Indigenous Affairs Whole-of-Government Research and Evaluation Plan - 2008-11 

Australian Government Responsibilities

The Australian Government has made a strong commitment to Closing the Gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, setting measurable targets and milestones.  The Government is working to achieve high-level coordination and a shared vision between all levels of government around Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander policies and programs.

The Strategic Policy and Budget Committee of Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister and attended by the Deputy Prime Minister, Treasurer and Finance Minister is setting directions.  The Committee is assisted by the Secretaries' Group on Indigenous Affairs which ensures coherent direction across government agencies in policy development and program implementation.

The Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA), through the Office of Indigenous Policy Coordination (OIPC), is responsible for coordinating a whole of government approach to services for Indigenous Australians.  OIPC has a central role in the Government's arrangements in Indigenous affairs including responsibility for the management of all whole of government research and evaluation.

The Whole of Government Research and Evaluation Plan 2008-2011

The Whole of Government Research and Evaluation Plan (the Plan) was first produced by OIPC in 2006 and is revised annually, with this being the third iteration.  Revisions are made to the Plan in response to significant Government decisions relating to Indigenous service delivery. 

The Plan is prepared in consultation with Government agencies as represented in the Secretaries’ Group on Indigenous Affairs.  The Plan also takes into consideration the Work Program of the Office of Evaluation and Audit (Indigenous programs) within the Department of Finance and Deregulation.

The Plan provides a framework for all whole of government focused research and evaluation activities undertaken by OIPC.  The Plan ensures that lessons are both learnt and shared from whole of government activities, contributing to continuous learning and a robust evidence base which can be used to inform future government and private sector action in Indigenous policy creation and implementation.   

OIPC’s research and evaluation efforts aim to progressively review and inform effective policy development and efficient implementation of government activity aimed at closing the gap in Indigenous disadvantage.  Within FaHCSIA, OIPC provides advice and support for whole of government research and evaluation activities.  Attachment A to the Plan outlines all research and evaluation activities to be undertaken by OIPC over the forthcoming three financial years. 
The listed research and evaluation activities aim to create a strategic learning framework through consideration of whole of government issues at the macro level.  Evaluations are undertaken that cross or go beyond organisational boundaries of individual agency responsibility and does not include the evaluation of individual programs.  All evaluation activities have a focus on the structures, mechanisms, and processes within government activity in the Indigenous policy arena.

The activities are organised under three broad, overlapping themes:

• Policy – whole of government outcomes, coordination and gaps – the way in which policies and programs at the national level join to achieve outcomes for Indigenous people;
• Place – local arrangements and partnerships – the way in which governments and their programs work within local communities and how they can be made more responsive to the needs of those communities (including all Northern Territory Emergency Response (NTER) related projects);and
• Process – implementation of whole of government initiatives – continuously improving the way agencies are working together to implement the Government’s initiatives.

Other Government Research and Evaluation Activity

OIPC’s research and evaluation efforts are only one component of the Government’s comprehensive research evaluation activities within the Indigenous policy arena.  Additional Government activities, outside of the scope of this Plan, which inform Government decision making include:

• Performance monitoring and reporting mechanisms, such as the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage Report and the annual Reports on Government Services;
• Evaluations and audits by independent authorities, including the Office of Evaluation and Audit (Indigenous Programs) in the Department of Finance and Deregulation, the Australian National Audit Office, and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner;
• Departmental sponsored audits and evaluations of mainstream and Indigenous-specific programs, including lapsing programs and services each department is responsible for; and
• Public-sector, academic and independent research activities, including those funded by government departments and those conducted independently by academic institutions.

Underpinning Principles of the Plan

OIPC’s Research and Evaluation Plan 2008-11 is consistent with COAG’s 2004 National Framework of Principles for Improving Service Delivery to Indigenous Australians. The two principles which specifically relate to the objectives of the Plan are:

Establishing Transparency and Accountability

• Strengthening the accountability of governments for the effectiveness of their programs and services through regular performance review, evaluation and reporting;
• Ensuring the accountability of organisations for the government funds that they administer on behalf of Indigenous people; and
• Tasking the Productivity Commission to continue to measure the effect of the COAG commitment through the jointly-agreed set of indicators.

Developing a Learning Framework

• Sharing information and experience about what is working and what is not; and
• Striving for best practice in the delivery of services to Indigenous people, families and communities.

Establishing Transparency and Accountability

The Government acknowledges that Indigenous participation in research and evaluation projects leads to a shared understanding of aims and joint ownership of results of the work.  For this reason, where possible, consultants are obliged to include Indigenous communities or organisations in development of project methodology and collection of data.   

To ensure that projects carried out by OIPC meet industry standards and are culturally appropriate, all consultants engaged are subject to on the ground assessment for compliance with the principles of AIATSIS Guidelines for Ethical Research in Indigenous Studies.

OIPC is committed to the use of best practice principles for effective, inclusive and accountable processes in monitoring and evaluation activities.  OIPC is currently investigating new methodologies for research and evaluation including participatory models where Indigenous Australians have input into:

• desired project outcomes;
• adaptation of project methodology for tailoring to the local circumstance;
• identification of unforeseen and unintended consequences at the local level; and
• identification of what works.

The purpose of participatory evaluation is to strengthen the usefulness of the quantitative data collected. Participatory evaluation provides contextual evidence for articulating change from the individuals that government initiatives are targeting.  Any participatory research activities to be undertaken by OIPC will be outlined within each specific whole of government initiative evaluation strategy.

