1.3 Role of Service Agreements
More than 70 per cent of the Department of Human Services (DHS) budget is used to fund organisations to deliver services to individuals and community groups in Victoria. The service agreement sets out key accountabilities for services to be delivered by the organisation and funding to be paid by DHS. The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD) also has service agreements with funded organisations.
Similar to the service agreement, Statements of Priorities are the key accountability agreements between some Health Services and the Minister for Health.
Service agreement structure
The service agreement is made up of up to four schedules descibed below. From July 2009, the service agreement will be delivered online to funded organisations via secure logon to the Funded Agency Channel (https://fac.dhs.vic.gov.au/home.aspx).
Schedule 1
- Parties to the agreement (details of the funding department and funded organisation)
- Background information
- Agreement authorisation (name, position title and address of those officers authorised to enter into the service agreement)
- Standard terms and conditions of the service agreeemnt
Schedule 2
- Financial summary of funding to be paid for one financial year of the service agreement
- Payment schedule for one financial year of the service agreement
Organisations can view future year projected funding amounts for most funded activities in the Budget Build reports available via secure logon to Funded Agency Channel.
Schedule 3
- Services to be provided by the organisation, funding to be paid by the department, service performance measures and targets, and delivery catchments if applicable
- Any additional requirements relating to a specific service plan or activity
- Links to relevant service standards and guidelines for each funded activity
- Data collection requirements (for performance reporting and other data reporting)
Schedule 4
Optional schedule that enables the department and organisation to:
- document specific issues, concerns and actions about the relationship between the department and organisation, and
- document specific actions that the organisation and the department will undertake that relate to the overall service agreement.