An audit of a politically sensitive grants program intended to deliver or upgrade community facilities in electorates around the nation has found the Department of Infrastructure, Regional Development and Cities designed and conducted the program effectively.
However, in his report, Award of Funding under the Community Development Grants Program, Auditor-General, Grant Hehir said the Department’s assessment of, and briefing on, the proposed outcomes of the program was lacking.
Mr Hehir said the Department administered the Community Development Grants Program (CDGP) that provided funding to provide facilities that would lead to long term improvements in the social and economic viability of local communities.
“The design of the program was consistent with the Commonwealth Grants Rules and Guidelines,” Mr Hehir said.
“It balanced the expectations of Governments seeking to deliver upon their election commitments with the requirements of the grants administration framework.”
He said that in most respects, the processes implemented to award funding complied with the Rules and Guidelines but there were two shortcomings.
“The Department’s approach to one of the three appraisal criteria (that relating to outcomes/project benefits) was inadequate as it repeated claims by the project proponent as to what would be achieved, rather than providing the Minister with an assessment by the Department as to how well the project aligned with the program outcome,” Mr Hehir said.
“Briefings provided to Ministers recommending that funding be approved for candidate projects did not inform the decision-maker whether the appraisal criteria for the program had been met in full, in part or not at all.”
The Auditor-General’s 34-page report can be accessed at this PS News link
and the audit team was Amanda Ronald and Brian Boyd.
