On 1 October 2024, the Commonwealth Grants Rules and Principles 2024 (CGRPs) replaced the Commonwealth Grants Rules and Guidelines 2017 (CGRGs). A range of fact sheets about the changes are available at Changes to the Commonwealth Grants Framework 2024 .
These frequently asked questions (FAQs) provide further information on the changes.
The FAQs will be updated regularly. If you have a question you’d like answered, please email Grants or contact us in the Commonwealth Grants Community of Practice.
General
Why have the CGRGs had a change of name?
The Commonwealth Grants Rules and Principles 2024 (CGRPs) replaced the Commonwealth Grants Rules and Guidelines 2017 (CGRGs).
The new name reflects that the CGRPs include both ‘rules’ (things that must be done) and ‘principles’ that are intended to guide grants administration practices, but that allow for flexibility. Both the rules and the principles are important to effective grants administration.
The new name also helps to distinguish between the contents of CGRPs and the other guidance materials that the Department of Finance has developed to help officials implement the CGRPs.
Do the CGRGs still apply?
The CGRPs replaced the CGRGs from 1 October 2024, and the CGRGs no longer apply. The CGRPs include a lot of the same content as the CGRGs, but with several important additions and clarifications.
Why are changes being made?
The changes in the CGRPs improve and strengthen integrity, transparency and accountability in grants administration.
The changes also address several recommendations made by the Australian National Audit Office and Joint Committee of Public Audit and Accounts.
When did the changes take effect?
All changes take effect from 1 October 2024.
Do the changes apply to all grants?
The changes apply to all grants that are subject to the CGRPs. Paragraphs 2.3–2.6 of the CGRPs explain what a grant is, the types of grants that are subject to the CGRPs and those that are not.
Do the changes apply to grant opportunities that are already in progress?
Yes.
The CGRPs apply to new grant opportunities and to grant rounds that were in progress on 1 October 2024. Entities should also consider the impact of the two new key principles in finalising grant guidelines and updating references across relevant documentation to reflect the new CGRPs.
The CGRPs apply to grants administration activities undertaken from 1 October 2024. For example, where grant guidelines are released before 1 October 2024, but decisions on grants awarded are made after 1 October 2024, the CGRPs apply to the assessment and decision-making stages. Where the minister is the approver, the new briefing and recording obligations still apply.
The following examples show how the CGRPs apply to grants at different stages of the grant lifecycle during the transition period.
Example 1: My grant opportunity guidelines will be published after 1 October 2024. Do I have to comply with the CGRPs even though my grant was designed before 1 October 2024?
Yes. The CGRPs are a legislative instrument and you will need to comply with all aspects of the CGRPs. See the Summary of changes fact sheet for more information.
Example 2: I have guidelines that will open on 1 August and close on 31 October. Do I need to amend my guidelines to apply the CGRPs?
It is unlikely that guidelines will need to be substantially amended. You may need to update your guidelines to reflect the change of title from the CGRGs to the CGRPs. If you need to discuss potential changes, please contact Grant Guidelines.
Example 3: My grant round closes for applications in August 2024. The minister will be the approver of grants and we expect decisions to be made after 1 October 2024. Do we need to comply with the new ministerial briefing requirements?
Yes. From 1 October 2024, the new requirements for briefing the minister where they are the approver of grants will apply. The minister also needs to comply with the new requirements for recording and reporting certain decisions. For more information see the Briefing and reporting changes fact sheet.
Will updates be made to other guidance, tools and processes?
The guidance material on the Department of Finance website, including the Resource Management Guides, have been updated to reflect the new CGRP requirements.
Finance is updating the whole of government grant guideline and agreement templates in two phases. The initial phase will include updates to both sets of templates to account for the commencement of the CGRPs, the new PGPA Fraud & Corruption Rule (and the NACC) and assist in implementing the government’s commitments to the community sector. Updated briefing checklists and ministerial reporting templates are now available, the grant opportunity guideline templates will be uploaded very soon. The current templates can still be used from 1 October 2024.
