As of 1 October 2024, the Commonwealth Government has replaced the Commonwealth Grants Rules
and Guidelines (CCRGs) with the Commonwealth Grants Rules and Principles (CGRPs). These principles
apply to all non-corporate Commonwealth entities (NCEs). This document applies if you are an official
at a non-corporate Commonwealth entity but is relevant to anyone who wishes to use the CGRPs as a
guide to high-quality grants administration or is interested in OmniStar Grants.
The change from guidelines to principles reflects the Commonwealth Government’s intention to
strengthen integrity, accountability, and provide greater transparency in grants administration. The
changes have been made to address recommendations from the Australian National Audit Office
(ANAO) and Joint Committee of Public Audit and Accounts (JCPAA).
These changes may present you with a significant challenge as many previous recommendations are
now obligations, the additional principles may require new ways of working, and there are enhanced
reporting requirements throughout.
OmniStar Grants (OmniStar) have decades of experience in administration of all aspects of the grant
lifecycle. Our OmniStar software platform was designed and developed from the ground up for grant
administration and we work closely with our clients to ensure that our platform meets your needs.
The changes occur in six categories and OmniStar can help with each of them:
• Briefing and reporting changes: There are new obligations for officials and ministers around
recommendations, approvals, and reporting. You can administer of all this through OmniStar
and retain a complete history of activity in the audit log and timeline.
• GrantConnect: Certain information must be reported to GrantConnect. For this, OmniStar
includes a GrantConnect integration which streamlines the reporting process.
• New key principles: There are two new principles: merit-based processes to ensure value for
money; and consistency with published guidelines to ensure fairness and transparency.
OmniStar has review tools and configurable workflows making adherence to these principles
simple and efficient.
• One-off ad hoc grants: You may provide these in special circumstances. OmniStar’s flexibility
allows administration of one-off ad hoc grants. The system process is thorough, allowing you to
document your rationale and decisions, and consistent making one-off grants administration
intuitive and efficient.
• Third parties: When organisations use third party organisations to assist with grant
administration, the individuals at those third parties must also comply with the CGRPs.
OmniStar allows you to onboard third-party users to assist with grant administration.
OmniStar’s intuitive workflows and SmartForms acts as guardrails; enabling third-parties to
quickly get up to speed with your processes and minimising the opportunity to make mistakes,
enabling them to work consistently, effectively, and in adherence with your guidelines. You can
maintain your records of third-party individuals involved with the grant round and relevant
information such as conflict of interest declarations.
• Variations: OmniStar manages changes to grant agreements from proactive management to
reduce the likelihood of changes, managing interactions with stakeholders, through to reporting
variations publicly.
OmniStar has native Approval functionality which is referenced throughout this document and applies
across the whole grant lifecycle, from assessing eligibility through to acquittal of funds. Approvals are a
way to capture a decision for a record that exists OmniStar, such as an application, milestone,
document or project. An approval is a decision point in a process that determines how the process
moves forward and enables you to control the grant lifecycle across multiple stakeholders, rounds, and
stages.
We are uniquely placed to help your organisation meet any challenges in adhering to these new
principles. Download full White Paper here.
