Which template is most appropriate to use
Under the Commonwealth Grants Rules and Principles 2024 (CGRPs) officials are required to develop grant opportunity guidelines for all new grant opportunities. Updated guidelines must also be prepared whenever significant changes occur to an existing grant opportunity, such as changes to the objectives or activities to be funded (CGRPs paragraph 4.4).
For grants that are election commitments, it is essential to develop grant opportunity guidelines that comply with the relevant section of the CGRPs. For further details refer to RMG-410 Commonwealth Grants.
Grant opportunity guidelines serve as the authoritative documents for stakeholders. At a minimum, these guidelines should include the following elements (as outlined in paragraph 13.3 of the CGRPs):
The objectives and purpose of the grant
Eligibility criteria
Clear assessment criteria (if applicable), including any considerations, prioritisations or other factors that may be taken into account and how these will be assessed and applied
Weighting of assessment criteria
The approval process including:
Application closing date
Likely decision date
Outline of selection process
Approach for final recommendations
Identification of the decision-maker
Expected terms and conditions of the grant agreement
Indicative reporting and acquittal requirements
A description of complaint handling, review and/or Freedom of Information mechanisms
To support entities in preparing grant opportunity guidelines, Finance – working closely with both with government and non-government stakeholders – has developed a comprehensive suite of templates. These templates are designed to:
Enhance the quality of grant opportunity guidelines for all stakeholders
Promote consistency across entities, programs and grant opportunities
Standardise terminology and formatting
Minimise the number of documents required for grant opportunity guidelines
Streamline the process and reduce the time needed to develop and publish grant opportunity guidelines and
Ensure that all grant opportunity guidelines and related internal guidance are consistent with the CGRPs.
Grant opportunity guidelines must be consistent with the CGRPs and be published on GrantConnect.
There are several approaches available for administering grants. The selection process should be tailored to be specific needs of potential grantees and beneficiaries, the intended outcomes, the nature of the activities, the grant’s value, and the need for timely and cost-effectiveness administration, while still maintaining equity and accountability.
When deciding which approach to use, it is important to weigh advantages, disadvantages, and risks associated with each option.
The guidance below outlines the different approaches provides guidance on when each should be considered. The expanded suite of grant opportunity templates offers greater flexibility and support, allowing entities to tailor guidelines to various selection processes while still meeting the requirements of the CGRPs.
This template should be used for:
Open competitive, targeted competitive, and open non-competitive processes.
Open competitive
This template should be used when the selection process has open and closed nominated dates with applications assessed against the nominated selection criteria (eligibility and assessment criteria) and against the comparative merits of other applications.
Targeted competitive
Similar to ‘open competitive’ with open and closed nominated dates, but the opportunity is open to a small number of applicants with eligibility based on the specialised requirements of the grant activity under consideration. Applications are assessed against the nominated selection criteria and against the comparative merits of other applications. For example, the eligibility may be limited to a particular sector such as universities or to a particular organisation type such as not-for-profits organisations.
Open non-competitive
Applications may be submitted at any time, over the life of the grant opportunity. Applications are assessed individually against the selection criteria, with funding decisions in relation to each application being determined without reference to the comparative merits of other applications.
This template should be used for closed non-competitive and closed non-competitive (non-application) based approaches.
Closed non-competitive
Where eligibility is limited to a single or a few grantees. Applicants may be invited by the entity to submit an application or proposal for a particular grant.
Applications (or proposals) are:
not assessed against other applicants’ submissions, but
are assessed individually against the selection criteria.
Closed non-competitive (non-application)
Where eligibility is limited to a single or a few grantees, who are not required to provide an application or proposal. This type of process may be applicable in areas of ongoing service delivery where the relevant entity determines that they hold or can obtain sufficient information to undertake a grant assessment. The grant opportunity should still explain what will be considered in determining proper use and value with relevant money.
Either of these types of approaches can also be used for grants, such as election commitments with a high value or where there is more than one potential grantee.
