see section 6.
(d) Demonstrated ability to undertake the proposed activity and manage funding—where relevant, the previous performance of the applicants in meeting the terms and conditions of the scheme or any other government/local council funded project will be considered as evidence of demonstrated ability.
The selection criteria are considered to be of equal importance and will be given equal weighting.
The grant will be a contribution by the Commonwealth.
Native title officer grants must be matched on at least a dollar-for-dollar basis by the successful grant recipient. For example, if a $25,000 grant is made, the grant recipient must also contribute at least $25,000 towards the cost of employing the native title officer. This may be demonstrated by evidence of the salary for the position for the year, the number of days the native title officer will work per week and the information contained within the native title officer’s duty statement.
In exceptional circumstances, the department may consider non-monetary contributions. An example of an exceptional circumstance is where a grant applicant ranks highly on all other selection criteria but has insufficient funds to match the department’s contribution. Evidence, such as annual financial statements, will be required in these circumstances. Examples of non-monetary contributions that may be made by applicant organisations may include funding the travel costs of the native title officer, covering the costs of office space, or funding additional native title officers.
If an applicant receives a grant offer, it must enter into a funding agreement with the Commonwealth in order to accept the grant. The funding agreement will outline the obligations, terms and conditions of funding, service delivery standards, accountability and reporting requirements for the department and grant recipient. The funding agreement will also include a payment schedule.
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The Commonwealth’s short-form funding agreement template is available on the AGD website.
2
If an applicant wishes to request a variation to a funding agreement, this may be done in accordance with
Schedule 1 of the agreement.
Grant applicants should not make financial commitments in expectation of receiving funding until the funding agreement has been executed by both parties.
Grant recipients will be required to submit performance reports and acquittal documentation, to the satisfaction of the department, as specified in the funding agreement.
Grant recipients must provide a performance report on their progress against the achievement of agreed milestones as set out in the funding agreement. The content and timing of reports will be determined in the funding agreement.
In relation to each funded activity, the department will assess:
 achievement of key milestones and grant objectives
 whether funds were spent in accordance with the funding purposes
 whether the activity achieved expected outcomes, and
 whether the grant recipient has made the requisite co-contributions.
Grant recipients are required to provide the department with financial acquittals that demonstrate that they have spent the Commonwealth funding for the agreed purposes.
The scheme is administered by the Financial Assistance Section in the Attorney-General’s Department. See section 8 for contact details.
The responsible person for approving all grants under the scheme is the Assistant Secretary, Legal Assistance
Branch, Attorney-General’s Department.
Alternatively, the First Assistant Secretary, Access to Justice Division, Attorney-General’s Department, may approve grants under the scheme.
2 A template of the department’s funding agreement may be found at: http://www.ag.gov.au/LegalSystem/Legalaidprogrammes/Commonwealthlegalfinancialassistance/Pages/Native-title-officerfunding-scheme.aspx
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Departmental officers involved in the administration of the funding round, assessment of applications and management of the scheme are required to declare whether they have a conflict of interest. Officers are required to abstain from any decision where a conflict of interest is identified. A conflict of interest includes:
 any personal financial interest, or those of immediate relatives, in the acquisition of funding under the native title officer funding scheme, and
 any personal bias, obligation, interest or loyalty that affects decision-making in relation to the scheme.
If a grant applicant is successful in obtaining a grant, the department is required to publish, on its website, information about the grant no later than 14 working days after the relevant grant takes effect.
Personal information collected by the department is protected by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). The department collects personal information to carry out its functions properly and efficiently, and only uses personal information for the purposes for which it was given to the department and for directly related purposes (unless otherwise required by, or authorised under, law).
Grant payments will be exclusive of GST. The department does not provide advice on whether or how organisations pay GST. If required, grant applicants are advised to seek advice from a qualified professional or the Australian Taxation Office
. The department will report details of all grant payments to the Australian Taxation Office.
The department regards compliments and complaints as a way of both assessing and improving our performance. The department will endeavour, where possible, to ensure that complaints are resolved promptly, fairly, confidentially and to the satisfaction of the complainant and that our procedures are improved as a result.
Compliments and complaints regarding an application or the scheme should first be made in writing to:
Assistant Secretary
Legal Assistance Branch
Attorney-General’s Department
3–5 National Circuit
BARTON ACT 2600
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If you believe that a complaint has not been resolved satisfactorily, you can then direct your complaint to the
Attorney-General’s Department complaints handling mailbox (
), by contacting the
Compliments and Complaints Officer on 02 6141 2525, or by mail or facsimile:
Compliments and Complaints Officer
Attorney-General’s Department
3–5 National Circuit
BARTON ACT 2600
Fax: (02) 6141 4096
All complaints referred to the department will be fully investigated and the complainant should receive a written response within 28 calendar days.
Grant applicants are welcome to contact the Financial Assistance Section within the Attorney-General’s
Department for further information.
Phone: 02 6141 4770 or 1800 117 995 (toll free within Australia),
Email: finass@ag.gov.au
Post: Principal Legal Officer
Financial Assistance Section
Attorney-General’s Department
3–5 National Circuit
BARTON ACT 2600
The department can provide limited telephone or email assistance to grant applicants with queries about completing the application form. However, for probity reasons, the department cannot provide specific advice on how to write applications. The department is not responsible for costs incurred in making applications.
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