The Auditor-General of New South Wales, Peter Achterstraat, released a review of Grants Administration on Wednesday 6 May 2009. As a performance audit, it examines whether grants allocated to NGOs are well administered.

The audit asks how grants are defined, where grants went and what recipients think of the grant system. It will be followed by a second report that examines specific grant programs. Over a hundred NGOs (including NCOSS and many others from our sector) and sixty five councils responded to the Audit Office survey in 2008.

The report makes 5 key recommendations in relation to ‘grant –making agencies’, such as DoCS, NSW Health and DADHC, these include improving transparency and reducing red tape.

The report also identifies three central coordinating actions for the Department of Premier and Cabinet, including o a review of its Guide to Grants Administration o encouraging agencies to regularly evaluate programs and publish the results of encouraging agencies to use of web- technology to make it easier to apply for grants and to streamline the grants process.

Full report: www.audit.nsw.gov.au/publications/reports/performance/2009/grants/grants-contents.htm

The second report from this review, that considers the performance of specific programs and agencies, is anticipated in June 2009.

For further information contact:

Catherine Mahony
Deputy Director, Sector Development/Corporate Services
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