Compliance Bulletin

Welcome to the August 2025 edition

Better understanding the Sublicence and Funding Agreement

This HIPPY Compliance Bulletin helps sites understand their Sublicence and Funding Agreement. It provides practical tips, ideas, and examples to help sites stay compliant and meet their obligations. The Bulletin also breaks down key parts of the Sublicence, showing how strong compliance and quality practices support successful program delivery.

Though particularly focussed at supporting Line Managers - who are responsible for ensuring compliance to the Sublicence - these bulletins work to help Coordinators understand how HIPPY is administered and how the work they do fulfils their organisation’s contract with BSL.

This month’s focus is on funding and payments.

Funding payments and their conditions

HIPPY funding comes in a single package, combining Operational, Enhancement, and Tutor training funding components into a block funding stream.

From this financial year, providers will receive three payments per financial year.

Between July and December, providers will receive two payments, and between January and June, providers will receive one payment.

For each payment, HIPPY Australia issues a purchase order specifying the funding amount to be invoiced to the Brotherhood of St. Laurence.

Sites prepare and submit invoices for the required amounts to BSL, after which payment is made, and funding is released.

Note: All funding provided to HIPPY providers must only be used on the HIPPY program within the site’s catchment area.


To ensure that sites receive funding on time, HIPPY sites are expected to fulfill the conditions of the HIPPY Sublicence and Funding Agreement, including making sure that:

  • data is entered into ETO in a timely manner (entered within 10 business days of the data being collected and before the ETO quarter close);
  • biannual reports are submitted (Coordinator, Line Manager and financial reports); and
  • annual and biannual financial and budget reports are submitted


On specific occasions when providers are breaching the Sublicence and Funding Agreement, HIPPY Australia can suspend funding payments. Some examples of these occasions are when:

  • Risk management plans are not implemented
  • Children or vulnerable people are not safeguarded
HIPPY Australia could recall surpluses or unused funds from providers reported in the Annual Financial Report.

Unused funds will be managed through a surplus process.

At its discretion, HIPPY Australia will determine whether a HIPPY Site is eligible to retain surplus funds or whether those funds will be recalled.

If a surplus is recalled, HIPPY Australia will either issue an invoice to the provider for the recalled amount or reduce the following funding payment by the equivalent amount.

Further information about the surplus process will be communicated in the weeks to follow.
This will include details such as the size of the surplus sites that can be retained without requiring a surplus proposal, and the requirements for sites that must submit a surplus proposal.

    Use of funds and financial reporting requirements

    Use of HIPPY funds

    Prohibited expenses

    Funding must not be used for:
    • Activities outside of the HIPPY model
    • Purchase of land or vehicles
    • Capital costs (e.g: purchase of a training rooms)
    • Wages for non-HIPPY provider staff
    • Retrospective costs
    • Subsidising general organisational expenses (e.g: electricity, phone, rent).

    For the full list of prohibited expenses, see Section 3.4 (c) of the Sublicence and Funding Agreement.

    If there is reasonable cause to believe funds could be used for prohibited expenses, HIPPY Australia may request further detail and, if necessary, require an auditor’s opinion.

    Financial reporting requirements

    Every HIPPY Site is required to submit three financial reports each year, in addition to their regular biannual Coordinator and Line Manager Reports.

    IMPORTANT NOTES:

    • Information in the Biannual financial actuals report (overdue: August 14 reporting) is now submitted directly to DSS, so due dates are strict.
    • The information in the Annual Audited financial report is now submitted directly to DSS, so due dates are strict. Sites that do not submit on time will be issued with warnings or breach notices.

    All financial reports are expected to be completed by a financial officer or accountant.

    Additional payments and surplus funds management

    Subject to the availability of funding, HIPPY Australia may pay make additional payments to providers (e.g. supplementation payments.) Any such payments for the coming year will be announced in January 2026 and will be subject to the availability of funding.

    Under the Sublicence and Funding Agreement, providers may be invited to submit a written business case for additional funding, or may choose to do so independently.

    Surplus funds

    • Providers may carry over surplus funds (HIPPY funding not spent in the previous financial year) with prior written approval of HIPPY Australia
    • Where approval is not granted, providers must refund surplus funds within ten business days of a request from HIPPY Australia
    • HIPPY Australia will contact sites in September to confirm the surplus proposal process.
    Note on GST

    • All HIPPY funding (unless expressly stated in the Sublicence) is exclusive of GST
    • All providers must be registered for GST and must notify HIPPY Australia if they cease to be registered.

    FAQs

    Within each Bulletin we’ll now be answering Sites’ questions on the monthly topic.

    Next month’s topic is monitoring and evaluation including quality assurance and reporting.
    We invite you to send your questions through to hippyaustralia@bsl.org.au with the subject ‘Compliance Bulletin FAQs’ to be included in the next edition!