Frequently Asked Questions

From 30 January, around 700 organisations across Australia will receive their offer of grant funding from the Department of Social Services (DSS).

The funding is part of 26 funding rounds that have opened since June 2014.

This grant funding supports a broad range of vital services that assist families, seniors, cultural and linguistically diverse Australians, Indigenous and mainstream communities, and vulnerable people across Australia.

Under the new arrangements for grants, funding has been allocated to support the most vulnerable Australians, in areas where there is greatest need.

Funding for new services will commence on 1 March 2015.

The Department received an overwhelming response to recent selection processes, with over 5,500 applications for funding received.

Preferred providers were selected through a rigorous, consistent and audited selection process. Funding decisions were based on ensuring high quality services to the community and value for money.

Formal funding offers will be sent to preferred providers from Friday 30 January 2015. These offers will contain information about funding amounts and duration of the funding offer.

Departmental Grant Agreement Managers (GAMs) will liaise with preferred providers to assist in finalising agreements prior to 28 February 2015.

The length of an organisation’s grant agreement is included as part of their funding offer, and will be discussed during the negotiation process.

Some funding is for short term project-based activities and preferred providers will receive grant agreements varying between one to two years.

Funding for some services will be provided for up to five years, however the majority of funding offers will be for two years, as a result of recent developments in background law and the High Court’s Pape and Williams decisions, which require some programmes to be redesigned to ensure conformity with the law.

Two year agreements will allow the Department to consider any redesign needs and will help ensure providers have the scope and flexibility to be responsive, innovative and creative in meeting the needs of the community.

The application process for any future funding rounds will be considered as part of the programme’s redesign.

DSS understands the effort it takes for organisations to apply for grants. The department will seek to streamline and simplify the process as much as possible.

The recent selection processes were highly competitive, with a large number of high quality applications received, totalling nearly five times more than the total funding available. This reflects the dedication of many organisations in providing important support services for individuals, families and communities across Australia.

Under the new arrangements, funding has been allocated to support the most vulnerable Australians, in areas where there is greatest need. As a result of the oversubscription and competitive selection processes, some organisations will be offered less funding than what they applied for.

A decision made about funding in a DSS selection process is final.

You can obtain feedback for 13 of the open funding rounds on the website. Go to the Closed Funding Rounds page and select the relevant funding round.

If you want to raise a concern about DSS, a DSS process, or a DSS funded service provider, please do this through the Departments Complaints Management Process.

Future funding rounds will be advertised on the Funding Open for Application page on the DSS website.

Applicant feedback will comprise round-specific feedback summaries and, in some cases, individual feedback. Comprehensive feedback summaries with information about the assessment process and the main strengths and areas for improvement for proposals is available for the following open selection rounds:

• Emergency Relief
• Food Relief
• Financial Counselling and Financial Capability
• Children and Parenting Support
• Forced Adoption Support Services
• Community Mental Health
• Diversity and Social Cohesion
• Settlement Services
• Sector Development for Disability Representative Organisations
• Aged Care Service Improvement and Healthy Ageing Grants

After reviewing the feedback summary, applicants can request individualised feedback on their application for some of the open funding rounds. Information about how to register for individualised feedback is in the feedback summary for the funding round.

The website also has more information on the DSS Feedback Policy.

Once all funding arrangements are finalised, information on DSS grants will be available on the website.

Should you wish to update your organisation’s contact details, you should contact your Grant Agreement Manager if you are a current DSS service provider, or provide the updated details with your registration number to grants@dss.gov.au if you are not a current DSS service provider or do not know who your Grant Agreement Manager is.

Any changes to the consortium membership needs to be mutually agreed with the Department before a grant agreement is finalised. All consortium arrangements are managed as lead agency/sub-contractor arrangements.

DSS will not accept changes to consortium/sub-contracting arrangements that, in the opinion of DSS, represent a material change to the application. Further evidence of the consortium/sub-contracting arrangements may be sought from successful applicants prior to the signing of the Grant Agreement.

