Outcomes orientation

Grants administration should be designed and implemented with a focus on achieving outcomes and benefits consistent with government objectives.

To ensure an outcomes orientation, officials should comply with TPP 18-06 NSW Government Business Case Guidelines, which outline requirements for grants over a certain value and provide helpful guidance for officials administering grants of any value.

TPP 18-06 recommends:

• developing objectives that are outcomes and benefits-focused and that are:
  • linked to NSW Government, cluster and agency priorities or State Outcomes
  • measurable and clear about how and when objectives are expected to be achieved 
  • clearly communicated to key stakeholders, including grantees
  • reviewed regularly to ensure they remain relevant and appropriate
• documenting how the grant’s inputs and activities are expected to lead to the desired outcomes and benefits (see 6.1 Planning and designing the grant opportunity for further information)
• planning for monitoring and evaluation, which includes establishing appropriate performance measures for evaluation to assess whether intended outcomes and benefits are being realised. Officials should ensure these measures are specified in grant guidelines and agreements.

Following the implementation of a grant opportunity, officials should implement an outcomes evaluation to assess if and how it led to intended changes and met objectives (see 6.7 Grants evaluation). The outcome evaluation can also inform an economic evaluation, which assesses value for money.

Officials should work collaboratively with grantees to ensure a shared understanding of the objectives and intended outcomes and benefits of grants, and the approach to monitoring these. Officials should consider what support or resources might assist grantees to identify and monitor grant outcomes and benefits.

Grants administration should also be designed and implemented to enable grantees to focus on achieving outputs, outcomes and benefits for the beneficiaries of grants, namely the individuals, organisations or community that benefit (directly or indirectly) from the grant.