The former chief of Sport Australia - the body at the centre of the so-called "sports rorts" scandal - will give her version of events at an inquiry hearing on Friday.
Appearing by teleconference, Kate Palmer is expected to be quizzed on the way in which her former agency dealt with politicians and government departments as the community sport infrastructure program was rolled out.
Former sports minister Bridget McKenzie's office ran a parallel process that was criticised in an audit as being biased towards coalition-held and target seats in the lead-up to the 2019 federal election.
The inquiry will also hear from senior officials in the federal health department, which oversees Sport Australia.
Department secretary Glenys Beauchamp sits on its board and officials from her department worked with Sport Australia on the development of the $100 million grants program guidelines.
Ms Beauchamp said in her written submission to the inquiry the department did not seek legal advice in relation to the extent of the minister's powers, which were called into question during the audit.
"It was the responsibility of Sport Australia to satisfy itself in relation to the legality of processes outlined in the guidelines," she wrote.
Health Department secretary Glenys Beauchamp. Source: AAP
"The process of administering the community sport infrastructure grant program was ultimately a matter for Sport Australia."
The inquiry heard on Thursday Sport Australia had warned Senator McKenzie there were risks if she approved cash splashes independently of its advice.
But it says ultimately it was not unusual for a minister to have the final decision on such grants.
Also, Labor has suggested a brief approving the third and final round of grants may have been improperly backdated.
The organisation confirmed it received final advice from the minister's office about the third round of grants under the program at 8.46am on 11 April, less than 20 minutes after the parliament had been prorogued and put into caretaker mode ahead of the election.
The brief had been dated 4 April, despite Senator McKenzie's office sending a list of grants she intended to approve to Prime Minister Scott Morrison's office on 10 April.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison and then-Minister for Sport Bridget McKenzie. Source: AAP
It was one of 136 emails between the prime minister and Senator McKenzie's office about the scheme.
The timeline prompted questioning from Labor in parliament about whether the approval document had been backdated.
Mr Morrison stressed Senator McKenzie had been the "decision-maker" for the grants, not him.
"There was no authorisation provided by me as prime minister on the projects," he told parliament.
"Those authorisations were provided on the 4th of April, according to the approval of the brief by Senator McKenzie, on that date, as advised by Sport Australia."
Senator McKenzie was forced to quit after she was found to have broken ministerial rules by not declaring potential conflicts of interest relating to gun club memberships.
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