It has taken almost four years but a key recommendation of the Thodey review of the public sector is being fulfilled with the creation of the Australian Centre for Evaluation.
The Thodey review, published in 2019, recommended there be a culture of assessing the impact of government programs and whether the taxpayer is getting value for money.
Assistant minister for competition, charities and treasury Andrew Leigh said the centre will ramp up the use of high-quality research methods to assess the impact of government programs.
“The 2023‑24 Budget includes $10 million over four years to establish an Australian Centre for Evaluation in the Australian Treasury,” Leigh said.
“The Australian Centre for Evaluation will improve the volume, quality and impact of evaluations across the Australian Public Service, and work in close collaboration with evaluation units in other departments and agencies.”
Empirical research, particularly involving randomised trials, will be a feature of the new agency’s work as well as the promotion of the new commonwealth evaluation policy.
That policy sets out standards and guidance on how the evaluation of public sector activity should be planned, conducted and be the subject of high-quality evaluation at the different stages of policy development, implementation and post-implementation review.
Leigh said the centre will be critical to measuring how well government programs work to determine what value they deliver to the community for the money spent.
“Rigorous impact evaluation is fundamental to good government. Yet in 2019, a report found that under the Morrison government, evaluation of government programs was ‘piecemeal’,” Leigh said.
“The Albanese government is committed to measuring what works. At the last election, we pledged to establish an evaluation unit in Treasury, and we’re delivering.
“Quality evaluation will save taxpayers money, and help government design and adapt programs to better serve the community. It’s good for the budget bottom line, and good for all Australians.”
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The evaluator general cometh: Budget funds fresh eyes for scrutiny of tangible policy effect
