Legislative safeguards for funding

Departmental investment in services delivered by non-government organisations, local governments and other entities is legislated under the Community Services Act 2007.

Provision for service delivery under the Community Services Act 2007 only applies to funding that is listed in a funding declaration. A declaration can apply the Act to a funding program or to individual funding contracts.

In deciding whether to make a funding declaration, Ministers may consider several factors. These include:

  • the type of product or service being provided with the funding and if there is an evidence base for the response
  • the importance of the product or service to meeting the needs of an individual, group or community
  • the characteristics and vulnerability of users of the product or service
  • the amount of funding being provided.

Department of Youth Justice declarations

Youth Justice funding has been declared (PDF, 454 KB) has been declared (DOCX, 16 KB) to apply to a range of programs and services to young offenders and their families. The Community Services Act 2007 applies to the following funded programs:

  • young offender support services
  • specialist counselling services
  • bail support services
  • supervised community accommodation services.

Funded organisations do not need to respond to declarations. The organisation's service agreements with the department continue and do not need to change as a result of the declarations.