The Grant Program Assurance Team supports the delivery of the NSW Government’s grant programs, reviewing and advising on grant applications valued at $267.5 million in 2021-22. Assessors with extensive construction and infrastructure experience review the scope, time, cost and risk items of each funding application to ensure they have been adequately addressed.

“Often there is insufficient information to adequately describe the project, missing items in the budget to cater for current market rates, professional fees and contingencies, and insufficient or non-existent allowances for statutory approvals or timeframes for ordering materials,” said NSW Public Works Senior Program Manager Geoff Baker.

NSW Public Works leverages it extensive experience in planning, procuring, and delivering capital works to provide practical advice and assurance services to grants teams, who do not have a background in construction and procurement. This helps them to manage risks such as project failure due to inadequate planning.

“Comments made by NSW Public Works staff during the assessment process can be used to seek extra information to clarify the applicant’s submission and provide greater detail to the grants team to consider if a project is viable for funding,” said Mr Baker.

Applicants can learn from the process, enabling them to prepare better quality submissions for future funding rounds. Since the inception of the initial funds, such as the Stronger Country Community Fund, the Department of Premier and Cabinet realised there was a capability gap with some regional councils and invested in the development of a project management toolkit to provide base template documentation to build organisational capability.

“NSW Public Works’ critical advice on the deliverability of projects within set timeframes has assisted in all funding recommendations for this successful program, supporting businesses to establish or expand in regional NSW", Dimity McClelland-Smith, Acting Manager of Jobs and Skills Programs, Regional Development and Programs, Department of Regional NSW