Sharing the lessons learnt

A key focus of the Plan is to encourage continuous learning and to build a strong evidence base for future policy directions and service delivery arrangements.  OIPC aims to share information and experience about what is working well and what could be improved. 

OIPC shares information via:

• The FaHCSIA website (www.fahcsia.gov.au) – many of the research and evaluation reports managed by OIPC are made publicly available on the FaHCSIA website.
• The Directory of Indigenous-Specific Evaluations 2002-2007 (http://www.fahcsia.gov.au/sa/indigenous/pubs/evaluation/Documents/specific_evaluations07/default.htm) - this directory identifies evaluations of Indigenous programs undertaken by Government departments and key external evaluators. The directory captures any significant Indigenous-specific evaluations or mainstream evaluations with a prominent Indigenous component.  In consultation with relevant government departments and agencies, the directory is be updated yearly and includes evaluations for the preceding 5 years.
• The Directory of Commonwealth Government Indigenous Research 2003-08 (http://www.fahcsia.gov.au/sa/indigenous/pubs/evaluation/Pages/directory_cgir_2007_2008.aspx) – this directory captures research undertaken by Government departments by identifying robust evidence-based specific research with a prominent Indigenous component.  The purpose of the directory is to provide readers with a ready reference to, and better understanding of, the research work that has, and is taking place, on Indigenous programs as well as planned research.  The directory does not include costings and contact names.  The Directory provides summaries of the research, their scope, and their main findings. In consultation with relevant government departments and agencies, the Directory is updated on a yearly basis.  Over the longer term, the directory aims to provide an up-to-date resource for Government agencies and to identify gaps in previous research work.

A brief look at last year

During the 2007-08 financial year OIPC provided whole of government leadership by building the evidence base about what works in Indigenous policy and what we need to improve upon.  This included research and evaluation around agreement making, mobility and service delivery, capacity building and governance in urban, regional and remote Aboriginal communities. 

During the 2007-08 financial year OIPC commenced or completed the following evaluations:

• A review of Indigenous Coordination Centres (ICCs) to identify opportunities for improvement in the implementation of the ICC model and to nurture a culture of continuous learning. The review was conducted in close consultation with other Commonwealth agencies with staff in ICCs and is in the process of being publicly released.
• Independent reviews of individual Shared Responsibility Agreements (SRAs) to consider outcomes; identify lessons learnt by parties to the SRAs and capture their perceptions of the SRA process. These ‘intimate’ reviews were designed to be concise and to assist signatories to SRAs in learning from the experience.
• An overarching implementation review of the SRA tool building on a document review, the reviews of individual SRAs, and fieldwork in a number of sites across Australia.
• A review of Communities in Crisis projects to assess whether projects had met their objectives and captured other benefits which will inform the development and implementation of policy and programs and underpin the direction taken with new projects.
• Baseline Community Profiling in the following locations - Yalata, Beagle Bay, Balgo and Kalumburu (as part of the Communities in Crisis evaluation), Galiwin’ku.
• Regular monitoring of the NTER including the latest NTER Monitoring Report, which covers the period August 2007 to June 2008.
• Qualitative impact assessment work including the Government Business Managers’ survey.

Current activity and the year ahead

OIPC is already making headway on research projects and evaluations scheduled for commencement or completion during the 2008-09 financial year, these include:

• Review of the First Phase of the Petrol Sniffing Strategy conducted in collaboration with FaHCSIA’s Strategic Intervention Taskforce and the Department of Health and Ageing (report is publicly available on the FaHCSIA website).
• Baseline Community Profiling to inform Government action in the following locations - Groote and Bickerton Islands communities of Angurugu; Umbakumba and Milyakburra; the East Kimberley communities of Halls Creek, Kununurra, Wyndham, Warmun, Mulan, Oombulgurri, Bililuna and Ringers Soak; Mornington and Palm Island; the Tiwi Island communities of Nguiu, 4 Mile and Wurankuwu; selected Northern Territory town camps and community living areas and the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yakunjtjatjara Lands.
• NTER Monitoring and Government Business Managers’ survey.
• Administrative and logistical support for the NTER 12 month review.

The Council of Australian Government’s National Indigenous Reform Agreement provides for significant financial investment for targeted initiatives for Indigenous Australians.  The new model for Indigenous Remote Service Delivery will be focused upon service delivery improvements in 26 remote Indigenous locations.  This investment will result in significant work for OIPC.  OIPC will develop an overarching evaluation strategy which will include baseline mapping, service auditing, monitoring and evaluation. These individual elements of work will be included into the Plan when further developments are reached.

Following the NTER Review Board’s October 2008 report; OIPC has revised its NTER Evaluation Strategy (currently in draft form).  The Strategy does not include individual evaluations of NTER measures, but looks at the effectiveness of the NTER as a whole.  The Strategy will include comprehensive community profiling (including baseline profiling, ongoing community profiling and impact assessment projects involving participatory research methods); ongoing monitoring of government activity against NTER measures and evaluation (participatory and summative). Research and evaluation projects underpinning the NTER Evaluation Strategy have been included in the Plan.

Contact details

For more information please contact:
Group Manager
Office of Indigenous Policy Coordination Group
Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs
Telephone: 1300 653 227

Attachment A