If your application indicates that a significant portion of the activity will be conducted by specific sub-contractor/s then the Department reserves the right to not accept changes to the sub-contractor/s when the agreement negotiations are entered into. This is because your application was assessed on the information provided in the application. To change the information during or after the assessment period could negate the assessment and may jeopardise your application. The change to a sub-contractor could be also be seen as a risk to your capacity to deliver the activity.

Please speak to your Grant Agreement Manager for further information. If you do not know who your Grant Agreement Manager is, please email grants@dss.gov.au.

The Department of Social Services National Office and State and Territory Offices were involved in the selections process to ensure local expertise was incorporated into the selections

DSS is working closely with organisations to ensure a smooth transition to the new grant arrangements.

The priority is ensuring that access to critical services is not interrupted while new services are being established. As part of this, the Government will provide bridging funding to some existing providers to ensure continuity of front line community services.

These existing providers will be offered funding extensions while new services are properly established and clients are appropriately referred,ensuring service continuity for vital services in local communities.

Over the coming months the Department will closely monitor the new arrangements to ensure programmes are meeting the needs of the community and will make adjustments as required.

Organisations wishing to discuss transition arrangements and other support available should email grants@dss.gov.au or contact their Grant Agreement Manager. Alternatively, queries can be made to the DSS Grants Hotline on 1800 625 136 (TTY 1800 555 677) who will arrange for an appropriate Departmental officer to contact you.

Emergency Relief and Food Relief providers will be offered funding extensions to 31 March 2015, to ensure people have the same access to support while organisations establish services under the new arrangements.

Providers of some other critical community services such as financial counselling, community based mental health, local community service groups and playgroups will be offered extensions to 30 June 2015 to provide time for new services to be established and clients to be appropriately referred.

This includes most organisations with current funding agreements under the following activities*:

• Communities for Children Direct
• Family and Relationship Services for Humanitarian Entrants
• Kids in Focus
• Specialist Family Violence
• Commonwealth Financial Counselling
• Money Management Services
• Family Mental Health Support Services.

Organisations being offered bridging funding will be contacted by the department from 30 January 2015, with letters sent in mid-February to formalise these arrangements. Organisations wishing to discuss transition arrangements, and other support available should contact the department at grants@dss.gov.au.

Bridging funding will not be offered for one-off projects that may have provided ad-hoc, trial or short term services.

*Note: Activities listed for extensions to 30 June 2015 are for former grants programmes.

You do not need to apply for bridging funding.

Grant Agreement Managers in the Department will personally contact each provider eligible for bridging funding to discuss the offer and confirm their acceptance prior to a grant agreement variation being provided. Grant Agreement Managers will start contacting organisations from 30 January 2015 and this is expected to take a few days. Grant agreement variations will be sent out by mid-February 2015.

Questions about DSS grants should be directed to grants@dss.gov.au. Alternatively, queries can be made to the DSS Grants Hotline on 1800 625 136 (TTY 1800 555 677).

Questions specific to existing grant agreements and bridging funding can either be directed to Grant Agreement Managers (if known) or emailed to grants@dss.gov.au.

The Department of Social Services is implementing new grant arrangements to bring together 18 grants programmes from five former Departments into seven larger broadbanded programmes aligned to the priorities of Government. The new programmes have been combined and streamlined to capitalise on common client needs and service delivery outcomes. These programmes aim to provide civil society with greater flexibility to address service needs of individuals, families and communities.

The simplified programme arrangements establish the framework for the Department to move towards a single grant agreement per provider, implement new and improved financial reporting systems, reduce reporting and regulation, consolidate funding rounds and support greater service delivery innovation to meet the needs of clients.

In addition to the existing four Ageing and Aged Care grant programmes, the new grant programmes are:

The Families and Communities Programme
Housing and Homelessness Programme
Disability, Mental Health and Carers Programme

The new programmes ensure that service providers have greater flexibility, less administrative burden and greater control over how they deliver services to the particular needs of their clients and communities.

