The Australian Centre for Evaluation was established to help put evaluation evidence at the heart of policy design and decision-making, so the Australian government can have confidence its programs and policies are delivering better outcomes for Australians and achieving value for money.
We work with departments and agencies across the Australian Public Service and beyond to integrate high-quality evaluation into all aspects of program and policy development and to produce rigorous, evidence-based assessments of complex policy issues. We look to embed good evaluation principles and practices across government and foster an evaluative culture that supports continuous learning about what works, why, and for whom.
We work with departments and agencies to:
- promote the Commonwealth Evaluation Policy and help to ensure evaluation is considered at all stages of the policy cycle
- ensure evaluation activities across the Australian government are conducted in line with the Commonwealth evaluation principles (fit for purpose; useful; robust, ethical, and culturally appropriate; credible; and transparent)
- embed high-quality evaluation planning and consistent use of evaluation evidence in Budget and Cabinet decision-making processes
- champion high-quality impact evaluations, including randomised trials, by providing technical support and capability uplift
- conduct high-quality impact evaluations through partnerships with departments and agencies to enhance the quality of evaluation evidence
- oversee efforts to improve evaluation capability across the Australian government.
Ultimately our focus is working across the Australian government to improve the volume, quality, and use of evaluation evidence to support better policy and programs that improve the lives of Australians.
How can we help?
Working closely with Commonwealth evaluation units, we are available to help and support you at any stage of the policy process. We can help you with:
- considering risk-based evaluation, performance monitoring and implementation issues
- considering the approach to stakeholder consultation to identify if, and when, a formal evaluation is required
- considering how evaluation can complement or enhance routine performance monitoring.
If you want to conduct an impact evaluation to understand how well a program or policy is working, we can help you with:
- determining whether a randomised trial or alternative method is feasible and appropriate
- design, plan, and pre-register your impact evaluation, and implement the randomisation (where relevant)
- analyse and interpret your impact evaluation findings
We also offer a range of resources and networking opportunities to assist you with your evaluations.