Government extends grants to community and social services groups ahead of new arrangements
The Federal Government says it will extend about 1,400 different grants to community and social services groups for another two months while it makes decisions about future programs.
The Department of Social Service (DSS) is streamlining $800 million of government funding for a wide range of programs run by aged care, homelessness, disability and family groups.
The existing contracts, which had already been extended for six months until the end of this year, will be rolled over until next March, the department told a Senate estimates committee.
"If we couldn't give clear advice, absolutely, earlier ... we needed to make sure there was a reasonable window to allow transitions to new arrangements and to continue services over the Christmas, New Year period," DSS deputy secretary Barbara Bennett said.
Ms Bennett said the department was anticipating a high level of interest in the new grants round, but not the 5,572 applications that were received.
"The material by program by rounds talked about the scale or potential scale of funding. You've seen the material that was available. We did not expect that there would be a five-fold overbidding for funding," she said.
"The total amount of funding in those applications being sought was $3.9 billion over four years, there is only $800 million of available funding."
Groups operating in 'ongoing environment of insecurity'
Labor and the Greens have questioned the impact the contract extension, and the delay on allocating new funding, will have on community groups.
Labor's communities spokeswoman Claire Moore said she was not critical of the decision to take longer to decide on the new contract but it would add pressure.
"My understanding, and I'm sure you're aware of it, is that many organisations are operating in a very stressed environment, that the volume of change has been large, and they've made decisions about extending to the end of this year on the basis they'll be claiming and they'll be hopefully able to extend their services beyond December," Ms Moore told DSS officials.
"This is another decision that's going to go back to them now in an ongoing environment of insecurity."
Greens senator Rachel Siewert said the initial decision to extend contracts until the end of the year had already had an impact.
"They will have already made arrangements for staff to potentially leave, or finish, or staff will have gone because they don't know if they have a future," Senator Siewert said.
But Ms Bennett said if community groups had decided to tender for a new contract, then it was likely they would not be laying off staff.
She said the department had made the decision last week to delay the grants process again to give community groups as much notice as possible.
"From the time of getting these letters out, there's four months," she said.
"Obviously any change, if those issues occur, we're going to have to work with them, and we're going to have to look at what those services are.
"We're conscious that we will have to watch this very carefully."
DSS said the contracts currently being decided represent about a third of the total grants they provide.
