A Joint Committee of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Australian Non-Government

DFAT / NGO Committee for Development Cooperation

A joint committee of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Australian non-government organisations

Minutes of the 144th Committee for Development Cooperation (CDC) Meeting held on 17 September 2015

DFAT CDC Members
MaryEllen Miller (Chair)
Sally-Anne Vincent
Simon Cann-Evans / Secretariat
Heather Rich (DFAT)
Trudy Brasell-Jones (ACFID)
NGO Members
Andrew Newmarch (World Vision)
Misha Coleman (Act for Peace)
Apologies
Christina Munzer (Acting Chair)
Chris Adams (ACFID)
Rob Floyd (UnitingWorld)
John Deane (ABM) / Observers
Beth Sargent (ACFID)
Sarah Burrows (ACFID)
Guest presenters
Heather Fitt (DFAT)
Michael Bergmann (DFAT)

2.05 pm – Meeting Opened

Meeting items / Action

Item 1. Welcome Remarks

In opening welcome remarks, the Chair:
-  introduced ACFID observers.
The Chair asked to be notified of any conflicts of interest.
Nil response
Item 2. Endorsement of CDC 143 Minutes
The Chair accepted the CDC 143 minutes and Sally Anne Vincent seconded.
Item 3. DFAT Updates
·  Christina Munzer will be taking up a long-term posting to Suva in April 2016 and leaving the NGOs and Volunteers Branch. The CDC would like to acknowledge the tremendous contribution Christina has made to the ANCP and note that it has gone from strength to strength during her time in the team.
·  Christina will be replaced by Susan Ryle, the current ANCP Operations Manager, who has recently been promoted to Director Level.
·  Julie Hart will also be leaving early 2016 to take up a posting in Port Moresby. The CDC would also like to acknowledge Julie’s hard work on ANCP and deep knowledge of ANCP workings.
·  Fiona Gunn, from the NGO Policy team is leaving DFAT at the end of September to take up a position at the National Archives. CDC would like to express appreciation of Fiona’s approachability and willingness to answer all OAGDS enquiries.
·  DFAT are working to ensure there are smooth staffing transitions within the Branch.
Item 4: ANCP/Accreditation updates
ODE Evaluation (Presented by Heather Fitt)
Findings from the evaluation include:
·  ANCP is a successful and highly valued program. It is flexible; extends the reach of the aid program; has a high degree of alignment with aid program goals; and produces significant results. The report also warns that attempts to narrow the program to current government priorities will limit this flexibility.
·  Accreditation is an efficient means of selecting NGOs, improves organisational capacity, ensures access to funding and its status often leverages other funding.
·  The current funding allocation model is not adaptable to changing circumstances; RDE is a good basis from which to allocate funding and has largely worked with an increasing budget but with some features added the funding allocation has become more complicated, less transparent and not sustainable with a plateaued/decreasing budget.
·  Learning within the program is not optimised; DFAT and ANCP agencies have a good handle on outputs but not outcomes and this impacts the level of continuous improvement that can be achieved.
There will be a Lessons from the ANCP Evaluation Seminar panel session held before the ACFID Conference on 14 October organised jointly by the ODE and APAC.
ANCP Reflection Workshops (Presented by Heather Fitt)
The ANCP team held reflections workshops in Sydney & Melbourne (1 & 2 September) which:
·  Reflected on our work this past year and sharing forward work plans for pieces of work including taking forward recommendations from the ODE evaluation; and
·  Provided an opportunity to provide final feedback on the Theory of Change and Funding Principles; Role of Posts and Learning (including updates on the Thematic Review and the Monitoring and Evaluation Reference Group)
·  DFAT shared plans for the next 6 to 12 months on the key pieces of work.
Based on feedback from these workshops, DFAT have updated the Theory of Change and Funding Principles documents, which will be finalised and published on the DFAT website towards the end of October.
The Theory of Change and Performance Assessment Framework (Presented by Heather Fitt)
Based on feedback from NGOs in consultation workshops in 2014, changes have been made to the TOC to make it clearer and more succinct. The wording of the goal of the program has changed to emphasise improved living standards and well-being of individuals and communities and there has been an attempt to situate the program into the broader aid program. The TOC will be called the ANCP Program Logic.
The Performance Assessment Framework (PAF) has been simplified but still demonstrates a commitment to continuous improvement. The PAF will not rely on gathering additional information but will use what is already available to look at higher outcome levels. There will be a reflection in 12 months time to see whether the PAF is fit for purpose or needs tweaking.
Mr Newmarch commented that the Program Logic shows a shift in language from five years ago and now expresses much more of a partnership approach. He also applauded the consultation process undertaken to get to this point.
Ms Vincent asked if it was the intention of the Program Logic to differentiate between the responsibilities of Post and Canberra.
Ms Fitt advised that the Program Logic does not do this but that the NGO Branch are developing additional communication material for Post, organising briefings for staff before they go to Post and undertaking M and E visits which involve Post.
