Changes to the way the Australian government aid agency deals with civil society groups won't mean those bodies have to allocate more resources to accounting.
That is the view of Australian Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Richard Marles, who says the AusAID Civil Society Engagement Framework is about streamlining processes to make the aid programme more efficient.
The Framework lays out ways to achieve this including consistently tracking results.
Mr Marles says it won't mean more accounting pressure on NGOs but it is essential that the taxpayers' money is spent effectively and efficiently.
"And so it is appropriate that there is a high degree of accountability for public monies as they are spent overseas. But what this is trying to make sure is that that appropriate accountability can be done in as streamlined a way as possible so that NGOs that are doing really good work out there are able to work, to partner, with AusAID in the great work that they do."
Australian Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Richard Marles.
