Accountability arrangements in grants administration relate to:
- grants allocation processes
- ongoing grants management and
- the achievement of Government policy outcomes.
Ministers, accountable authorities, officials and grantees all have their respective roles to play in achieving specific government policy outcomes and should be held accountable for the manner in which they fulfil these roles. This includes reporting grants to the Finance Minister where required under the Commonwealth Grants Rules and Guidelines 2017 (CGRGs).
Grants reporting obligations for Ministers
When briefing Ministers in their role as an approver, officials must provide information on the applicable requirements of the PGPA Act and Rule (including Division 6A) and the CGRGs (paragraph 4.6. b), including the legal authority for the grant .
Officials must advise their Minister on whether a grant will provide for activities in the Minister’s own electorate. This must be identified in the brief to the Minister when advising on grants approval options, in line with the minimum briefing requirements.
The CGRGs and the PGPA Rule contain specific requirements for Ministers where they approve grants in their own electorate and where they approve grants that are not recommended by the relevant officials.
- Paragraph 4.11(a) of the CGRGs and Section 25D (PGPA Rule) provides that where a Minister (including an Assistant Minister) approves a proposed grant in his/her own electorate, the Minister must write to the Finance Minister advising of the details. To assist with this requirement, a letter template is available.
- Paragraph 4.12(a) of the CGRGs and Section 25E (PGPA Rule) provides that Ministers (including Senators) must report annually to the Finance Minister on all instances where they have decided to approve a particular grant which the relevant official has recommended be rejected. The report must include a brief statement of reasons (i.e. the basis of the approval for each grant). The report must be provided to the Finance Minister by 31 March each year for the preceding calendar year.
Reports made under 4.12 (a) of the CGRGs are tabled annually in Parliament under Senate Order 23E Commonwealth Grants Rules and Guidelines.
These reports are available to view on the Parliament of Australia website, and copies are below:
Information that should be included in the annual report is in the Annual Ministerial Reporting template on the Ministerial Reporting template page.
FAQs
My Minister approved a grant in their own electorate last year, which was not reported to the Finance Minister. Do they still need to write to the Finance Minister?
Yes. Ministers who are members of the House of Representatives are required to report all grants they have awarded in their own electorate to the Finance Minister as soon as practicable.
My Minister approved a grant without a specific recommendation from officials. Do they need to report this to the Finance Minister?
Maybe. Your Minister may approve a grant without a specific recommendation by officials. However, they must not approve a grant without first receiving written advice from officials on the merits of the proposed grant or group of grants (CGRGs paragraphs 4.4(d) and 4.6) and PGPA Rule section 25C). Where an application does not satisfy any of the selection criteria and there is no recommendation that the grant not be made, the decision may require reporting to the Finance Minister should your Minister decide to approve the grant.
However, if officials recommended that a grant be rejected or not made, then your Minister is required to report the instance to the Finance Minister in their annual report to the Finance Minister (CGRGs paragraph 4.12 and, PGPA Rule section 25E).
My Minister approved a grant that a relevant official recommended be rejected. However, the grant did not proceed. Do they still need to report this to the Finance Minister?
Yes. The requirement to report a decision to approve a grant against officials’ advice applies to the decision, and is not dependent on whether the grant ultimately proceeds, or whether a grant agreement is entered into.
Similarly, if your Minister approves a grant within their own electorate, but the grant did not proceed, your Minister must still report their decision to approve the grant to the Finance Minister.
My Minister approved a grant that will benefit their electorate, and also the neighbouring electorate. Do they need to report the whole grant to the Finance Minister?
Yes. Your Minister (unless a Senator) should report to the Finance Minister the whole grant, noting the amount of the grant that will benefit their electorate. If it is difficult to determine the exact amount that will benefit their electorate, then your Minister should note that the exact amount benefiting their electorate cannot be quantified.
However where a grant is awarded Australia-wide or across a region on the basis of a formula by a Minister, and any of those kind of grants fall in the relevant Minister’s own electorate, the Minister does not need to report to the Finance Minister. Examples of grants that may be provided across a region by applying a formula could include the Murray-Darling Basin or drought, flood and/or bushfire affected regions.
Are grants administered by corporate Commonwealth entities subject to Ministerial Reporting requirements?
Maybe. Corporate Commonwealth Entities (CCEs) are not generally subject to the CGRGs, unless undertaking grants administration “on behalf of” the Commonwealth.
However, the grants of corporate Commonwealth entities may be subject to Ministerial reporting requirements when a Minister is involved in making a CCE grant under Division 6A of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Rule 2014 (PGPA Rule).
The PGPA Rule sets out the Ministers’ reporting obligations, should a Minister approve a CCE grant in their own electorate (section 25D) and/or the corporate Commonwealth entity recommended that the CCE grant not be made (otherwise known as ‘annual reporting’) (section 25E). This Rule does not apply when the accountable authority (whether a Board, CEO or other) of the corporate Commonwealth entity is the decision maker and the Minister has no involvement in the making of the CCE grant.
For more information on Ministers’ reporting obligations for CCE grants under the PGPA Rule visit the Grants and Corporate Commonwealth Entities webpage.
‘Report once, use often’
Officials should apply the ‘report once, use often’ and proportionality principles when designing grants application and reporting requirements. Officials should not seek information from grant applicants and grantees that has already been provided to an Australian Government entity and is available to officials. Officials should only seek information where it is necessary to assist them to properly administer or evaluate the grant.
If an organisation is registered with an Australian Government regulator, then a financial acquittal should not be required, unless the activity is high risk. Box 1 provides an example of an Australian Government regulator. Officials can still seek a declaration or certification from the grantee that the grant was spent for the purposes specified in the grant agreement, as well as requiring them to identify any underspends. This does not affect the need for grantees to maintain financial and other records that would enable a review of financial information if required.
Box 1: Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission
The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) is the independent national regulator of charities. The ACNC is working with state and territory governments (as well as individual federal, state and territory government agencies) to develop a ‘report once, use often’ reporting framework for charities.
The ACNC Charity Passport enables authorised government agencies to access ACNC charity data via a file transfer protocol (FTP) process for the purpose of reducing red tape for charities. By allowing agencies to access charity data directly from the ACNC, the Charity Passport reduces the amount of information that charities have to provide to different government agencies, in line with a ‘report once, use often’ reporting framework.
Charities registered with the ACNC have an ongoing obligation to report each reporting period. Charities report by submitting an Annual Information Statement and an Annual Financial Report (if medium or large in size).
Ministerial reporting templates are available from the tools and templates page.
