The Agreement for Funding of Services documents

Contract documents

The Agreement for Funding of Services (commonly referred to as the Human Services Agreement HSA) is a legally binding contract. It is made up of two documents that together form the Agreement for Funding of Services contract:

• The Agreement for Funding of Services – Standard Terms (PDF, 984.2 KB) (the Standard Terms)

The Standard Terms is the overarching header agreement between government agencies and a contracted organisation (an NGO service provider). It specifies the rights and responsibilities of both parties in the agreement.

• The Agreement for Funding of Services – Schedule (PDF, 201.8 KB) (the Schedule)

The Schedule outlines specific details about the services and programs being contracted, and it specifies payments. Each government agency can have a Schedule specific to their contracts or programs.

The Schedule may also include attachments. All attachments in the Schedule are legally enforceable under the agreement. For example, a Program Specification attached to the Schedule will have more detailed requirements that both parties must also comply with.

It’s important to read both parts of the Agreement for Funding of Services together: the Standard Terms and the Schedule, along with any attachments.

DCJ developed the Contract Management Framework to assist service providers and DCJ contract managers to improve the way we manage contracts. It’s an important tool that works with the Agreement for Funding of Services

How the contract works

Reading the contract

Some words in the Standard Terms and Schedule are capitalised. This indicates the word is an ‘operative’ or defined term, and has a very specific meaning in the Agreement for Funding of Services. Be sure to read these terms carefully.

The Standard Terms has numbered clauses. The Schedule doesn’t have numbered clauses but refers to the related clause number in the Standard Terms; for example:

Assets (clauses 1.1 and 11).

The Schedule references the Standard Terms clause numbers (1.1 and 11 in the example above) for ease of navigation.

Both documents work together and must be read together.

Order of precedence

The Standard Terms defines how all of the documents in the Agreement for Funding of Services work together (refer to clause 2.1, page 12). Precedence is important if there’s any ambiguity or inconsistency across the different parts of the contract.

Supplementary Conditions

The Schedule’s Supplementary Conditions can be used to override the Standard Terms. Clause 2.1 of the Standard Terms is used to do this.

DCJ has decided that there are circumstances where the Standard Terms don’t apply. This is explicitly stated in the Schedule’s Supplementary Conditions.

• Supplementary Condition 6 overrides Standard Terms Clause 11.2 Asset ownership
• Supplementary Condition 7 overrides Standard Terms Clause 9.8
• Supplementary Condition 9 overrides Standard Terms Clause 13(2)(b)
• Supplementary Condition 16 overrides Standard Terms Clause 15(2)(b)

Signing the contract

Organisations are issued with both the Standard Terms and Schedule for each contract they hold with DCJ.

The contract start and end dates are set out on page 2 of the Schedule.

The Execution section of the Schedule must be signed by authorised signatories of the organisation. DCJ then co-signs and dates the Schedule to indicate when the Agreement for Funding of Services comes into force.