Almost 98 per cent of invite-only federal grants ultimately funded, research finds

An analysis by the Centre for Public Integrity found that 317 of 325 projects invited to apply under two invitation-only grants programs were eventually awarded funding, despite government assurances that departmental assessments would ensure public money was spent appropriately. Under the $1 billion Priority Community Infrastructure Program, 80 of 82 invited projects received funding, a 97.6 per cent success rate. Under the $349.9 million Investing in Our Communities Program, 237 of 243 applicants were successful, a 97.5 per cent rate. The researchers found no confirmed instances of bureaucrats rejecting projects on merit, although the reasons eight applicants missed out remain unclear.

By contrast, only 40 of 650 initial expressions of interest were ultimately successful under the government's competitive $600 million Growing Regions Program, which allowed projects to be assessed against competing bids.

The report, by Dr Catherine Williams, Professor Gabrielle Appleby and Zoe Neumayer, warns that assessing projects after politicians had already selected them does nothing to establish whether other communities had more deserving claims on public money. "An assessment of viability and value for money after a project has been selected may establish that it is suitable for funding, but it cannot establish that it is a better use of public money than projects in communities that were never given the opportunity to apply," it says.

The findings, to be submitted to a Senate inquiry into the program, cast doubt on whether the checks provide a meaningful safeguard against politically motivated spending. The Centre's earlier research found that almost three-quarters of the latest $560.9 million election grants program was earmarked for electorates notionally held by Labor before last year's federal election, with a disproportionate share directed towards marginal seats.

The research came as Infrastructure Minister Catherine King defended a contentious $6 million grant to Marrickville Golf Course in Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's Sydney electorate during question time on Wednesday. King insisted the government had acted transparently, explaining that the grant was promised during the April 2025 election campaign partly to address sewage problems at the course. Albanese admitted on Tuesday that he had misled the House of Representatives, and that sewage upgrades were not ultimately what the federal funding would deliver. The NSW government subsequently agreed to fund the urgent sewage works, leaving the Commonwealth's $6 million commitment to pay for other upgrades, including clubhouse improvements, stormwater harvesting, a new toilet and landscaping.

King said the projects would complement the work funded by NSW and maintained that all applications under the Major and Local Community Infrastructure Program were subject to departmental scrutiny. She has insisted that projects failing to satisfy requirements on community benefits, project viability and value for money "will not be awarded funding". As of September 11, all 92 projects approved under the latest scheme had passed departmental scrutiny, while three applications had been withdrawn and another 131 of the 226 invited projects had yet to be approved.

Constitutional expert Anne Twomey has described the process as "grey corruption". The Centre for Public Integrity is calling for tougher rules governing how projects are selected, greater parliamentary scrutiny of grants decisions and a dedicated multiparty committee to oversee Commonwealth funding.