NHMRC Reporting 

Annual Progress Reports

In accordance with the NHMRC Deed of Agreement, Progress Reports must be submitted to the NHMRC by 31 March following each calendar year in which there were payments or carry-forward of funds for a NHMRC Grant Funding Agreement, except the final year when the Final Report form must be used (and submitted 6 months after the project has finished).

Applicable Grants: Project Grants (including European Union Projects, Development Grants, Partnership Project Grants, CRE Grants, and Strategic Awards (including Targeted Calls for Research and NHMRC EU Collaborative Research Grants).  Note that Progress reports for Program Grants and Enabling Grants still use the templates located at the Research Grants Management System (RGMS), Scientific Reporting User Guide.

Submission Procedure

Please see report submission instructions in the NHMRC RGMS user guide.

  • Log into RGMS (CIA)
  • Under the ‘Grant Management’ category on the left hand side of the page, click on ‘Scientific Report’
  • Complete the questions
  • Certify and submit the report to the Research Office (RAO) – please note the certification process is a two-step process.  The status of your report needs to read ‘submitted to Research Office’.

The Research Office will review and submit the Report to the NHMRC.   All Reports that meet the Research Office deadline will be submitted to the NHMRC by the due date of 31 March.  NB: If your Project was completed in the previous year, a Progress Report is not required, as a Final Report will be due 6 months after the completion of the grant.   Only one report per year is required.

Should you require any further information, please contact Rebecca Ford (ext 54901).

Further information on NHMRC Reporting can also be found on the NHMRC Reporting Webpage. 

Changes to be documented in NHMRC Progress Reports and Project Variations

We have recently received queries regarding the NHMRC requirement to adhere to the application budget and how to deal with changes to awarded budget and other grant exceptions.

In most cases, the awarded budget is substantially less than the original application budget, necessitating a revision to the project aims and outcomes. These changes should be outlined in the response to the first question of the Progress Report:

  1. Have the aims or objectives outlined in the application changed since funding was awarded for the project?

If your budget has changed and as a result, the project was revised, this question should be answered ‘yes’, with a detailed description of the change in the text box provided.  

Other situations which should be addressed in this question include any change to budget, scope, personnel, or changes in the project due to scientific outcome (which have required the rest of the project to be modified). 

If the change is significant, a variation may need to be submitted in RGMS by the CIA.  These circumstances are:

  • Addition of non-CI team members to the grant
  • Change in Research plan from the plan outlined in the original application
  • Change of Supervisor (Scholarships and early Career Fellowships only)
  • Defer Grant Start Date of awarded grant
  • Defer in-progress grant (period of deferral)
  • Extend Grant Duration to ensure research outcome is achieved (also applies to request of carry-forward of unexpended funds in the last calendar year of the grant)
  • Extended Leave Request for periods longer than 3 month duration
  • Modify non-CI team member details and/or allocation for grant
  • Relinquish grant
  • Remove non-CI team member from the grant
  • Transfer Administrative Institution to a new Institution
  • Update CI Team membership and structure to add/remove CIs or reallocate CI roles

When requesting a grant variation the Chief Investigator A (CIA) must log into RGMS and submit a Grant Variation request.

Please note that the NHMRC requires strict adherence to the budget categories (DRC and Personnel).  If you require modification of these categories, please contact Angela McPherson for further clarification and instruction on how to inform the NHMRC.

Final Reports

Final Reports are due at the NHMRC 6 months after the end date of the project.  Final reports are required for all NHMRC funded projects.

NHMRC Final Reports are to be completed using the template provided by the NHMRC.  Final Reports are NOT submitted through RGMS.

The following templates should be used when completing the report.

NHMRC requires ONLY one submission of publication data - either the excel file or the word files for journal articles and book chapters. The excel file is the preferred option but NHMRC will accept either format.

Submission Procedures

  • The Final report must be submitted to the Research Office in WORD format.
  • Complete the Publications supplement if applicable.
  • Email the completed Report (in Word) to Rebecca Ford 3 months after the completion of the project. DO NOT CONVERT TO PDF. The NHMRC will not accept reports submitted as a pdf.
  • We will notify you and request that you forward a signed, final version to the Research Office.
  • The NHMRC requires that a signed hard copy is retained by the Research Office for auditing purposes.
  • Reports will not be submitted until the cost collector has a $0 balance.

Should you require any further information, please contact Rebecca Ford (ext 54901).

Further information on NHMRC Reporting can also be found on the NHMRC Reporting Webpage. 

Extension of Grant Duration and Carry-forward Requests

Joanna Tang will prepare the annual financial statement each year in February, and forward it to the CIA for approval.  From the financial statement you will be able to determine whether a carry forward request is required. The carry-forward request will be submitted by Joanna to the NHMRC.  Please note that it is the responsibility of the CIA to ensure that the financial statements are correct before submission.

For grants in the final year of funding only, Rebecca Ford from the Research Office will contact you in October to determine whether a carry-forward will be required.  Final grant year requests for carry-forwards and extension of grant duration need to be submitted in RGMS by 1 December of the year your grant finishes.

Carry-forward requests are to be submitted by the CIA in RGMS under the category ‘extend grant duration’. Please state in the provided text box that you would like to carry-forward unspent funds. If the carry-forward request is greater than 25% of the yearly budget, the NHMRC may require a justification at a later date, which will be submitted by the Research Office.  This will be attached to your annual financial statement which Finance will complete on your behalf.

If you require further financial details regarding your project, please contact the Financial Services - Research Accounting Team as follows:

Faculty of Health - Email Mary Slattery - ext 16346 OR Kylee Rankin - ext 17869

Faculty of Health (School of Biomedical Sciences & Pharmacy) - Email Tess Webb - ext 12016

Faculty of Science & IT - Email Loga Jayakumar - ext 15602

Faculty of Education and Arts – Email Kerrie Paczynski – ext 15197

If you have any questions regarding the Extend Grant Duration or Carry Forward submission in RGMS, please do not hesitate to contact Rebecca Ford (ext 54901).