Noting the Governance and Accountability principle provides that entities should document the appropriate skills and/or training of officials involved in each phase of the grants lifecycle, what training will be available?
The CGRPs do not set out how entities should document officials’ skills and training. This could be a matter of teams keeping internal records of what training their staff have undertaken.
Finance is considering how best to provide guidance material and information to help entities design and develop grants, and to further support officials involved in grants administration.
Where can I find more information?
You can find a range of fact sheets to help understand the changes on the Department of Finance website. Finance will continue to host information sessions, both online and in person.
The best way to stay up to date is to be on our distribution list or join our Commonwealth Grants Community of Practice. You can be added to the list, request to join the Community if are an APS entity, or ask us any questions, by emailing Grants.
Changes to ministerial briefing and reporting
The CGRPs require me to provide advice to the minister on the merits of a specific grant or group of grants and to use the listed categories. Does this mean I am required to make recommendations to the minister about which grants to approve?
It is not mandatory to make recommendations about which grants the minister should approve. However, officials must recommend the minister reject applications that do not meet any of the selection criteria outlined in the grant opportunity guidelines. Officials are also encouraged to make any other specific recommendations regarding the grant applications (paragraph 4.7d).
The examples below provide guidance on how to use the categories and provide information to ministers. For more information on briefing ministers see the Briefing and reporting changes fact sheet.
Example 1: I have received 30 grant applications for a grant opportunity, and the minister is the approver of the grant. Ten of these applications have been assessed to ‘fully meet’ the selection criteria, 15 applications ‘partially meet’ the selection criteria, and 5 applications ‘do not meet’ any of the selection criteria. The grant opportunity only has funding to award 5 grants. What recommendations do I need to provide to the minister?
The CGRPs set out a range of information that you must provide to the minister (see the Briefing and reporting changes fact sheet).
In addition, you must include a specific recommendation that the minister reject (not approve) applications that do not meet any selection criteria.
You should also make any other specific recommendations regarding the applications – for example, recommendations based on other factors that the grant opportunity guidelines indicate may be considered in determining which applications will receive funding. While making specific recommendations is not a mandatory requirement of the CGRPs, it is encouraged as better practice.
You may also rank the applications if appropriate. Ranking is not mandatory, but may assist the minister in their decision making – for example, by providing clear advice about the relative merits of different applications. You must also provide the minister with an indication of which applications can be supported within the available funding.
If the minister does not approve a grant that you recommended be approved, the minister must record in writing the basis for not approving the grant.
If the minister awards a grant that you recommended be rejected (e.g. the applications that ‘do not meet any selection criteria’) the minister must record in writing the basis for approving the grant and report this decision to the Minister for Finance as soon as practicable.
Ministers must record in writing and declare any conflicts of interest relating to a grant.
How should officials rank applications when a minister is the approver of a grant?
While the CGRPs require that officials use the listed categories, ranking applications is not mandatory. However, officials may rank applications. The examples below provide guidance on how rankings may be used.
20 applications have been received for a grant round. 10 of those applications have been categorised as ‘fully meet the selection criteria’, 5 as ‘partially meet the selection criteria’ and 5 as ‘do not meet any of the selection criteria’. Only 5 applications may be selected within the available funding.
Example 1: Officials rank all 20 applications from 1–20, with the top 5 applications recommended for funding.
Example 2: Officials provide no rankings of applications, allowing the minister to choose 5 applications.
Example 3: Officials provide rankings only on the 10 applications that have been categorised as ‘fully meet the selection criteria’ in order of recommendations from 1–10.
In each of these circumstances, the minister only needs to report if they choose to award a grant to one of the 5 applications that were categorised as ‘do not meet any of the selection criteria’.
Our minister needs to make a report under 4.11 or 4.12 of the CGRGs, when do the new CGRP reporting timeframes apply?
The requirement for quarterly tabling of reporting under paragraphs 4.11 or 4.12 dare now in effect. The first quarter to be tabled will have reports from 1 October-31 December 2024.
