List of Recommendations

Recommendation 1

2.6
The Committee recommends that the Department of the Environment and Energy, the Attorney-General’s Department and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet establish partnership agreements with their respective Grants Hubs, where they have not already done so, and ensure that new or existing agreements:
outline individual and shared responsibilities and corresponding expectations of each party;
provide for joint risk identification and complementary risk management arrangements, including where applicable, for programme design. These risks may be considered either in the agreements or subsidiary risk management plans, with the risks appropriately informed by the different level of service agreement; and
clearly articulate overarching assurance processes that support the balance between better practice administration and the achievement of policy outcomes.

Recommendation 2

3.8
The Committee recommends that the Department of the Environment and Energy, the Attorney-General’s Department and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, ensure that they:
measure the number of staff formally trained with regard to the Commonwealth Grants Rules and Guidelines, including implementing where necessary, arrangements to conduct this activity; and
quickly rectify skills gaps so that sufficient expertise is retained so as to ensure compliance with the Commonwealth Grants Rules and Guidelines, including but not limited to record keeping requirements within the guidelines.

Recommendation 3

4.9
The Committee recommends that the Department of the Environment and Energy, the Attorney-General’s Department and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet respectively, report back to the Committee on progress against the Auditor-General’s recommendations from each of the following individual audit reports: Award of Funding under the 20 Million Trees Programme (No. 4 of 2016–17); The Design of, and Award of Funding under, the Living Safe Together Grants Programme (No. 12 of 2016–17); and Indigenous Advancement Strategy (No. 35 of 2016–17). The advice to the Committee should clearly indicate whether full implementation of the respective recommendations has been achieved or provide a plan of activities and date of expected achievement, and where applicable, any barriers to implementation.

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Past Public Hearings

24 Mar 2017: Canberra