PART 8PAYMENT OF FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE

PART 8 —PAYMENT OF FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE

Authorisation of payment of financial assistance

20. The Board may authorise payments for eligible expenditure under the Biotechnology Innovation Fund to be made in:

(a) the financial year commencing on 1 July 2001; and

(b) each following financial year for which the Biotechnology Innovation Fund receives an appropriation.

Maximum financial assistance based on eligible expenditure

21. (1) The total amount of financial assistance for a project must not exceed:

(a) $250,000 or 50% of the eligible expenditure for the project, which ever is the lesser; and

(b) any further amount payable to the applicant to reimburse the applicant for GST payable by the applicant on supplies made to the Commonwealth under the grant agreement (such further amount not to exceed the amount of GST paid by the applicant).

(2) The Board must not grant financial assistance to an applicant for an amount greater than the amount sought in the applicant’s application, but the Board may grant a lesser amount.

PART 9 — OTHER REQUIREMENTS IN RELATION TO FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE

Time limits on projects receiving financial assistance

22. (1) The period of a project for which financial assistance may be provided must not be more than 18 months.

(2) However, the Board may extend the period within which a project which receives financial assistance must be completed to a maximum of 2 years if the Board reasonably considers that the objectives of the project would be advanced significantly by the extension.

(3) For the purposes of subclauses (1) and (2), the Board may determine that the period of a project excludes any time during which work on the project has been suspended if:

(a) the total time excluded:

(i) would not be longer than the total time during which work on the project has been suspended continuously for at least 30 days; and

(ii) would not be longer than 1 year, and

(b) the determination would significantly advance the objectives of the project.

PART 10 — MONITORING AND EVALUATING PROJECTS

Monitoring and evaluating

23. The Board must:

(a) ensure that projects for which financial assistance is granted are monitored to obtain relevant information for evaluation; and

(b) at the request of the Minister, facilitate and cooperate with independent evaluation of the Biotechnology Innovation Fund.

PART 11 — REVOCATION OF EARLIER DIRECTIONS