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Victorian Common Funding Agreement

The Victorian Common Funding Agreement (VCFA) is used by all Victorian Government departments to fund not-for-profit community organisations to deliver services and projects.

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All Victorian Government departments must use the VCFA when providing grant funding to community organisations for human and community services and projects.

The WoVG Grants Centre within the Department of Government Services manages the VCFA. If you require support to design and administer a grant program, or advice on grant governance, assurance and compliance please contact us.

Definition of grant

The VCFA uses the Better Grants by Design definition of grant:

A grant is money given to organisations or individuals for a specified purpose to achieve objectives consistent with government policy…[and is] generally used to include any funding arrangement where the recipient is selected on merit against a set of criteria. Grants can take a variety of forms, including ad hoc payments, competitive assessment or when specified criteria are satisfied.

Grant funding does not cover donations, sponsorships, the non-contested transfer of funds to a government entity for the delivery of services or a project (these are facilitated by a memorandum of understanding), the purchase of goods and services from third-party contractors and consultants (procurement), or the purchase of goods and services on commercial terms.

VCFA forms

There are 2 key forms of the VCFA:

Standard form

The Standard Form is used for a wide range of projects and services. The Standard Form is made up of 2 separate documents:

Short form

The Short Form is used for smaller, funding amounts and lower risk activities than the Standard Form. The Short Form is a stand-alone, editable template that contains its own abridge terms and conditions.

For flexibility, each form is paired with a clause bank, that has additional clauses to suit a wide range of funding requirements. The clause banks also include:

The VCFA Standard Form, VCFA Short Form and clause banks can be found on the VCFA Templates and Forms page.

Services for children

The 2013 Betrayal of Trust Report found that survivors of institutional child abuse were sometimes unable to identify an appropriate legal entity to sue, and even if they could, those organisations sometimes did not have enough assets to be sued or meet compensation orders.

In response, the Victorian Government now requires non-government organisations funded to deliver services for children to be:

Departments using the VCFA must ensure that eligible organisations meet the above requirements before executing a funding agreement for services to children. Find more information on the Department of Justice and Community Safety website.

Capital works funding

The VCFA can be used to fund grants for capital works. However, the VCFA cannot be used to fund capital works projects:

Service Agreement

The Service Agreement includes specific terms and conditions relating to compliance and safeguarding, particularly around the quality of the services and the safety for those clients who use these services. The Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Education and Training and the Adult Community and Further Education Board use the Service Agreement for the funding of organisations providing direct care and other services to the community.

VCFA review

The VCFA is currently under review.

Updated 12 January 2026

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