Read more information on the new programme arrangements.

For more information visit Families and Children Questions and Answers

Online application forms and information to assist in completing these forms are accessible from each funding round page which can be accessed from the Funding Open for Application page.

Refer to the Funding Open for Application page for information on open funding rounds.

No. To maintain fairness and the integrity of the application process, the Department cannot provide applicants with individual assistance to develop their applications for funding.

Please refer to the support for developing and submitting an application page for more information on applying for funding. There are also question and answer pages which form part of the application packs available via links from the Funding Open for Application page.

Due to probity requirements, the Department of Social Services is not in a position to provide individualised support for the development of applications, except in relation to technical issues in relation to submitting applications. Please refer to the support for developing and submitting an application page for resources and factsheets to guide the development of applications.

The Department has not solicited the services of any external firms to assist individuals with their applications. Applicants must be aware that if they pursue the services of external firms to develop their application, they do so at their own risk.

Please note that grant correspondence will only come from the Department of Social Services. Refer to the grants webpage, for further information.

To ensure that your registration is completed and no delays are encountered in submitting an application, applicants are strongly advised to register early during the application period. For information on registering visit the Registration page.

Your registration number will be emailed to you when you have successfully completed the registration form. If you cannot locate the email, contact the Department at grants@dss.gov.au providing your organisation’s name and ABN. We will email you with your Registration Number as soon as possible.

If you require assistance or support in using and/or submitting the Registration Form, please call 1800 020 283 or TTY 1800 555 677.

Each applicant is required to submit a completed registration form before submitting any application forms. If you have an existing registration number, you can use this within the registration form to re-use and verify the details the Department already holds about your organisation. If you use an existing registration number, you still need to verify your organisation’s details, update information as required and complete the remainder of the form before submitting. For more information please see the Registration page.

An existing registration number allows you to re-use and verify information about your organisation already held by the Department.
To use an existing registration number, answer “Yes” to the first question in the registration form, enter your registration number in the box indicated and click the “Verify number” button.

With your existing registration number you will have received a copy of your organisation’s details held by the Department. If any of these are incorrect, answer “Yes” to the second question in the registration form and provide updated information where required. If your details remain the same as the information emailed to you, select “No” and proceed to complete the remainder of the form.

Your registration information forms the basis of your record with the Department - it is important that it is up to date so we can contact you about your funding arrangements.

The Department has issued existing registration numbers as part of an ongoing commitment to reduce red tape for grant recipients. The existing registration number, or its use, does not provide any competitive advantage or pre-selection in the application process.

The current restrictions on attachments mean that there is a 2MB size limit for each file attached, a 20MB size limit for the submission and a maximum of 15 attachments per submission.

Some tips for reducing the size of your attachments are to:

• Split the document into separate files;
• Only attach the Financial Statement, not the full report;
• Remove any graphics from the Financial Statement; or
• Ask your Accounts area if they can provide you with a basic Financial Statement.

After this, if you are still having trouble with the attachments for your Registration Form please call 1800 020 283 or TTY 1800 555 677.

Regarding the provision of financial statements, you may provide what you have available, audited and non-audited. The form does allow for you to enter details of why you may be unable to supply what you have been asked to provide if you select ‘No’ against the question.

Data provided to the department in applications will be captured in a database and used for assessments and reporting. Rich formatting such as stylised fonts, formatting etc is not able to be stored in the database.

To make the application process as easy as possible for applicants, the application forms have been designed for the preparation of applications. The forms enable online submission to avoid the added complexity, cost and time associated with a paper-based application process. The forms include guidance where particular formatting is possible or where content can be saved locally and shared across multiple users before being submitted to DSS. This functionality was included to assist organisations where they may need multiple people to contribute to a funding application submission. Additionally, the application forms invite applicants to provide non-text based information, such as diagrams or tables, as attachments under the Supporting Documentation section.

There are sections in the application form that ask for and allow attachments to be uploaded into the document. This is done by clicking on the ‘add’ button as instructed. If you encounter difficulties with this, please call 1800 020 283 or TTY 1800 555 677.

