Indigenous evaluation

One key principle of the Commonwealth Evaluation Policy is evaluations need to be ‘robust, ethical and culturally appropriate’.

This applies to all evaluation activities.

This page is for government staff. It contains information to support evaluations of policies and programs affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Indigenous Evaluation Strategy

The Indigenous Evaluation Strategy provides a whole‑of‑government framework to use when selecting, planning, conducting and using evaluations of policies and programs affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

The Strategy centres Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, perspectives, priorities and knowledges.

The Strategy sets out what:

good practice looks like
agencies should consider when undertaking evaluations.

Visit the Productivity Commission’s Indigenous Evaluation Strategy

Indigenous leadership and governance in evaluation

Indigenous leadership and governance in evaluation is one way to centre Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, perspectives, priorities and knowledges.

This should be from design through to data collection, analysis, reporting, and sharing findings.

This could include Indigenous voices prioritising what is evaluated and Indigenous leadership in the evaluation design.

Culturally safe evaluation

Cultural safety is:

The positive recognition and celebration of cultures. It is more than just the absence of racism or discrimination and more than 'cultural awareness' and 'cultural sensitivity'. It empowers people and enables them to contribute and feel safe to be themselves.¹

The Australian Evaluation Society developed a First Nations Cultural Safety Framework and delivers workshops on applying the framework.

Visit the Australian Evaluation Society:

The Lowitja Institute developed practical resources that people can buy to support culturally safe evaluation of programs and policies.

Procurement – Indigenous evaluation and research services

The following services are available to help you choose Indigenous evaluation and research services.

For more information contact your procurement team.

Supply Nation

Supply Nation provides a database of verified Indigenous businesses. You can search by business name, product, service, area or category.

Supply Nation’s Indigenous Business Direct is the largest database of verified Indigenous businesses.

Visit Supply Nation

Panel for Indigenous Evaluation and Research Services

The Panel for Indigenous Evaluation and Research Services is a panel of collaborative and culturally-sensitive suppliers available to Australian Government agencies to provide one or more of the following capabilities:

evaluation services
research services
capability-building for evaluation and research.

Visit the Panel for Indigenous Evaluation and Research Services

Governance – Indigenous data

The Framework for Governance of Indigenous Data provides a stepping stone towards greater awareness and acceptance by Australian Government agencies of the principles of Indigenous Data Sovereignty.

The Framework aims to provide Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people greater agency over how their data is governed within the Australian Public Service, so government held data better reflects their priorities and aspirations.

The Framework puts Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples at its centre. It recognises better outcomes are achieved if Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have a genuine say in matters affecting them, including use of data to inform policy-making in government.

Visit the Framework for Governance of Indigenous Data.

Ethics – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research

There are different ethics processes and guidelines across Australia.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research has specific considerations. There are international, national, and state level ethics committees and guidelines, as well as local level guidelines and sub-committees.

Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS)

The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) Code of Ethics for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research, applies to academic research undertaken by universities and publicly funded research agencies, governments and the private sector.

Researchers can seek ethics approval by applying to AIATSIS.

National Health and Medical Research Council

The National Health and Medical Research Council developed guidelines on ethical conduct in research with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and communities.

Guidelines

The guidelines provide a set of principles to ensure research is safe, respectful, responsible, high quality and of benefit to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities.

Visit the NHMRC’s Ethical conduct in research with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and communities

Companion guideline

There is a companion guideline that provides advice on how these values and principles can be put into practice in research.

Visit the NHMRC’s Ethical guidelines for research with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

National Agreement on Closing the Gap

All Australian governments are working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, their communities, organisations and businesses to implement the National Agreement on Closing the Gap.

National Agreement

The National Agreement has 19 national socio-economic targets across areas that impact life outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Progress against the targets is monitored through the Productivity Commission Closing the Gap Information Repository.

Priority reforms

The National Agreement has 4 priority reforms that focus on changing how governments work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

The priority reforms are:

Formal partnerships and shared decision making
Building the community-controlled sector
Transforming government organisations
Shared access to data and information at a regional level

Evaluation activities should consider government commitments under the priority reforms, including:

The priority reform 3 commitment to challenging unconscious bias that results in decisions based on stereotypes.
The priority reform 4 commitment to making data more transparent.

For full details, visit Closing the Gap’s priority reforms

¹ Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Keeping Our Kids Safe: Cultural Safety and the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations [PDF 13.35 KB], page 7.