Grants Dashboard
Hook
Discretionary grants are the political class's favourite spending tool. Here's where the money actually went.
Key Numbers
- Every federal grant program ingested from GrantConnect
- Broken down by competitive, discretionary, and formula-based selection
- Top recipients ranked by total dollars received [GrantConnect]
- Geographic distribution by electorate where disclosed
Context
Governments distribute billions in grants. Some are awarded through competitive application processes — a panel, a scorecard, a published decision. Others are awarded at ministerial discretion, sometimes to recipients who didn't apply at all. Both are legal. Only one carries high political risk.
The grants dashboard focuses on that risk. It surfaces the programs with the most discretionary spend, the top recipients by dollar value, and the geographic pattern — especially around election periods. Where a recipient also shows up as a political donor in our AEC data, that overlap is flagged for further review.
No grant on this page is being called illegitimate. What we're showing is the structure of how public money is being distributed — so you can see where the risks sit.
Takeaway
Competitive grants win on merit. Discretionary grants win on access. Knowing which is which is the start of accountability.
Share Stat
Victoria's discretionary grants, ranked by dollar value and cross-referenced with political donation data.
Last reviewed: 11 Apr 2026