Acceptable formats are PDF and word documents. Individual application packs provide further advice on content requirements. Attachments cannot be used to expand the word limits in addressing selection criteria.

Attachments to your application should only be added if the Department has specifically asked for the information to be attached, where they add value to your application, are relevant to the application and strengthen your claims against the selection criteria.

If you require assistance or support in using and/or submitting the Application Form, please call 1800 020 283 or TTY 1800 555 677.

Any person who can verify your organisation’s claims against the selection criteria. A referee cannot be an employee of the Department of Social Services.

The application form assists the Department in assessing the financial viability and governance arrangements of applicant organisations.

Financial viability can be defined as a business’ ability to generate sufficient income or have sufficient financial resources in place to meet its financial obligations over a relevant period of time. In terms of an organisation applying for funding, financial viability evaluates the risk over the funding period that an organisation may not have the financial capacity to remain in operation and deliver on its funding objectives.

In order to assess the financial viability of applicant organisations, the Department requests financial statements and other information (e.g. audit reports and other relevant documents) which can be used to assess the financial position, as well as possible financial risks associated with the applicant. The nature of the requested information is aimed at allowing the Department to understand the historical, current, and likely future positions of each organisation. The Department will also determine how this information has been prepared and assess the level of compliance with Australian Accounting Standards which can impact on the quality of financial information as can the provision of an independent audit report.

Sound governance practices also support appropriate financial management over the life of a funding agreement. As a result, the Department has asked for an indication of whether common governance documentation is in place, such as duty statements, financial delegations, financial policies and procedures, business plan, etc. Copies of these documents may be requested by the Department, but are not required to be provided in the first instance.

Applicants should include the costs of the SACS award increases in their labour costs. It is expected that organisations provide the accurate labour costs (which would include the annual SACS Equal Remuneration Order) of delivering the service when applying for funding.

Statistical Local Areas (SLAs) are defined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. SLAs are roughly equivalent of a local government area. Due to the size of some areas, the ABS may allocate two SLAs (Part A and Part B). You can find more information on SLAs on the Australian Bureau of Statistics website.

Where specific locations are a requirement of the activity this will be specified in the respective Application Pack for each funding round.

DSS will enter into grant arrangements with single organisations only. Where two or more organisations seek funding as a consortium, a member organisation must be appointed as the lead. The lead member must submit the application, and is the legal entity that, if successful, enters into the Grant Agreement with the Commonwealth, and which is authorised to negotiate and act on behalf of, and to bind each member of the consortium. Service delivery consortium or subcontracted members must be listed in Grant Agreement and be identified within the application documentation.The application should identify all members of the consortium and include a business partnership agreement, signed by the proposed consortium members, describing:

• Their agreement to enter into a consortium arrangement;
• The nature of the legal relationship between the parties;
• How the arrangement between the members will be managed; and
• That the service/s will be overseen by the lead member.

In order to apply you must be an eligible entity as set out in the Application Pack.

Where you have operated under the auspices of another organisation the auspicing organisation must apply for the grant and indicate a subcontracting arrangement with your organisation.

The organisation entering into an agreement is wholly responsible for ensuring that sub-contractors meet the requirements of the agreement.

The streamlined grant programmes provide greater freedom for service providers who will no longer be restricted by overly prescriptive Programme Guidelines that can hinder solutions to community needs.

The new arrangements provide a greater opportunity for innovation and collaboration in the delivery of services. DSS is committed to supporting civil society and acknowledges that many organisations have networks and collaboration processes in place to support a client centred service offer. As such the Department is not prescribing the requirements or parameters for collaboration. Service providers should determine the value of collaboration to themselves and their clients when identifying opportunities.

