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The HSA is a legally binding contract. It is made up of two documents that together form the HSA contract:
The Standard Terms is the overarching header agreement between government agencies and a contracted organisation (an NGO service provider). It specifies the rights and responsibilities of both parties in the agreement.
The Schedule outlines specific details about the services and programs being contracted, and it specifies payments. Each government agency can have a Schedule specific to their contracts or programs.
The Schedule may also include attachments. All attachments in the Schedule are legally enforceable under the agreement. For example, a Program Specification attached to the Schedule will have more detailed requirements that both parties must also comply with.
It’s important to read both parts of the HSA together: the Standard Terms and the Schedule, along with any attachments.
Prior to 2017, service providers contracted by the Department of Families and Community Services (FACS), now DCJ, had another type of contract:
From 2017, DCJ has been progressively using the HSA for new contracts as old contracts expire. The majority of DCJ contracts expire in June 2020, and from July 2020 new contracts will use the HSA.
The Permanency Support Program (PSP) has an exemption from the HSA until 2023 because the program went through an extensive recommissioning process at the same time the HSA was being introduced. The PSP will move to the HSA at a later stage, once existing contracts expire.
DCJ developed the Funded Contract Management Framework to assist service providers and DCJ contract managers to improve the way we manage contracts. It’s an important tool that works with the HSA.
Some words in the Standard Terms and Schedule are capitalised. This indicates the word is an ‘operative’ or defined term, and has a very specific meaning in the HSA. Be sure to read these terms carefully.
The Standard Terms has numbered clauses. The Schedule doesn’t have numbered clauses but refers to the clause number in the Standard Terms; for example:
Assets (clauses 1.1 and 11).
The Schedule references the Standard Terms clause numbers (1.1 and 11 in the example above) for ease of navigation.
Both documents work together and must be read together.
The Standard Terms defines how all of the documents in the HSA work together (refer to clause 2.1, page 12). Precedence is important if there’s any ambiguity or inconsistency across the different parts of the contract.
The Schedule’s Supplementary Conditions can be used to override the Standard Terms. Clause 2.1 of the Standard Terms is used to do this.
DCJ has decided that there are circumstances where the Standard Terms don’t apply. This is explicitly stated in the Schedule’s Supplementary Conditions.
Organisations are issued with both the Standard Terms and Schedule for each contract they hold with DCJ.
The contract start and end dates are set out on page 2 of the Schedule.
The Execution section of the Schedule must be signed by authorised signatories of the organisation. DCJ then co-signs and dates the Schedule to indicate when the HSA comes into force.
09 May 2024