Paragraph 4.11 of the CGRGs requires that ministers who approve a grant in their own electorate must write to the Minister for Finance as soon as practicable, and this requirement is maintained in the CGRPs.
Paragraph 4.12 of the CGRGs requires that ministers must report annually to the Minister for Finance where they have decided to approve a grant that an official recommended be rejected. This timing has changed and the CGRPs now provide that ministers must report these instances to the Minister for Finance as soon as practicable. From 1 October 2024, entities must ensure these reports are recorded on GrantConnect as soon as practicable after the decision is made.
Finance will collate these reports for the Minister for Finance to table in both Houses of Parliament as required in paragraph 4.13 of the CGRPs.
Do the new reporting requirements remove the requirements set out by Senate Order 23E?
No, the Senate Order remains in place as this is an order from the Parliament, separate from the CGRPs.
Finance will collate the quarterly reports received to meet the requirements of Senate Order 23E.
How should ministerial staff report any conflicts of interest?
The CGRPs provide that ministerial staff must disclose and take reasonable steps to avoid any conflicts of interest under the ministerial staff code of conduct.
The ministerial staff code of conduct provides that ministerial staff and consultants and ministers’ electorate officers employed under the Members of Parliament (Staff) Act 1984 must: ‘disclose, and take reasonable steps to avoid, any conflicts of interest (real or apparent) in connection with their employment, noting that staff are required to provide their employing minister with a statement of private interests’.
How does a minister record and declare their conflicts of interest?
The CGRPs provide that ministers must record in writing, and declare as appropriate, any conflicts of interest relating to a decision to approve a grant. The CGRPs do not specify where or how ministers are to declare their conflicts of interest.
The Code of Conduct for Ministers provides information on conflicts of interest, and sets out the requirement that ministers must declare and register their personal interests.
Are officials obliged to ensure that the minister has recorded in writing any conflicts of interests when approving grants?
Under the CGRPs, officials must advise the minister of the relevant requirements of the PGPA Act and Rules and the CGRPs where a minister is considering a proposed expenditure of relevant money for a grant (see paragraphs 4.4d and 4.6(b)). This includes providing written advice to the minister about their obligation under paragraph 4.10 of the CGRPs to record in writing, and declare as appropriate, any conflicts of interest relating to a decision to approve a grant.
The obligation to ensure that this requirement is met falls on the minister. The CGRPs do not specify where or how ministers are to declare conflicts of interest. This approach is consistent with the Code of Conduct for Ministers, which sets out the Prime Minister’s expectations for ministers in relation to the management of conflicts of interest generally. In particular, the Code indicates (at paragraph 3.2) that ministers are personally responsible for the management and declaration of current or potential conflicts of interest with their official duties.
GrantConnect reporting
Will there be any changes to GrantConnect to assist with the linking changes/requirements of the CGRPs or will this be a manual process?
Publication of ministerial decisions will be a manual process.
GrantConnect will be updated in the coming months to improve the Grant Opportunity process to allow public documents to be made available for restricted GOs, removing the requirement for entities to publish 2 opportunities.
Will there be a report in GrantConnect to see where the timeframes (variations, other reporting requirements, etc.) have been breached?
GrantConnect currently has a Grant Award by Reporting Period report, which shows where awards have been published after 21 days.
The GrantConnect Insights Report will be updated in the coming weeks to include information about awards that are not published within 21 days.
Do ministerial decisions relating to the minister’s own electorate and against the advice of officials (paragraphs 4.11 and 4.12) need to be reported via ministerial correspondence and on GrantConnect?
Yes. For more information see the GrantConnect fact sheet.
Why do one-off ad hoc grant guidelines need to be published on GrantConnect?
Publishing one-off ad hoc grant guidelines on GrantConnect will provide greater transparency and consistency with other grant selection processes.
Why do I need to link grant opportunity guidelines and grants awarded on GrantConnect?
