organisational members or participants/clients of the organisation. Training materials; travel to and from training; and venue hire also cannot be paid for with the grant. Background screening checks of volunteers Funding is available to help with the cost of background screening checks of volunteers. These include criminal record checks, police checks and police certificates, working with children checks and working with vulnerable people checks. These checks are often mandatory and/or desirable when engaging volunteers, particularly when they are working with children and/or vulnerable people. Costs are not eligible if they are already paid for from other sources or they are not reasonably costed. Multicultural Access and Equity policy Australia’s Multicultural Access and Equity Policy: Respecting diversity. Improving responsiveness obliges Australian government agencies to ensure that cultural and linguistic diversity is not a barrier for people engaging with government and accessing services to which they are entitled, for example, by providing access to language services where appropriate. Grant applicants should consider whether services, projects, activities or events may require the use of professional translating or interpreting services in order to communicate with non-English speakers. If your Application Form states that a budget is required, costs for translating and interpreting services should be included in your application. Assessment The Assessment Team may be comprised of DSS officers from each state/territory and national offices. Teams will undertake training to ensure consistent assessment for all applications received. The Assessment Team will be bound by the APS Code of Conduct and the Secretary’s Instructions. Probity The selection of funding recipients must be fair, open and demonstrate the highest level of integrity, consistent with the public interest. The following principles will be applied through all stages of the selection process: fairness and impartiality; consistency, accountability and transparency of process; security and confidentiality of information; identification and resolution of conflicts of interest; compliance with legislative obligations and government policy. These principles are intended to achieve an equitable, justifiable and sound process. Adherence to the probity principles means that everyone involved with the selection process will act: impartially; with integrity, including avoiding actual or perceived conflicts of interest.
Volunteers may use a log book to record all volunteer transport trips. This log book would be sufficient proof of travel costs. The book should include details of each trip (date, from/to, reason for trip, method of transport). Copies of public transport tickets. Copies of original receipts (such as taxi receipts). How to Apply Please read and complete the application form ensuring all required fields are completed, including the declaration. Incomplete applications will be deemed not eligible and will not be assessed. Ensure all responses are true and accurate. Click the Submit Application button and follow the instructions provided. All questions will be verified and any incorrect or unanswered responses will be displayed for your correction. The Application Form will not submit until all responses have been verified. IMPORTANT INFORMATION for Mac Users: You may experience difficulties using a Mac Product (including Mac computer, iPad and iPhone) to submit your application, please contact the Volunteer Grants Hotline for further support. Upon successful submission you will be issued with a confirmation receipt and Submission may take several minutes. Please be patient and do not close the Application Form before receiving confirmation. Do not attempt to submit the application more than once. If you do not receive confirmation or you experience difficulties submitting the Application Form, please call 1800 183 374. Questions and Answers (Q&As) Questions can be submitted via email to . Responses to questions will be published on the funding round page within five working days of receipt, except where the answers are already available in the Application Pack. DSS will only respond to requests for information that seek clarification of issues to allow applicants a better understanding of the requirements of the Application Form and Programme Guidelines e.g. DSS will not provide advice on how to respond to specific Selection Criteria. DSS will not respond to any questions, requests for information or correspondence the status or progress of applications from Wednesday, 2 December 2015 till the conclusion of the selection process. Feedback Generic feedback on applications will be available on the DSS website following the announcement of the outcomes of the funding round. Feedback on individual applications will not be provided for this round.