The Department has always encouraged collaboration and partnerships as a key component of effective service delivery models. There is now strong support across Government that in delivering services, organisations must develop and maintain links with other relevant organisations to assist making appropriate referrals and coordinating services with a view to improving outcomes for individuals. The goal is to encourage organisations to develop a strong referral pathway across the suite of services and other programmes for the target group as appropriate. Collaboration and inter-agency networking is an integral part of delivering an integrated, consumer centred service offer and should be built into the service delivery model as part of an organisations day to day operations.

The Department accepts that most DSS funded organisations have these structures and processes in place and strongly recommends that partnerships, linkages and collaboration to support a consumer centred service offers are developed and/or maintained.

As stated in the application form, an applicant may determine if service delivery is best achieved through the use of a consortium arrangement. Under this arrangement, the lead organisation would need to meet the stated eligibility criteria. If applicants decide to progress with this approach, they are required to provide details of each consortium member, including a signed statement by each of the proposed consortium members. If an application is successful the applicant will be offered a Grant Agreement with DSS as the lead agency and held liable for all obligations contained in the Grant Agreement's terms and conditions.

Generally if organisations or entities have an MOU or other form of agreement in place outlining the roles and responsibilities between the parties then this would meet the requirements. The actual consortium members for each activity would be indicated in the grant agreement as sub-contractors with the grant going to the lead agency.

A signed statement by the proposed consortium members/sub-contractor(s) must show:

• that you intend to enter into a consortium/sub-contracting arrangement for the purposes of this application;
• the nature of the legal relationship that will occur between parties if the application is successful; and
• how the arrangements between the consortium members/sub-contractors will be managed and overseen by the lead agency

DSS will not accept changes to consortium/sub-contracting arrangements that, in the opinion of DSS, represent a material change to this application. Further evidence of the consortium/sub-contracting arrangements may be sought from successful applicants prior to the signing of the Grant Agreement. Please limit the size of attachments by not using logos and complex formatting.

If a group of organisations wishes to apply for a grant then this would be a consortium arrangement. Under such an arrangement DSS would enter into an agreement with the Lead Agency. The Lead Agency is responsible for ensuring that the other members of the consortium (as sub-contractors) meet the requirements of the agreement. The following information applies:

• Consortium – This is the combined group of entities that is applying for funding through this application form. DSS will only contract with individual providers. Applicants may determine that efficient or effective service delivery is best achieved through the use of a network of providers through a sub-contracting arrangement. This can be recorded in responses to the selection criteria. A successful grant recipient who utilises an authorised sub-contracting arrangement will be held liable for all obligations contained in the terms and conditions of the Grant Agreement. This includes monitoring, management, financial performance, service outcomes, and specifically insurance coverage. Note that the consortium does not sign any Grant Agreement with the Department.
• Lead agency – This is the legal entity which if successful will be offered a Grant Agreement by DSS and which will be responsible for all requirements under the agreement. The other members of the consortium would be shown as sub-contractors within the agreement schedule.

 

The DSS website is the main source of information to assist organisations to understand DSS grants and apply for funding.

Information is updated on the website regularly. The email subscription service offers alerts when significant new information is published.

While DSS endeavours to provide information and assistance to organisations, it is the responsibility of organisations applying for DSS grant funding to keep informed of additional information released throughout the application period. All organisations are encouraged to check the website regularly.

Each application will be assessed on its merits against the relevant selection criteria to ensure organisations are capable of achieving all the objectives of a particular Activity, where relevant, this includes consideration of the needs of individual locations. It is possible that should the application be assessed as capable of achieving the Activity objectives, the funding amount, years funded and service locations would be negotiated with the successful applicant during the grant agreement negotiation process to ensure an overall value for money outcome.

To maintain fairness and the integrity of the application process, the Department cannot contact applicants to resolve issues with their application after the funding round has closed.

Once an application has been submitted it cannot be changed.

Should you wish to update your organisation’s contact details, you should contact your Grant Agreement Manager if you are a current DSS service provider, or provide the updated details with your registration number to grants@dss.gov.au if you are not a current DSS service provider or do not know who your Grant Agreement Manager is

Updates on the progress of the assessment process will be available on the Grants Overview page. DSS is unable to provide information on the status of individual applications.