Linking grant opportunity guidelines and grants awarded is now a requirement under the CGRPs. This allows greater transparency in reporting by allowing users to see who was funded under a grant opportunity.
How do I report grant decisions under 4.11 and 4.12 onto GrantConnect?
GrantConnect has been updated to include a new reporting function called ‘Grant Decisions’.
When reporting grant decisions, you will be required to list the decision maker, details about the type of decisions, and whether officials advised the grant was not suitable and not recommended.
The grants awarded must be published first before information on ministerial decisions can be reported and linked in the system. This is a manual process.
Design and administration
Where can I find support to implement the new requirements?
Letter templates for briefing the Minister for Finance under paragraphs 4.11 and 4.12, including a ministerial briefing checklist for officials briefing a minister who is an approver of a grant, can be found on the Grants Toolkit page.
What do I need to include in a forecast grant opportunity?
- Can we publish general information on the grant opportunity – including, at a high level, who can apply and what kinds of projects can apply – as early as possible to allow us to promote the Program and give potential grantees time to plan?
- What information would you expect to have included?
- At what level would this content need to be approved?
- At what stage in grant guideline development and approval would we be able to develop a forecast grant opportunity?
- Can we publish forecast opportunities on our website?
A forecast opportunity can be issued at any time prior to the actual grant opportunity being released. Including as much information as you have available will give potential applicants the best opportunity to plan and prepare.
The main requirement under the CGRPs is that forecast grant opportunities must be published on GrantConnect. While you may publish information about forecast grant opportunities on your entity website, remember that GrantConnect is the single source of truth for Commonwealth grants. Consistent with the requirements for grant opportunities, entities are strongly encouraged to ensure that information about forecast grant opportunities that is published outside GrantConnect is the same or a subset of the information published on GrantConnect.
There are no specific requirements as to what a forecast opportunity must include and there is no template. A forecast opportunity could be, for example:
- You may choose to publish a draft of grant opportunity guidelines and seek feedback from stakeholders or enable potential applicants to begin to plan their applications, or
- Your minister may issue a press release or a grants workplan outlining upcoming opportunities and anticipated dates or timeframes for these opportunities.
Forecast grant opportunities do not have to be reviewed by the Department of Finance and approval levels are a matter for the entity issuing the forecast opportunity.
What is the process for reviewing and clearing one-off ad hoc grant opportunity guidelines?
Finance is developing an Estimates Memoranda that will detail the guidelines process, including for one-off ad hoc. This will be shared with entities as soon as possible.
Is there advice on the publication timeframes of one-off ad hoc grants?
Timeframes for publishing one-off ad hoc grant opportunity guidelines will be the same as publishing of other grant guidelines. While there are no specific timeframes for publishing, as with other grant guidelines, it would not be consistent with the framework to publish the guidelines after the grant/s have been awarded.
There are many instances of grant guidelines that deal with urgent situations (bushfires and floods) where grant guidelines were published in a timely way to meet the CGRGs requirements. This continues to be the case for the CGRPs.
Clarifications and definitions
If a third party organisation is administering grants, does it have to follow all the CGRP requirements?
Yes, third parties must adhere to the key principles and comply with relevant requirements of the CGRPs. Accountable authorities and officials must ensure that any arrangement with a third party to undertake grants administration functions on behalf of the government is in writing and requires the third party to adhere to the key principles and applicable requirements of the CGRPs. For more information see the Third Parties fact sheet.
Is it up to the administering entity to decide what constitutes a one-off ad hoc grant round?
Under the CGRPs, grants provided on a one-off ad hoc basis may be appropriate when all of the following apply:
- there is an urgent need for payment to a person or organisation to address an unexpected or unforeseen need
- there is no opportunity to establish a competitive or other non-competitive process to consider potential applicants
- the grant will be made available only to one, or a very small number of, people or organisations, and
- the grant is not expected to be repeated or made on an ongoing basis.
The CGRPs also make clear that competitive, merit-based selection processes should be used unless a minister, accountable authority or delegate has specifically agreed otherwise.