ANCP Funding Principles (Presented by Heather Rich)
ODE Review recommended that;
·  DFAT revise the current approach to allocating funds and formalise arrangements in a funding policy;
·  DFAT clarify the accreditation levels against the funding tiers, and apply a principle of partnership across all levels.
·  DFAT has developed Principles and Aims framework with which we will use to make some changes to the current funding allocation model.
The Key principles underpinning a revised funding model will be:
·  Consistency: Accredited NGOs will be afforded a consistent approach to allocating funding based on accreditation level and RDE.
·  Transparency: ANCP funding will be communicated clearly, easily understood and open to scrutiny.
·  Organisational capacity and community support: Funding will link to core foundations of ANCP’s design including organisational capacity, through Accreditation level, and community support, through Recognised Development Expenditure.
·  Flexibility: The ANCP allows NGOs to determine the direction of their development programs and respects organisational autonomy.
ACFID asked why the principle of predictability had been changed to consistency. Ms Miller replied that given the constrained budget environment, it was difficult for DFAT to predict the amount of funding available. However, DFAT was able to be consistent in that way funding was allocated year to year.
NGO Representative asked what the criteria for “fairness” was. Ms Fitt explained that fairness was referring to the fair allocation of funds based on RDE.
Beth Sargent asked if these funding allocations would be made public in the interests of transparency. Ms Miller advised once the modelling had been completed, allocations would be made available.
Ms Rich noted that changes to allocations in-line with the funding principles would not be made overnight, rather the process was envisaged to take at least 18 months. NGOs would be consulted individually over their allocations and implications of RDE levels.
The Chair handed over to Heather Rich for the rest of the meeting
OAGDS Review (Presented by Michael Bergmann)
In May-June 2015, DFAT invited written submissions on the OAGDS and Roundtable discussions were also held in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
Key findings and Summary of findings from the written submissions and roundtable discussions can be found on the DFAT website: http://dfat.gov.au/aid/who-we-work-with/ngos/Pages/review-of-the-overseas-aid-gift-deduction-scheme.aspx
The findings from the submissions and roundtables will be used to inform revisions to OAGDS guidelines and processes, with the aim of launching revised guidelines in late 2015.
Misha Coleman complimented the well run OAGDS Review workshops and asked about what would happen to OAGDs applications in the time of transition between the old and new criteria.
Mr Bergmann advised that all potential OAGDS applicants should aim to complete their application by 31 October 2015 to be assessed under the current guidelines and that there would then be a pause on applications after which applications would be assessed under the new criteria. Further transition arrangements will be posted on this website in October when they have been finalised.
Ms Coleman asked the average time for OAGDs applications to be processed. Michael estimated that applications take 9-12 months to get through the DFAT and ATO process.
Ms Coleman asked if organisations fail, how long before they can reapply. Michael said there was no time specified at the moment.
PPA Review (Presented by Michael Bergmann)
Partner Performance Assessments were introduced this year in April. Currently DFAT is undertaking an internal review of how that process went. An external review has not yet been planned. Ms Brassell-Jones offered to share the written feedback that she had been sent but commented that most anecdotal feedback about PPAs had been positive.
Accreditation (Presented by Heather Rich)
·  DFAT were very pleased with the robust and considered debate at the last CDC. The comments and concerns raised by the CDC in relation to ORs were provided as detailed feedback to the review team ahead of contracting for 2015-16 and they were well-received.
·  In the current pipeline of accreditation reviews recently circulated, there are 10 re-accreditation reviews and one new application received to date, with a further 6 registering interest in applying in the next few months.
·  CDC members reiterated their interest in attending reviews as observers. / Heather Fitt to send CDC members final ANCP Program Logic when finalised.
3pm
Trudy Brassell-Jones to provide Michael Bergmann with PPA feedback from ACFID members.
Item 5: Update on outstanding action items
·  Notes on the Accreditation reviewers Workshop held, are now finalised and have been circulated to the CDC.
·  Parallels between accreditation and ACFID Code of Conduct Compliance. Ms Burrows invited CDC members to put forward their questions around the Code at the next meeting if they had any. She also explained the process for the Code of Conduct Review which will assess whether the Code and the current compliance system is fit for purpose.
·  DFAT advised that they did not see a role for accreditation reviews in ensuring code of conduct compliance. ACFID agreed with this view. / Trudy to send CDC members Accreditation/Code mapping document and TOR for the Code of Conduct Review.
Meeting closed 3.30pm

6