Most grant guidelines are not hard because the rules are complicated. They are hard because they are written in a vocabulary the reader has never been taught. A treasurer reads "in-kind co-contribution against eligible expenditure, acquitted at milestone two" and reasonably decides to do it next year.
Here is the vocabulary, one term at a time, with each definition taken from an official Australian source rather than from us.
Grant opportunity and grant opportunity guidelines
In Commonwealth language a grant opportunity is a specific round or program you can apply to. The guidelines are the document, or set of documents, that tell a potential applicant the purpose, outcomes and objectives of the grant, the application and assessment process, the governance arrangements and how the grant operates. They can include the application form, FAQs, a draft grant agreement and acquittal templates.[1] If you read one thing before applying, read the guidelines end to end. Everything else in this glossary is defined by them.
Competitive, non-competitive and demand-driven
The Commonwealth Grants Rules and Principles describe three shapes of grant round.[1]
- Open competitive rounds have published open and close dates. Applications are assessed against the selection criteria and against the comparative merits of the other applications.[1] Being eligible is not enough; you are ranked.
- Non-competitive open rounds accept applications at any time and assess each one on its own, without reference to the others.[1]
- Demand-driven, sometimes called first-in first-served, means applications that satisfy the eligibility criteria receive funding until the money runs out, and assessment criteria are not used.[1] For these, speed and paperwork completeness are everything.
Knowing which shape you are in changes how you write. A competitive application argues merit. A demand-driven application proves eligibility and gets in early.
Eligible expenditure
Guidelines define what the grant money can be spent on. A typical Commonwealth definition requires that expenditure is incurred by you within the project period, is a direct cost of the project, and meets the program's eligible expenditure guidelines, with the program delegate making the final decision on what counts.[2] Costs incurred before the project start date, and general overheads that would exist without the project, are the usual casualties.
Co-contribution, cash and in-kind
Many grants fund only part of a project. A guideline might say the grant is up to 50 per cent of eligible expenditure and that your contribution may be cash or in-kind, and in some programs the in-kind portion can make up the whole of your co-contribution.[2] Read that clause carefully, because other programs cap in-kind or exclude it.
An in-kind contribution is a contribution of a good or a service other than money.[3] Volunteer labour, donated materials, use of your own equipment and discounted professional services all fall here. Where in-kind is allowed it is normally valued at market rates; NSW ClubGRANTS guidance, for example, states that in-kind expenditure is to be calculated at market value.[4] Keep a record of how you valued it, because an assessor or auditor may ask.
Grant agreement and milestones
The grant agreement sets out the relationship between the parties and specifies the details of the grant.[1] It is a contract. In the Commonwealth's standard agreement the grantee undertakes to meet listed milestones by their due dates, and payments are subject to satisfactory progress and compliance with the agreement.[5] A milestone is therefore both a delivery date and a payment trigger. Miss it and the next payment stops until it is fixed.
Acquittal
An acquittal is the report a successful applicant submits detailing project outcomes and how the funds were spent.[6] It usually needs receipts, a financial statement matching the approved budget, photos or outputs, and a short narrative. The Commonwealth rules do not mandate a particular acquittal format; reporting is set in proportion to the risk of the grant,[1] so a small council grant may need a one-page form while a large federal grant needs audited statements. Whatever the format, the acquittal is where a poorly kept project comes undone, and an outstanding acquittal typically blocks the next application.
Auspice
An auspice organisation is an incorporated not-for-profit that accepts legal and financial responsibility for a project or activity on behalf of a group that cannot apply directly.[7] Auspicing means that eligible organisation receives, administers and manages the grant for you.[8] Unincorporated groups, informal collectives and new committees use an auspice to access grants they would otherwise be locked out of. The auspice signs the agreement, receives the money and carries the acquittal obligation, so it will want a written arrangement with you and often a small administration fee.
Putting it together
Read a guideline with these eight terms in hand and the sentence from the top of this article becomes ordinary: you will need to put in some of your own money or valued volunteer effort, only on approved costs, and report on how it went before the second payment.
Definitions were checked against the linked sources on 7 September 2026. Individual programs define their own terms in their own guidelines, and where a guideline differs from this glossary, the guideline wins.