Administrative design of research funding processes in the Australian Research Council and the National Health and Medical Research Council vary and subtle differences have impacts on the ways that decisions are made. Views from outside and inside the black box of selection reveal the consequences of process design on judgements of excellence and decision-making capacity. The dominant discriminator between applicants in Australian selection processes is track record of the applicant. Reliance on track record to determine the outcomes of all but the very best applications is very like awarding prizes for past work and is significantly different from the models of grant selection that operate in comparable international research councils.