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Grant management standard

Grant management systems enable the administration of grants throughout their entire lifecycles. Functions include processing grant applications, assessment of eligibility, management of grant funding, tracking of grants and grant programs, auditing, and reporting. These functions are common to many government agencies, and many solutions are highly adaptable.

Grants are administered by responsible agencies following the Commonwealth Grants Rules and Principles 2024 (CGRPs). CGRPs contain the key legislative policy requirements and explain the better practices and principles of grants administration. 

Publish on GrantConnect 

GrantConnect is the centralised location for publishing Australian Government grant opportunities and awards. The system contains information that can be used to search for new grant opportunities, find out who has been awarded grants, and watch for future programs. It is a requirement of the CGRPs that grant opportunities are published on GrantConnect, and that agencies report (on GrantConnect) information on grants no later than twenty-one calendar days after the grant agreement takes effect.

Reuse existing designs, patterns and investment

In addition to GrantConnect, the Commonwealth has established two centralised grants hubs to be operated as shared service arrangements, providing grants administration services to client entities. These hubs increase consistency in the administration and management of grants to support more connected and seamless government services, reduce systems risk in the application of proven designs and achieve financial efficiencies through economies of scale. The two central grant hubs are:

  • Community Grants Hub – administers mainly community-based grants on behalf of Australian Government departments, agencies and organisations.
  • Business Grants Hub – administers mainly business-based grants on behalf of Australian Government departments, agencies, and organisations.

Under the shared service arrangements, client agencies are responsible for grant policy and the development of grant programs, while the hubs are responsible for administering grant programs at the direction of policy owners and consistent with the requirements of the CGRPs. 

Agencies should use the appropriate grant hubs except where there is a specific reason to not do so. 

For enquiries relating to Commonwealth grants administration arrangements and the relevant estimates memorandum, please contact grantsadmin@finance.gov.au.

In addition to the grant hubs, several alternative technology solutions may be considered for future consolidation exist in the Commonwealth landscape. These alternatives may help achieve consistency in existing practices and simplify future consolidation where onboarding to the grant hubs is not mandatory and represent program risks due to timeframes or technical interoperability complexities. Most available solutions are highly configurable and can support numerous variances in:

  • process
  • workflow
  • data collection templates

Build for reuse

Where reuse has not been determined viable, agencies should provide evidence of which systems have been investigated and demonstrate how any new investment may be extensible and operationalised for reuse.

Implementing a grant management system with broad applicability across agencies is critical for reducing risk, increasing efficiency and supporting consistent implementation of grant programs across government.

Any new system should be designed with a modular and scalable architecture, allowing for future integration into other agency structures. Emphasising interoperability and standardisation in technologies and data formats ensures adaptability across different agencies. Additionally, user-friendly interfaces and comprehensive documentation facilitates ease of implementation and use streamlining processes and promoting consistency across agencies.

Engage the Department of Finance

Non-corporate Commonwealth entities who want to develop their own grant management platform should contact the Department of Finance in the first instance.

For all enquiries relating to grant management please visit Commonwealth Grants

Capabilities

This standard supports digital solutions in the following capability.
CAP31

Grant management

Policies

This standard assists in meeting the requirements of the following policies.
POL23

Grant management policy

Designs

The following designs show how to achieve the intent of this standard.
The Community grants hub provides a shared-services arrangement to deliver grant administration services on behalf of Australian Government client agencies.
GrantConnect is the centralised location for Australian Government grants, where entities publish grant opportunity guidelines and awards, in line with the Grant management standard and Grant management policy.
The Business Grants Hub helps government agencies design and deliver grants programs through a centralised grants portal and management system.
Sapphire is the National Health and Medical Research Council's (NHMRC) technology solution for supporting end-to-end management of all Medical Research Endowment Account grant opportunities (GOs) as well as Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) GOs administered by NHMRC on behalf of the Department of…
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