Independent Review of Commonwealth funding for strategic policy work terms of reference

Context

Various Commonwealth agencies within Australia’s national security community fund activities through third-party organisations to inform public debate, provide expert input to policy processes, and/or strengthen partnerships relevant to Australia’s strategic circumstances.
Typically, these activities include publication of policy-relevant research, conduct of policy-relevant and research-based events such as conferences, dialogues and workshops and delivery of learning and development opportunities tailored to the national security community’s requirements.
1. The types of third-party organisations engaged by the Commonwealth to deliver these activities include think tanks and universities based in Australia and overseas. Although Commonwealth agencies have often funded these engagements using competitive or non-competitive grants, they have also used a variety of other mechanisms, including scholarships, procurements, and secondments.

The Independent Review of Commonwealth funding for strategic policy work will assess funding of third-party organisations by Commonwealth agencies within Australia’s national security community aimed at informing public debate, providing expert input to policy processes, and/or strengthening partnerships relevant to Australia’s strategic circumstances.
The review will consider activities undertaken by agencies represented at the Secretaries’ Committee on National Security as well as other agencies, as these activities relate to national security outcomes.
Noting the distinct responsibilities different agencies have within Australia’s national security community (including, for example, defence, home affairs, foreign and intelligence policy), the review will make recommendations to assist agencies conducting relevant activities while achieving value-for-money, administrative efficiency, and appropriate levels of governance, accountability, probity and transparency.
In making these recommendations, the review should consider the Commonwealth Grant Rules and Guidelines, the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 and associated Rule, Commonwealth Procurement Rules and relevant estimates memoranda.

The review should focus its assessment of current performance to no more than a five-year historical time frame. The review may take into account, as required, the original decision-making on key funding arrangements.
The review may also consider other historical information relevant to its terms of reference, including, for example, past reviews of relevance or legacy governance and funding models.

The review should provide at a minimum the following outputs:
1. A stocktake of relevant activities by each Commonwealth agency and each third-party organisation detailing, for example, the activity’s objectives, funding model, governance, administration arrangements, and evaluation arrangements.
2. A performance evaluation of these activities drawing on relevant qualitative and quantitative metrics, including but not limited to: impact, value-for-money, administrative efficiency and governance, accountability, probity and transparency.
3. A series of recommendations to improve the conduct and outcomes of relevant activities with regards to individual national security agency objectives.

At the completion of the review, the final report will be presented to the Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and the Secretaries Committee on National Security, for subsequent consideration by Cabinet or one of its committees.
1. The review should commence in Quarter 1 2024, with the final review dates to be negotiated with the review’s independent external lead.
2. The review’s independent external lead will develop a phased project plan to deliver the review in line with the above target dates.
3. The independent external lead should aim to update the Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet at the completion of the stocktake; and then as agreed.