Funding Agreement

Under the Funding Agreement, grant funds must only be spent in accordance with NHMRC's Direct Research Cost Guidelines and for the purposes of the peer reviewed, approved research.

Where there is a need to change the approved funding proposal, such as deferring the commencement of a grant, extending the end date of a grant, or transferring the administration of an NHMRC funded grant to a new Administering Institution and/or supervisor, grantees must submit a variation request in accordance with the NHMRC Grantee Variations Policy.

NHMRC's revised Funding Agreement (version effective 1 June 2023)

The 2023 NHMRC Funding Agreement has replaced the 2020 NHMRC Funding Agreement (see clause 17.2 Variation of this Agreement by NHMRC). Accordingly, the revised 2023 NHMRC Funding Agreement did not need to be executed by either party. This latest NHMRC Funding Agreement was finalised following our consideration of input provided through the consultation process with Administering Institutions in December 2022.

The 2023 NHMRC Funding Agreement includes the following changes:

• Inclusion of both trading/preferred name and legal name of the Administering Institution in the Funding agreement.
• Amended terminology of some definitions.
• Additional definitions for Commencement Date, Data Breach, Financial Officer.
• Amended wording to clauses 4.7 and 4.8 relating to data breaches.
• Add wording to clause 6.2 and new clause 6.6 clarifying instances where NHMRC payment of grant money might be delayed or suspended.
• Amended wording to clause 9.1 clarifying where reports are not submitted, NHMRC may exercise options under clause 15.
• Add wording to clause 9.23 clarifying that in failure to submit the Institutional Annual Compliance Report, NHMRC may exercise options under clause 15.
• Amended wording to clauses 12.9 -12.10 to align with the updated Open Access policy.
• Amended wording to clause 29 and the subclauses clarifying requirements for Conflict-of-Interest management and declarations to NHMRC.
• Amended wording to clause 32 Named Notified Personnel - Research Administration Officer(s), Responsible Officer(s), Financial Officer(s) and Chief Financial Officer to align with current definitions in Sapphire.

Compliance with laws

Under clauses 4.2, 5.5, 5.7 and 24 of the NHMRC Funding Agreement, Administering Institutions must comply, and require their Participating Institutions, research activities and applications to comply, with any applicable Commonwealth, State, Territory or local government requirement. This includes:

• The Australian Government's Guidelines to Counter Foreign Interference in the Australian University Sector.
• The National Principles for Child Safe Organisations which set out a nationally consistent approach to promoting a culture of child safety and wellbeing within organisations.
• The National Redress Scheme for Institutional Child Sexual Abuse (the Redress Scheme). In accordance with the requirements of the Redress Grant Connected Policy (GCP), institutions named in applications to the Redress Scheme or to the Royal Commission that have not joined the Redress Scheme or signified their intent to join within the required timeframes, will be ineligible to access NHMRC grant funding.
• More information on these and other laws and obligations is available on our laws and obligations page.

Direct research costs

Under the NHMRC Funding Agreement and Deeds of Agreement, NHMRC funds for a research activity may only be expended on the approved research activity's Direct Research Costs. The Direct Research Costs Guidelines provides advice on the expenditure of this funding. Contact the Research Administration Officer at your Administering Institution in the first instance, if you have any questions regarding Direct Research Costs. If further clarification is required, they should contact NHMRC on postaward.management@nhmrc.gov.au.

• Direct research costs guidelines (see Download section, below)
• Personnel and salary support packages

Approved standards and guidelines

Under the Funding Agreement, Administering Institutions must comply, and require their Participating Institutions, research activities and applications to comply, with NHMRC-Approved standards and guidelines and any applicable NHMRC policies. This includes the following Approved standards and guidelines:

• Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research (2018)
• Australian code for the care and use of animals for scientific purposes 8th edition (2013)
• National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research 2007, updated 2018
• Guidelines Approved under Section 95A of the Privacy Act 1988 (2014)
• Guidelines under Section 95 of the Privacy Act 1988 (2000)
• National Principles of Intellectual Property Management for Publicly Funded Research (2013)
• Principles and accessing and using publicly funded data for health research (2016)
• Principles and guidelines on the care and use of non-human primates for scientific purposes (2016)
• Ethical conduct in research with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and communities: Guidelines for researchers and stakeholders (2018)
• Ethical Guidelines on the Use of Assisted Reproductive Technology in Clinical Practice and Research (2017)
• NHMRC gender equity requirements
• NHMRC research integrity and misconduct policy (2019).