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12.        How We monitor Your grant activity

Keeping Us informed

12.1.              You must let Us know if anything is likely to affect Your Centre.

12.2.              You must also inform Us of any changes to Your:

1. name;

b.              address(es);

c.              nominated contact details; and

d.              bank account details.

12.3.              If You become aware of a breach of terms and conditions under the grant agreement, You must contact Us immediately.

Reporting

12.4.              You must submit reports in line with the grant agreement. Reports must be submitted to Us through RMS, unless otherwise advised by Us.

12.5.              The amount of detail You provide in Your reports should be relative to the project’s size, complexity and grant amount.

12.6.              We will monitor progress by assessing reports You submit and may conduct site visits or request records to confirm details of Your reports if necessary. We may occasionally need to re-examine claims, seek further information or request an independent audit of claims and payments.

End of year report

12.7.              You must submit an end of year financial report by 31 March in the year following each calendar year for which the grant was awarded. We will make the form for these reports available in RMS, with instructions on the ARC website.

Progress reporting

12.8.              Progress reporting must be completed in accordance with instructions on the ARC website.

12.9.              If We are not satisfied with the progress of the Centre, further payment of grant funds will not be made until satisfactory progress has been made. If satisfactory progress is not achieved within a reasonable period of time, the grant will be terminated and all outstanding grant funds will be recovered by Us.

Annual report

12.10.          You must submit an annual report covering both financial operations and research performance for Your Centre by 31 March in the year following each calendar year for which the grant was awarded.

12.11.          You must report on a range of KPIs common to all ARC Centres of Excellence and these are given in the grant agreement. The Centre may also report on a range of Centre-specific KPIs. KPI targets must be developed by You and submitted for approval by us within six months of the commencement of the Centre’s operation and later specified as part of the grant agreement.

Final report

12.12.          You must submit a final report for the Centre within 12 months of the final ARC approved project end date. We will make the form for this report available in RMS, with instructions on the ARC website.

12.13.          The final report must address compliance with the conditions on which funding was granted, as set out in the grant agreement.

12.14.          If the final report is not submitted or is not satisfactory to Us this will be considered as an eligibility matter for future ARC applications for the named participants on the Centre.

12.15.          We may seek additional information about subsequent Research Outputs after submission of the Final Report.

Performance reviews

12.16.          Each Centre will undergo an external performance review arranged by Us in its fourth year of operation.

12.17.          Continuation of funding for the remaining years of operation will be dependent on the outcome of the review and You providing a satisfactory response including a plan to address the review recommendations.

12.18.          We may undertake ad hoc reviews of any Centre at any time. A review will be triggered in special circumstances including, but not limited to, a change of Centre Director.

12.19.          Outcomes and feedback arising from the performance reviews may inform any evaluations of the grant opportunity.

Grant agreement variations

12.20.          We recognise that unexpected events may affect the progress of a Centre. In these circumstances, You can request a variation to Your grant agreement by submitting a Variation to Us in RMS.

12.21.          You cannot request an increase to the approved grant amount.

12.22.          You should not assume that a variation request will be successful. We will consider your request based on provisions in the grant agreement, the likely impact on achieving outcomes and any national security risks.

Compliance visits and record keeping

12.23.          We may visit You during or at the completion of Your Centre to review Your compliance with the grant agreement. We may also inspect the records You are required to keep under the grant guidelines and grant agreement. We will provide You with reasonable notice of any compliance visit.

12.24.          You must retain the evidence and paperwork relied upon to certify Your application in RMS and make this available to Us if requested.

Evaluation

12.25.          We will evaluate the ARC Centres of Excellence grant opportunity to measure how well the outcomes and objectives have been achieved. We may use information from Your application and reports for this purpose. We may also interview You or ask for more information to help us understand how the grant impacted You and to evaluate how effective the program was in achieving its outcomes.

12.26.          We may contact you up to five years after You finish Your grant for more information to assist with this evaluation.