The Story That Won’t Go Away

The Integrity of Grants Administration is again in the News

On 28 February, the NSW audit office announced it had issued a report on the NSW Government’s WestInvest grants program.   The report found that the design of the funding program lacked integrity on the basis that it was not informed by robust research or analysis to justify the commitment of public money to a program of this scale.  It also found that funding allocations through the NSW government projects round did not follow the advice of the agencies that administered the program and were not aligned with the stated objectives of the WestInvest program.

And it is not just at state level where concerns about the integrity of grants administrations have recently been raised.  On 26 February, independent Federal MP Helen Haines announced she had introduced a Private Members’ Bill, The Accountability of Grants, Investment Mandates and Use of Public Resources Amendment (End Pork Barrelling) Bill 2024, which seeks to increase transparency and accountability in federal grant programs.

At one level, the timing of these two announcements, though two days apart, seems to be entirely coincidental and in other respects unrelated.  But at another, it points to an ongoing, and perhaps growing, belief that higher standards and tighter controls are needed at both levels of government to ensure that public money in the form of grants is being spent in a way that achieves the best possible outcomes for the community.

Probity is sometimes said to be evidence of ethical practice within a transaction or project.  For grants programs, this means ensuring that the fundamentals of probity are not only embedded at every stage in the life cycle of a grant program, but that there is clear documentary evidence to this effect.

There is widespread acceptance that a probity-rich project is one that can at every stage be shown to be:

• accountable and transparent
• fair and impartial.

It is also one in which:

• conflicts of interest are identified and managed
• the confidentiality of sensitive information is protected, and
• value for money outcomes are pursued.

Far from being restrictive, these principles can be calibrated to a grant project of any size and purpose.  Above all, their consistent application forestalls most criticism and suspicion about the integrity of the process.

Noble Shore’s probity advisors are highly experienced in helping clients navigate the complexities of grants administration.  We have a proven track record in ensuring they achieve their goals in a way that is consistent with the probity fundamentals and relevant government policies and guidelines.