NSW Government responds to grants review recommendations

The NSW Government has announced its support or support in principle for all of the recommendations of the Grants Administration Review to ensure any public money invested in grants programs is spent fairly, effectively, and transparently.

The Grants Administration Review was led by the Department of Premier and Cabinet (DPC) in partnership with the Productivity Commissioner, Mr Peter Achterstraat AM.

The Review delivered 19 recommendations that, when put in place, are designed to

deliver value for money by ensuring that the administration, assessment, and assurance of grants programs in NSW is in line with best practice.

The government has confirmed its support, or support in principle, for all of the recommendations.

Premier Dominic Perrottet said the NSW Government has asked DPC to lead the implementation of the recommendations as swiftly as possible.

“Grants are an important part of everyday life in our state – from sports clubs to disaster recovery, business assistance to COVID support programs – and we need to do everything we can to ensure every dollar of grant money is appropriately directed and invested,” Mr Perrottet said.

“In a representative democracy it is of course important that elected officials retain some discretion in the administration of grants programs. However, the NSW Government is committed to ensuring this discretion is exercised as fairly, transparently and effectively as possible.

“The NSW Government typically spends around $4 billion every year on grants, and that has increased significantly as we have responded to support people through bushfires, the pandemic, droughts and floods.

“Grants need to be delivered fairly and deliver value for the NSW taxpayer and I am committed to seeing positive changes put in place as swiftly as possible.”

Some key reforms that the government will now implement include:

• Replacing the current Good Practice Guide to Grants with the new Grants Administration Guide (to be issued under a Premier’s Memorandum).
• The establishment of a cross-agency “community of practice” comprising officials with expertise in grants administration, that will be tasked with developing resources to support compliance with the Guide and exploring opportunities for collaboration across government on grants.

Read the government’s full response to the Grants Administration Reviewlaunch