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Grants Administration at the Department of Health and Ageing

Grant Policies and our Standard Funding Agreement

This page provides more information about the way in which the department administers grants, in collaboration with grant recipients. This page also provides access to our standard funding agreement

Click on a link below to access the relevant information:

Our grant policies
Our Standard Funding Agreement

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Some of our key grant policies

The list below provides a brief summary of some of our grant policies that are designed to reduce red tape and improve efficiency.

Invoicing (RCTI)

The department’s standard approach is to produce tax invoices on behalf of service providers (Recipient Created Tax Invoices) to ensure efficient payment processing. This removes the need for grant recipients to undertake this role.

Insurance requirements

Unless otherwise specified, organisations are responsible for identifying and holding all appropriate insurances. Upon request, the department may ask the service provider to provide evidence.

Bank accounts

Unless otherwise specified, the department requires organisations to have a bank account controlled solely by the organisation to hold the funds and deposit all funds received into that account.

Indexation

Where indexation applies, the Standard Funding Agreement will include a clause that funding is subject to indexation. The department will advise service providers in writing each year of the indexation that will apply to the funding.

Payment terms

The department’s standard payment terms are 30 days upon receipt of advice the deliverable has been achieved.

Treatment of unspent funds

The department is committed to the recovery of unspent funds.

Interest

The department no longer includes interest in the definition of funding. However the department will recover interest where interest is generated on grants of more than $1,000,000.

Inclusion of a budget

The department will assess whether it is necessary to include a budget in a funding agreement.

Assets and depreciation

Service providers should lease assets instead of purchasing them. In specific instances where assets may be funded the department’s approach is not to fund depreciation.

Funding Agreement milestones

Subject to negotiation, in individual circumstances the department will pay in arrears and against specific milestones. Payment frequency will be determined by a range of factors, including the risk and size of the program.

Withholding and/or reducing payments

The department may at its discretion withhold payments for non-compliance with the funding agreement. The department may also withhold payments to minimise anticipated underspends.

Standard Grant Funding Agreement

On 22 November 2012 the Department of Health and Ageing released a new Standard Funding Agreement for the majority of its grants. The Standard Funding Agreement (SFA) aims to eliminate multiple individual funding agreements being offered to service providers by using a single, consistent set of Terms and Conditions (T&Cs) for most of its programs. In some instances, the SFA will include program specific Supplementary Conditions.

The Standard Funding Agreement and a Factsheet for Funding Recipients are available for download:

Word version of the Standard Funding Agreement (Word 200 KB)
PDF version of the Standard Funding Agreement (PDF 403 KB)

Word version of the Factsheet for Funding Recipients (Word 108 KB)
PDF version of the Factsheet for Funding Recipients (PDF 480 KB)

For enquiries please email Standard.Funding.Agreement@health.gov.au

We welcome your feedback

Whether you are a past, present or future grant recipient, we are keen to hear from you. Please email grants.reform@health.gov.au if you would like to provide any feedback regarding grants administration.

We are committed to treating your feedback seriously. Any comments received via our grants.reform@health.gov.au email address will be acknowledged and responded to.