abuse Department of Infrastructure

$1.2B

Ministers overruled their own experts to hand $1.2 billion to whoever they wanted

Ministers intervened to change grant outcomes in nearly a quarter of assessed applications — overriding the recommendations of the public servants they employ. $1.2 billion in grants were approved without completed assessments. No published reasons. 41% of assessment panels didn't declare conflicts of interest.

On Their Watch

Katy Gallagher

This happened on Gallagher's watch as Finance Minister, June 2022–present. Responsible for Commonwealth grants administration guidelines

APH Profile ↗ · @senatorgallagher

Simon Birmingham

This happened on Birmingham's watch as Finance Minister, Aug 2018–May 2022. Grants overrides occurred predominantly 2019–2022

APH Profile ↗ · @SenatorBirmo

What This Means

What happened

$1.2B of Australian taxpayer money was misused at Department of Infrastructure. Ministers intervened to change grant outcomes in nearly a quarter of assessed applications — overriding the recommendations of the public servants they employ. $1.2 billion in grants were approved without completed assessments. No published reasons. 41% of assessment panels didn't declare conflicts of interest.

Why it matters

Spread across Australia's 10.8 million households, that's roughly $111 per family — enough in total for funding roughly 10 public hospitals for a full year.

What the evidence shows

$1.2 billion in grants were approved without completed assessments against the published eligibility and selection criteria.
Only 34% of grants had milestone reporting in place, and conflict of interest declarations were missing for 41% of assessment panel members.
This represents a systemic breakdown of the merit-based grants framework.

Amount Spent

$4,800,000,000

Original Estimate

$4,800,000,000

Waste / Overrun

$1,200,000,000

Cost Overrun

Analysis

The ANAO audit of grants administration found that ministerial offices intervened to change funding outcomes in nearly a quarter of assessed applications, overriding the merit-based assessments conducted by the department. $1.2 billion in grants were approved without completed assessments against the published eligibility and selection criteria. Only 34% of grants had milestone reporting in place, and conflict of interest declarations were missing for 41% of assessment panel members. This represents a systemic breakdown of the merit-based grants framework.

Sources

https://www.anao.gov.au/work/performance-audit/administration-grants

Category: abuse

Severity: high

Agency: Department of Infrastructure

What Needs to Change

Action Required

End the practice of ministers overriding merit-based grant assessments with no accountability.

1 Require public disclosure of all ministerial interventions in grant outcomes within 14 days — with written reasons
2 Mandate that any grant approved despite a negative departmental assessment must include a published ministerial statement
3 Establish an independent grants appeals tribunal where unsuccessful applicants can challenge politically-influenced decisions
4 Publish complete grant assessment scores for all applications over $100,000
5 Introduce a statutory bar on ministers approving grants to entities that donated to their party in the preceding 12 months

Fund Action Campaign

Ministers overruled their own experts to hand $1.2 billio...

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$30,000 funds a constitutional law review, Freedom of Information requests on grant overrides, and formal complaints to the Australian National Audit Office.

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Impact Scorecard

Updated 30 Apr 2026

Tracking the pressure trail — from publication to policy change. Empty boxes show what's left to do.

✓ 📄 Finding published Published 2026-04-30

🔗 Shared 289 times

📰 Media coverage 3 articles

🏛️ MP contacted / responded 5 MPs contacted

❓ Parliamentary question raised —

⚖️ Policy change initiated —

💰 Estimated annual savings if fixed $400.0M/year if fixed

Complete In progress Not yet

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The Full Reckoning

3 active investigations. 0 completed. 15 in the queue.

Rank	Finding	Amount	Status
1	$7.8 billion of your taxes paid to consultants who left nothing behind	$7.8B	Active
2	$3.3 billion in dodgy NDIS claims slipped through because nobody was watching	$3.3B	Active
3	CIMIC Donated $540K to Labor, Liberal and Nationals — Collected $3.1B in Government Construction, 41% Without Open Tender	$3.1B	Active
4	Coming Soon	—	🔜 Pending
5	Coming Soon	—	🔜 Pending
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18	Coming Soon	—	🔜 Pending
$23.6B total waste identified — and counting		$23.6B