Any applications received after the closing date and time will be considered a late application.

The department will consider late applications in accordance with the Late Application Policy.

All requests for the lodgement of late applications must be made in writing to the department. Please see the Late Applications Policy for information on evidence that may be required and the timeframes that apply.

Yes. Your application can be withdrawn by sending an email requesting the withdrawal to grants@dss.gov.au. In your email please provide your registration number and the name of the funding round you want to withdraw from.

A direct selection process is a closed process, where an approach is made directly to an existing provider to expand their current service delivery activities or deliver new services. It involves assessment of a provider’s capacity to deliver an expanded service, or capability to deliver a new service through use of selection criteria and/or an assessment of a provider’s current performance.

Only providers who have been approached by the department can apply for funding for direct selection processes.

The Funding Open for Application page lists grants which are currently open for application. Information on the services and initiatives funded by these grants is outlined in the respective Application Packs and on the Grant Programmes page of the DSS website.

Future funding rounds will be advertised on the DSS website.

DSS conducted information sessions in capital cities across Australia during November 2014.

The purpose of the information sessions was to support the sector in understanding how the ‘new way of working’ for grants is being introduced in new grant agreements.

The sessions focused on the changes that have been introduced as part of new grant agreements, including the new streamlined reporting requirements introduced as part of the DSS Data Exchange. The session content was designed to promote a practical understanding of the new content in grant agreements and assist organisations to prepare for grant agreement discussions.

Refer to the Presentation: Information Sessions on new grant agreements and DSS Data Exchange page.

To assist you in understanding the changes and to prepare organisations for the application process, DSS held information sessions between 26 May and 6 June across Australia about the new grant arrangements.

For those who were unable to attend an information session, the presentation for the information session is available.

Refer to the Questions and Answers from Information Sessions page.

From 1 July 2014, funding to provide support and recognition for volunteers will be through the new Families and Communities programme, Strengthening Communities Activity, Volunteering sub-activity. At this stage, a decision has not been made on when the next Volunteer Grants funding round is to be held. As all funding opportunities are advertised on the Department’s website, you are encouraged to check this site regularly.

The length of an organisation’s grant agreement is included as part of their funding offer, and can be discussed with the Department during the negotiation process. The term offered will take into account risk ratings and the type of agreement.

The DSS Risk Management Framework is based on the Australian / New Zealand International Standard on Risk Management (AS/NZS ISO 31000:2009) and reflects better practices in risk management. The DSS risk matrix defines the departmental risk tolerance through the use of consequence and likelihood descriptors. The interaction of the likelihood and consequence descriptors is matched to the matrix to determine the assessed level of risk. Risk is determined as low, medium, high or extreme. For grant based programmes and services providers, risks are assessed across the following factors: governance; financial management; service delivery performance; issues management; and sustainability.

In most instances, the ‘client’ is the target group, or recipient of the support. A basic client record will be required for each client receiving support within the reporting period. The state/territory association or local community group delivering the support would not be considered clients. More information about who will be considered a ‘client’ and other data definitions will be made available in DSS Data Exchange Protocols which will be released on the DSS website shortly.

As part of the new way of working, the Australian Government is implementing improved programme performance reporting processes in grant agreements. The Fact Sheet on ‘Using SCORE to report outcomes' is available here.

Disability Status will include the following categories that are ‘ticked’ if applicable (noting more than one can be chosen):

• Intellectual learning
• Psychiatric (mental health)
• Sensory/Speech
• Physical/diverse
• Not stated/inadequately described
• None

Culturally and Linguistically Diverse status (CALD) will be determined through two questions:

• Main language spoken at home (English, Australian Indigenous, other, and not stated)
• Country of birth (Australia, other, or not stated).

Settlement Services providers typically collect more detailed CALD information (such as specific country of birth) and these providers can choose to continue to report this detail to the Department as part of the partnership approach.

The environment will be ready for use in early November 2014.