When it comes to grant applications, the question we are often asked is “why should I put all the effort in when the local MP or the Minister just ignore the advice of the Department and give money to their mates, regardless of how good your project is and how hard you have worked in writing the application?”
If you read the daily press you may think that accountability with public money has gone and no one cares. And yes, there are recent examples where this has happened.
Our response is that, like you in council, there are many people working inside the system of grants administration who do care.
The key is to provide projects that are so exciting and interesting that they transcend politics and are exactly what the funding provider is looking for, regardless of which electorate your council may be in.
The better the project, the harder it is for the politics to override what the public servants say in the briefing to the Minister.
We are realistic and know that it doesn’t always work, but in most cases having a project on top of a merit list is always the best place to be.
The team at Section51 has worked inside the grants system at both the State and Federal Government and we know, as former public servants, that there is a constant search for great projects that go beyond the politics of the day.
Out of respect for accountability with public money, out of respect for your community and out of respect for restoring trust that government is there to serve all people across your state and Australia, it is worth it to provide the best possible application so that the grants administrators can get your project at the top of the merit list and on the public record.
And if you think no one is watching, this is a quote from a letter from the Australian National Audit Office in response to correspondence from the then Federal Member for Indi, Cathy McGowan AO:
“I am writing in response to your letter dated 5 March 2019 requesting an audit of the circumstances surrounding the announcement of grants awarded under Round Three of the Building Better Regions Fund (BBRF).”
*Copy supplied by Section51
