Consultant for Risk Management and Compliance in International Programs

Terms of Reference (ToR) for Consultancy :  Review of Risk Management and Compliance in International Programs

Context

The Australian Human Rights Commission (the Commission) is Australia’s National Human Rights Institution (NHRI) and aims to protect and promote human rights in Australia and contribute to human rights advancement globally. The Australian Human Rights Commission is an independent statutory organisation, established by an act of Federal Parliament and primarily funded by the Australian Government. The Commission is a corporate Commonwealth entity and subject to the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (PGPA Act).

The goal of International Engagement of the Commission is to advance the protection and promotion of human rights in Australia, the Asia-Pacific region and globally through engaging with the UN and other bodies responsible for the protection and promotion of human rights in our region. For the past 25 years, the Commission has been funded by DFAT to administer and deliver a wide variety of human rights technical cooperation programs, human right funds and other international human rights engagement. These programs are agreed between DFAT and the AHRC on a case-by-case basis.

The International Engagement Team sits within the Partnerships, Projects and Education Division. The Team is responsible for managing partnerships with overseas entities to deliver aid and development programs. These partnerships are governed by complex grant agreements, particularly those issued by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). DFAT is a non-corporate Commonwealth entity and is also subject to the PGPA Act and Commonwealth Grant Rules and Principals 2024.

Ensuring compliance with applicable legislation, these agreements and managing associated risks is critical to program integrity, effectiveness, and alignment with international best practices. Program management needs to align with the Commonwealth resource management framework, AHRC program management systems and frameworks, meet donor expectations and ensure outcomes are delivered in compliance with the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability (PGPA) Act to ensure proper use of public resources and adherence to governance standards.

Purpose and Objectives

The Commission is seeking to engage a qualified consultant to conduct a comprehensive review of the International Engagement Team’s risk and compliance policy and management practices in relation to overseas programs.

The objective of this review is to undertake a baseline assessment of current policies and processes and make actionable recommendations to strengthen governance, compliance, and risk mitigation.

The assessment should :

• Identify any gaps or weaknesses in existing policies, processes, tools / templates and guidance
• Identify any priority areas for action
• Make specific and actionable recommendations regarding areas for improvement

The review will seek opportunities to strengthen alignment with :

Confidentiality and privacy

The consultant should identify 5 priority actions for the financial year. There may be up to 10 additional days allowed to implement some or all of these priority recommendations (depending on their nature and scope), as agreed with the Commission.

Subject to agreement and the skills of the selected provider, a subsequent consultancy may be arranged to include revision and drafting of tools or guidance documents in line with the priority actions identified through the baseline assessment.

Suggested Activities

The consultancy will undertake the following steps :

Deliverables

Timeline

The consultancy is expected to commence in November / December and conclude within 3 months. Key milestones will be agreed upon during the inception phase.

It is anticipated that the consultancy would involve up to 15 days’ work for the review, and up to 10 days for the delivery of the recommendations.

Reporting and Governance

The consultancy will report to the Director of the International Engagement Team, with input from Program Managers / Officers. Regular updates should be provided throughout the engagement.

Selection Criteria

The consultant should possess the following skills and expertise and applications will be assessed on this basis.

Application Procedure

Expressions of interest are due by COB 31 October 2025.

Please send any queries regarding the consultancy, and all Expressions of Interest, to Carla Silbert, Program Manager, via

The proposal should not exceed 8 pages and must include :