Commonwealth Financial AssistanceCommonwealth Financial Assistance

Commonwealth Financial Assistance

4(1) The Commonwealth will, subject to the provisions of this Agreement, out of moneys appropriated by Parliament for the purpose, and subject to such appropriation, provide to the States during the term of this Agreement, Financial Assistance for housing purposes by way of interest free non‑repayable Grants.

4(2) Subject to subclauses 4(1), 4(3) and 4(12), the Commonwealth will provide seven hundred and twenty five million, two hundred and thirty thousand dollars ($725.230 million) in the first Grant Year in the form of Base Funding, excluding any additions to Base Funding in a State under subclause 4(5)(b).

4(3) In Grant Years one to five, an amount equivalent to five per cent of each Grant Year’s Base Funding will be contingent upon States’ meeting the reporting requirements applicable to each Grant Year as set out in subclauses 4(33), 4(34), 4(35), and 4(36) and the planned outcomes agreed for the performance requirements for each Grant Year as specified in subclause 6(1)(c)(vi).

4(4) Base Funding in Grant Years one to five will be distributed to the States as follows:

(a) one hundred and forty six million dollars ($146 million) is to be allocated in each Grant Year among the States as far as practicable on an equal per capita basis, but so that no State is allocated less than seven million, three hundred thousand dollars ($7.3 million); and

(b) the balance of the amounts to be allocated shall be allocated in each Grant Year among the States as far as practicable on an equal per capita basis.

4(5) Subject to the provisions of this Agreement, the Commonwealth:

(a) will provide in the first Grant Year Financial Assistance in addition to its Base Funding set out in subclause 4(2) in the form of Grants for Identified Programs:

(i) ninety one million dollars ($91 million) for ARHP;

(ii) thirty-nine million, six hundred and fifty five thousand dollars ($39.655 million) for the Crisis Accommodation Program; and

(iii) sixty-three million, nine hundred and ninety thousand dollars ($63.990 million) for the Community Housing Program; and

(iv) an additional ten million dollars ($10 million) for ARHP.

(b) may, in Grant Years one to five, also provide to a State or States an amount to fund housing research, innovation and reform priorities, in addition to the amounts specified at subclause 4(2), 4(5)(a) and 4(6).

4(6)(a) Subject to the provisions of this Agreement, the Commonwealth will provide Base Funding and the funding for ARHP, the Community Housing Program and the Crisis Accommodation Program in Grant Years two, three, four and five. With the exception of $10 million of ARHP funding in each of the first and second Grant Years, referred to in subclauses 4(5)(a)(iv) and 4(6)(b), the amounts of funding will be subject to indexation as well as an efficiency dividend of one per cent. The amounts will be calculated at the commencement of each of Grant Years two to five by altering the amounts allocated in the previous Grant Year as follows: