Anne Urquhart (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

At the request of the Senator McAllister, I move:

(1) That the Senate notes that:

(a) the Department of Social Services recently completed the tender process for grants for the Financial Wellbeing and Capability activity, and began notifying applicants of the results in October and November 2018;

(b) the tender decisions resulted in a number of organisations receiving real cuts to their funding;

(c) these cuts were scheduled to take effect in a matter of weeks; and

(d) over the last fortnight, the Minister for Families and Social Services has back flipped and extended selected organisations' existing funding.

(2) That there be laid on the table by the Minister representing the Minister for Families and Social Services, by no later than 3.30 pm on 4 December 2018, any documents containing the following information:

(a) the list of applicants who were successful in the 2018 tenders for each of the grant programs within the Financial Wellbeing and Capability activity, including the amount of funding received and the service area to which it relates;

(b) any variations or amendments to the tender outcome;

(c) the list of existing grant holders who were unsuccessful or received real cuts in funding in the 2018 tenders for each of the grant programs within the Financial Wellbeing and Capability activity, including the amount of funding lost and the service area to which it related;

(d) the list of organisations who were offered extensions of their existing funding after the conclusion of the 2018 tenders for the Financial Wellbeing and Capability grants, including the amount of funding received, the length of the funding extension, and the service area and grant program to which it relates; and

(e) any correspondence between the Department and the Minister's office relating to paragraphs (a to (d) above.