Grants are a way for the government to provide funding that is not directly linked to a specific older person. Instead, grants provide funds to eligible organisations – the grantee – for services to certain groups or communities. Grants allow flexibility to make sure that the aged care system meets local and cultural needs.
[Chapter 4 – Part 2 – Division 7]
A grantee may be a registered provider or another organisation that is eligible for grant funding. The Act allows the System Governor to make and manage grants for the Commonwealth.
There are 2 pathways for grant funding under the Act. For both pathways, the System Governor has to have a grant agreement in place with the grantee. There are also other conditions that apply depending on the type of grant.
Grants for funded aged care services
The System Governor may provide grants to a registered provider for delivering funded aged care services under the following service groups:
- home support
- assistive technology
- home modifications.
Grantees must be providers registered under the relevant category to receive this type of grant.
The department uses these grants to fund aged care services through the:
- National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care Program
- Commonwealth Home Support Programme. Note that this program will be integrated into the Support at Home program in the future.
Other grant funding
The System Governor can also provide grants to other people or organisations – who do not need to be registered providers – for initiatives that respond to broader needs in the aged care system. For example, to:
- respond to an emergency
- address a shortage of workers
- support and uphold the rights of older people
- offer advocacy support and education to older people
- strengthen certain skills in the aged care workforce
- support older people with complex needs.
Grant accountability
The Act requires there to be a written funding agreement for payment of a grant. There are also some conditions in the Act that all grantees must comply with, which are called statutory funding conditions. If grantees don’t comply with these arrangements, the System Governor may:
- cancel the grant
- change the grant
- take steps to get back the funds provided under the grant.
Grant funding agreements
For any grant, the System Governor and the grantee must have a grant funding agreement in place. The funding agreement sets out the purpose of the grant and the terms and conditions the grantee must comply with to support the responsible use of grant funding.
The agreement must include the situations when a grantee would need to repay the grant to the government.
It may also include other requirements, such as what will happen if the grantee breaks the agreement, performance benchmarks, or reporting and monitoring requirements.
The terms and conditions in the funding agreement need to be consistent with the rest of the Act – if they aren’t, the term or condition won’t have any effect. This means the grantee can’t be made to follow the term or condition as far as it is inconsistent.
Statutory funding conditions
The Act includes 2 statutory funding conditions for grants. These are legal conditions that grantees must meet. These conditions help make sure grantees use the funding for the specified purpose, and support regulation and accountability for grant funding.
Statutory condition: grant-funded aged care service
If the government gives grant funding to a provider so they can deliver funded aged care services, they must only use that money to deliver aged care services under the following circumstances:
- The provider is registered to deliver those services.
- Each person receiving the service is approved to use those services.
- Each person receiving the service has a classification level for the relevant service group for which the services are being delivered.
Registered providers receiving a grant to deliver funded aged care services must also still meet their obligations under Chapter 3 of the Act.
Statutory condition: other grants
Grantees receiving other grants – who might not be registered providers – have to follow the Grantee Code of Conduct, which is in the Rules. It sets out how the grantee should behave. For example, they must act with integrity, honesty and transparency and carry out activities in a safe and competent way.