Human Services Agreement (HSA)
Information for service providers about the standard contract for human services in NSW. The HSA is formally called the Agreement for Funding of Services, but is commonly referred to as ‘the HSA’ for easy reference.
2019 version of the HSA
NSW government agencies in consultation with peak organisations representing the human services sector reviewed the HSA in 2019.
The review sought to make practical changes to the Standard Terms and to apply the lessons learned from the first two years of using the HSA.
Changes to the Standard Terms
The review resulted in the following amendments to the 2017 version of the Standard Terms:
Clause 1.1 Definitions | Amended to define ‘Financially Stable’. Amended to define ‘Officer’. |
|---|---|
Clause 5.2 Compliance with laws, standards and policies | Inserted new sub clause 5.2(d) to explicitly require service providers to comply with their own constitution. |
Clause 7 Conflicts of interest | Amended clause 7.1 to require service providers to make diligent enquiries instead of a warranty. Amended clause 7.2(a) to include the option to ‘manage’ conflicts of interest. Inserted new clause 7.3 to allow agencies to notify service providers of conflicts of interest they must address. |
Clause 9.8 Additional contributions | Simplified clause 9.8(a). Removed clause 9.8(b). |
Clause 13.2 Termination without fault | Amended clause 13.2(a) to change the termination without fault notice period from 45 days to 90 days. |
Clause 25 Security | Inserted new provisions for security procedures and notifying the agency of a security breach. |
Changes to the Schedule
The changes made to the Standard Terms also required the following amendments to the Schedule:
- simplified the Additional Contributions and Additional Funds clauses to reflect the changes in clause 9.8 of the Standard Terms
- amended the Intellectual property clause to be consistent with clause 16 of the Standard Terms
- amended the Termination Without Fault clause to be consistent with clause 13 of the Standard Terms
- changed ‘Program Guidelines’ to ‘Program Specifications (Attachment 1)’.
Managing two versions of the HSA
NGO service providers contracted with DCJ on the 2017 version of the HSA can move over to the 2019 version via a Letter of Variation. This is an agreement to apply the most recent version of the HSA to existing contracts without the need to terminate them and create new contracts.
2020 review of the HSA
DCJ, along with other government agencies, will be reviewing the HSA again in late 2020.
NGO service providers and human services sector peak organisations will be consulted on the scope of the review, as well as on any changes to the HSA.