Whittlesea council has adopted a new grants policy that aims to remove fraud risks by removing councillors from grant assessments processes.
Councillor Blair Colwell endorsed the policy at the 17 February meeting and said it aligns with the Victorian Auditor General’s Office (VAGO) report on controlling fraud in council grant processes.
“I’m glad and relieved to see that we’re adopting best practice here in Whittlesea in the way that we administer our grants process,” Cr Colwell said.
The grants policy adopts key VAGO principles such as strengthening conflict-of-interest processes, excluding councillors from grant assessments, documenting funding transparently and evaluating how each grant is used.
Council grant categories are outlined and defined in the policy, and include competitive grants awarded based on merit. The policy also allows for closed, non-competitive grants that are awarded by invitation-only. Both merit-based and invitation-only grants have recurring and non-recurring funding streams.
Emergency relief grants are also defined in the policy as demand-driven grants that can be revised or cancelled.
Cr Colwell said the guidelines for assessing grants will provide “additional layers of governance and rigor”.
The policy mandates that every application is assessed to ensure there is no risk to the council, and that programs are aligned with community priorities. Every successful recipient will also be audited on how they used funding.
Mandatory eligibility requirements prohibit councillors and their family members, political organisations and people in debt to council from applying for grants.
Cr Jarrod Lappin said the grants awarded by Whittlesea council are fantastic.
“The level of support these grants offer our community is massive, it allows for a great diversity of programs and events that reflect our residents.
“I hope with this new policy we see a lot more grants coming through.”
