The Productivity Commission (PC) has unveiled a plan to improve the evaluation of policies and programs aimed at improving the lives of Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.
Chair of the Productivity Commission, Michael Brennan said that despite decades of new policies and programs aimed at improving the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the Commission knows very little about their impact.
“Evaluation is too often an afterthought,” Mr Brennan said.
“We need to lift the bar on evaluation quality, embed it at the outset of policy design and make sure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are closely involved throughout,” he said.
He said a draft Indigenous Evaluation Strategy put Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people at its centre.
He said the Strategy recognised that in order to achieve better outcomes, what Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people value, their expertise, and lived experiences had to be reflected in what was evaluated, how evaluation was undertaken and the outcomes policies and programs sought to achieve.
Mr Brennan’s fellow Productivity Commissioner, Romlie Mokak said the Strategy was about Australian Government Agencies engaging effectively with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to better design and evaluate policies and programs.
Mr Mokak said the draft Strategy included detailed guidance material, outlining the strengths of different evaluation approaches and how to ensure evaluation was part of every stage of policy making and program delivery.
PC’s draft Strategy and background paper can be accessed at this PS News link.
