the appropriate mechanisms for identifying and managing potential conflicts of interest for granting (see ) acquittal requirements for grants, having regard to proportionality, risk and availability of other information the entity’s performance and financial monitoring framework used to determine the extent to desired outcomes have been achieved and whether the relevant accountability procedures associated with the grants have been complied with. Instructions officials involved in developing grant guidelines – You must ensure that grant guidelines are: developed for all new granting activities, and revised whenever significant changes are made to the granting activity consistent with the made publicly available (including on GrantConnect when operational) except when there is a specific policy reason to not publicise the grant guidelines or the grant is provided on a one-off or ad hoc basis. You must only release grant guidelines once the approval process for new or revised program guidelines has been completed. This process includes conducting a risk assessment of the granting activities and associated guidelines, in consultation with the relevant agency advice unit in Finance and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, to obtain agreement on the risk level of the granting activity. The assessed level of risk will determine the process for gaining approval to publish the guidelines. Additional instructions could cover: the type of information that needs to be included in grant guidelines (see the checklist in ) who will need to be consulted within the entity and externally when developing new grant programs and grant guidelines the consultation methods that could be used the entity’s processes for undertaking a risk assessment for the granting activity and guidelines how an official can obtain approval for the release of grant guidelines, following the risk assessment (e.g. from the Finance Minister or Cabinet) how to clearly outline in the grant guidelines what constitutes a conflict of interest. Instructions officials involved in entering into grants agreements – Before entering into a grant agreement (or making a grant payment if there is no agreement), you must ensure that: you have legal as well as policy authority to enter into the grant the requirements for approval in these instructions have been met (see ). Additional instructions cover: use of the Commonwealth low-risk grant agreement template circumstances an entity would make a grant payment without an agreement
the appropriate mechanisms for identifying and managing potential conflicts of interest for granting (see ) acquittal requirements for grants, having regard to proportionality, risk and availability of other information the entity’s performance and financial monitoring framework used to determine the extent to desired outcomes have been achieved and whether the relevant accountability procedures associated with the grants have been complied with. Instructions – officials involved in developing grant guidelines You must ensure that grant guidelines are: developed for all new granting activities, and revised whenever significant changes are made to the granting activity consistent with the made publicly available (including on GrantConnect when operational) except when there is a specific policy reason to not publicise the grant guidelines or the grant is provided on a one-off or ad hoc basis. You must only release grant guidelines once the approval process for new or revised program guidelines has been completed. This process includes conducting a risk assessment of the granting activities and associated guidelines, in consultation with the relevant agency advice unit in Finance and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, to obtain agreement on the risk level of the granting activity. The assessed level of risk will determine the process for gaining approval to publish the guidelines. Additional instructions could cover: the type of information that needs to be included in grant guidelines (see the checklist in ) who will need to be consulted within the entity and externally when developing new grant programs and grant guidelines the consultation methods that could be used the entity’s processes for undertaking a risk assessment for the granting activity and guidelines how an official can obtain approval for the release of grant guidelines, following the risk assessment (e.g. from the Finance Minister or Cabinet) how to clearly outline in the grant guidelines what constitutes a conflict of interest. Instructions – officials involved in entering into grants agreements Before entering into a grant agreement (or making a grant payment if there is no agreement), you must ensure that: you have legal as well as policy authority to enter into the grant the requirements for approval in these instructions have been met (see ). Additional instructions cover: use of the Commonwealth low-risk grant agreement template circumstances an entity would make a grant payment without an agreement
rmg-206-model-aais-for-nces.docx