- Grants and government funding
- What should your organisation do before applying for grants or funding?
- Where and how should your organisation apply for grants and funding?
- What should your organisation do before accepting the grant or funding?
- What happens after your organisation gets the grant or funding?
- What happens if your organisation doesn’t comply with grant or funding conditions
- government bodies or statutory authorities (federal, state or local government)
- philanthropic or other grant-making organisations, and
- corporate bodies (businesses)
More information
We have a specific page on legal issues in grant funding agreements, including government grant agreement templates and the NSW Human Services Agreement.
More information
For more information about making changes to constituent documents, see our resources on rules and constitutions.
More information
For more information on DGR go to our resources on tax for not-for-profit organisations.
More information
Visit the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) website for more information on the difference between gifts and contributions. If certain types of conditions attach to a donation, it can change the way the ATO characterises it. In these circumstance, the funding may not be regarded as a donation, and GST will be payable. This varies from grant to grant so you will need to check with the particular grant maker and your accountant.
- how your organisation is to receive and spend the grant money
- the date by which your organisation's relevant project and any relevant milestones have to be completed
- what you must do with any unspent funds
- any insurance, confidentiality and privacy requirements
- the use of any logos of the grant-maker and treatment of intellectual property (for example, the right to reproduce or use reports or educational materials developed with the funding)
- how often your organisation must report to the grant-making organisation
- what kind of information your organisation must provide to the grant-making organisation in its reports, and
- whether your organisation is required to prepare audited accounts (which can be costly, especially if these are not currently obtained by your organisation)
Tip
A government department or government agency decision about whether a grant or funding should be given to an organisation could be an 'administrative decision'. Certain limited appeal rights attach to administrative decisions. If you are unhappy with the outcome of a government grant or funding applications process, contact the government department or agency to ask about your review rights and seek legal advice.
Note
Some government funding may have conditions like complying with a legal regime that your organisation would not normally need to comply with. This may include privacy laws. This can have a significant impact on the way your organisation is run.
- the conditions are inconsistent with your organisation's goals, purposes, values or objectives
- the conditions are too administratively onerous (for example, will receiving the grant take key resources away from the organisation's core business and require your organisation to establish various processes to carry out the terms of the grant?) Such considerations could include management, supervision requirements, accounting, auditing, record-keeping and tax registrations (for example, for GST)
- the conditions are too restrictive in terms of how you spend your money or the activities your organisation can undertake, or
- the obligations under the conditions continue too far into the future (for example confidentiality obligations)
Note
Check conditions attached to any grant before applying for and accepting it. Your organisation may wish to seek legal or accounting advice on the financial and other possible implications that receipt of a grant (particularly a large grant) will have for your organisation.
More information
For more information on the GST treatment of grants money, refer to the GST section of the ATO's website. The guide provides case studies on when you may have to pay GST on a grant. To find out more about whether your organisation needs to register for GST and GST concessions see our resources on GST.
Generally, unless your organisation is exempt from paying income tax, an organisation will be required to pay income tax on grants or funding received. To find out more about income tax exemptions, see our webpage on income tax.
- not using the funds as directed
- not returning surplus funds
- not reporting back to the grant-maker as required (for example, expenditure of funds) and
- not complying with any additional material outside of the contract itself (for example, legislation or regulations)
- result in further payments not being made to your organisation
- damage your reputation with grant-makers
- make it difficult for your organisation to get other grants or funding, or
- make your organisation ineligible to apply for future grants
