Glossary of Grant Provision and Obfuscation
- Grant Owner
- The government department or agency that designs the grant, defines eligibility, and chooses the selection process. Ultimately responsible for structural exclusion or inclusion.
- Selection Process
- The formal mechanism chosen by the grant owner for awarding funds—e.g., open competitive, closed non-competitive, invitation only—often used to restrict access.
- Community Grants Hub
- A shared service managed by the Department of Social Services, often administering grant applications but not responsible for grant design or eligibility.
- GrantConnect
- The central Australian Government publishing platform for grants, managed by the Department of Finance. Responsible for technical publishing, not content or policy.
- Platform Obfuscation
- A governance tactic in which publishing platforms standardise visibility while displacing accountability for content or structural access decisions.
- Invitation-Only Grants
- Grants not accessible via open application—limited to handpicked entities, undermining transparency and equitable opportunity.
- Closed Procurement
- Funding directly awarded to select providers without public application processes, usually justified as essential services or frontline contracts.
- DGR Gatekeeping
- Use of Deductible Gift Recipient status requirements to limit funding access to large, institutionally recognised charities.
- Performativity in Funding
- The act of appearing to support inclusion or equity through symbolic grant opportunities that are functionally inaccessible to those most affected.