This template should be used for processes where applicants must satisfy stated eligibility criteria to receive funding, up to the limit of available appropriations and subject to revision, suspension or ceasing of the grant opportunity.
Demand driven processes only use verifiable and objective eligibility criteria as the basis for allocating grants. Assessment criteria are not used. Often funding is allocated as a set grant amount or through the application of a formula to determine the amount of each grant application received in order of receipt until the funding runs out. Funding is sometimes equally divided between all eligible applicants.
This type of approach is often used for rebates. Where subsidies and rebates create an entitlement to financial assistance, but are not established by specific legislation, they will generally meet the definition of a grant and the CGRPs will apply. Such entitlements generally only require proof of eligibility in order to receive a grant.
This template is used for grants that meet the definition of a one-off ad hoc grant as set out in paragraph 2.4.c. of the CGRPs which state:
Grants provided on a one-off ad hoc basis include a circumstance where all of the following apply:
- there is an urgent need for payment to a person or body to address an unexpected or unforeseen need and
- there is not an opportunity to establish a competitive or other non-competitive process to consider potential applicants and
- the grant is to be made available only to one, or a very small number of, persons or bodies and
- the grant is not expected to be repeated or made on an ongoing basis.
This template can be used for grants where there is only one grant available and only one specifically named potential grantee. This may include gifts of relevant money, sponsorships or election commitments.
This template has been designed to provide more flexibility for entities in developing grant opportunity guidelines for these types of grants. When using this template additional sections can be included from the other grant opportunity templates to meet individual grant requirements.
Examples of when to use specific templates
In most cases, it is straightforward to determine which template to use for the grant opportunity. However, some situations – such as administering an election commitment or a grant to one single recipient. The following guidance is designed to help entities choose the most suitable template.
- An entity has been asked to provide a grant to an organisation the Government made a commitment to fund during an election. The grant is for the value of $500,000 and is to a single recipient. The streamlined template would be best for this scenario.
The streamlined template would be suitable as the grant is to a single recipient. The streamlined template provides flexibility as to whether the recipient is required to submit an application or proposal in order to receive a grant.
The entity is administering a grant program where two organisations have been identified by Government as the potential grant recipients. These two organisations are known to the entity and have previously received funding from the Commonwealth. The entity has detailed information on these two organisations’ performance, via previous KPI and financial reporting. The closed non-competitive, non-application template may be best for this scenario. This template would be suitable as it would reduce the burden on recipients by not requesting an application if the entity holds sufficient information on the two organisations (or can easily obtain some additional information) to enable it to assess the suitability of these two organisations to receive funding [example GO6074].
The streamlined template has been designed to provide more flexibility for entities in developing grant opportunity guidelines for specific types of grants for election commitments (single grant recipients), gifts and sponsorships [example GO7305].
When using this template, you can include additional sections from other templates to meet specific requirements of the grant. However, if a significant number of additional sections are being included it may be more appropriate to use another type, such as the closed non-competitive non-application-based template.
In some situations, entities may already hold a significant amount of information on applicants, such as financial reports, activity plans, KPIs and performance reports. For example, potential grantees may already be receiving funding from the entity to deliver similar services or have received funding in the past.
An entity may use this information (if appropriate) to assess a potential grantee against the assessment criteria to determine suitability for funding. Using this existing information reduces the need for the potential grantee to submit a written application [example GO6260].
The key difference for a grant to be considered a one-off ad hoc; is that the grant must meet all of the requirements as outlined in paragraph 2.4c of the CGRPs. If it does not meet all of the requirements it is not considered a one-off ad hoc grant and the streamlined or closed non-competitive templates should be considered.
One-off ad hoc grant guidelines do not need to be reviewed by Finance but must be published on GrantConnect [example of ad hoc one-off grant – GO5065].
However, if a significant number of additional sections are being included in the streamlined template it may be more appropriate to use another type, such as the closed non-competitive non-application-based template.
The flow diagram below may assist.
