David Johnston (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs, upon notice, on 17 August 2012:

In respect of the formulation of AusAID's Community Society Engagement Framework,

  (a)    what investigation(s) has AusAID undertaken to ensure that Civil Service Society Organisations (CSSOs) in Australia and overseas are not encouraging or supporting separatist activities, and

  (b)    what governance processes has AusAID implemented to ensure CSSOs in Australia and overseas are not encouraging or supporting separatist activities.

Bob Carr (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Minister for Foreign Affairs, the answer to the honourable senator's question is as follows:

In line with the Commonwealth Procurement Rules and the Commonwealth Grant Guidelines, AusAID's contracts and grant agreements require our civil society partners to comply with:

NGOs that receive funding from AusAID are required to provide AusAID with financial reports and project plans. Project plans are required to outline objectives, outputs and targets for all activities. These are assessed against the objectives in AusAID's guidelines and are subject to approval before funding is granted.

AusAID's contracts and grant agreements with NGOs require NGOs to have regard for, comply with, and use their best endeavours to ensure that all delivery organisations comply with relevant and applicable laws, regulations and policies, both in Australia and in the partner country. NGOs are also subject to an ongoing program of audits to ensure compliance with these requirements.

Australian NGOs receiving funding under the AusAID NGO Cooperation Program must be accredited. Accreditation is a 'front-end' risk management tool that assesses NGOs' governance, program management capacity, partner management, links with and support from the Australian public, and risk management, including fraud risk.