• Contents
• Print Chapters
• Foreword
• Forms
• 1. Introduction
• 2. Service Agreements
• 3. Payments to Organisations
• 4. Schedule One: Terms and Conditions
  • 4.1 Amendments to 2006-09 Service Agreement Terms and Conditions
  • 4.2 Breaches, Dispute Resolution and Termination Process
  • 4.3 Asset Recording and Reporting
  • 4.4 Intellectual property
  • 4.5 Information privacy
  • 4.6 Permitted Disclosure
  • 4.7 Indemnity and insurance
  • 4.8 Goods and Services Tax (GST)
  • 4.9 Variations and adjustments to service agreements
  • 4.10 Borrowing of funds
  • 4.11 Sub-contracting
• 5. Departmental policies and procedures
• 6. Monitoring and Reporting Requirements
• Funded Agency Channel
• Site Search

4.2 Breaches, Dispute Resolution and Termination Process

If during the term of the service agreement either party considers that the other party is not meeting its obligations, or one of the parties admits to an inability to satisfactorily meet its obligations, there are processes in place to deal with these situations. Figure 1 details the steps involved to resolve a breach of the service agreement, dispute resolution and the termination of a service agreement.

All parties will make every effort to act reasonably and in good faith to resolve the dispute. Should the issue not be resolved by the procedures outlined below, the dispute may be referred to the Secretary for final determination.

The Secretary will act in accord with the following principles in reaching a final decision:

• The determination will be based on relevant information, facts and evidence.
• Parties will have the opportunity to present information and argument to the Secretary.
• The process of determination will be fair and undertaken in a spirit of goodwill.
• Advice of the determination and the reasons for it will be provided to the organisation within 14 days.

Note: The dispute resolution process for health care networks/hospitals and community health centres is different from the process used for non-government organisations, local government organisations and children's services, reflecting an agreement reached with the department's Metropolitan Health and Aged Care Services Division.

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Termination process

A service agreement may be terminated by the department if:

• an organisation undergoes a change of ownership
• an organisation undergoes a change of effective control, affecting its suitability to provide the service
• an organisation does not pay its debts
• an organisation comes under any form of an administrator's official management, receivership or liquidation
• where the service agreement is with a 'natural person'), the 'natural person' becomes mentally incapacitated, falls ill for more than 14 days, dies or is convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment
• statements provided are materially misleading or deceptive, or contain material omissions
• an organisation does not comply with or meet its obligations under the service agreement.

A service agreement can also be terminated under the 'breach of the agreement' clause, if the department fails to comply with or meet its obligations under the service agreement.

A service agreement can be terminated under the 'breach of the agreement' clause if the department fails to comply with or meet its obligations under the service agreement.