We wanted to be able to invite a broad range of people into the evaluation space who may not think of themselves as evaluators, but are doing work that is evaluative.
Christabelle Darcy & Alison Reedy
Co-Convenors, AES 2026 Conference
About This Episode
In this episode, Matt speaks with Christabelle Darcy and Alison Reedy, the co-convenors of the 2026 Australian Evaluation Society Conference in Darwin. Under the theme Making Space, Valuing Place, Christabelle and Alison walk us through the four subthemes, the keynote line-up, and what they're most looking forward to when the evaluation community gathers from 14–18 September. It's a thoughtful preview of a conference designed to welcome a broader audience into evaluation conversations — and to honour the context of the Top End.
Key Takeaways
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1
Making space is about widening the door
The theme is a deliberate invitation to people who do evaluative work but may not call themselves evaluators — researchers, policy officers, community leaders, and others whose roles include evaluation as part of a wider remit.
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2
Valuing place is about context, authority, and country
With a third of the Northern Territory's population identifying as Indigenous, the theme asks evaluators to think carefully about where they're working, who has authority in those places, and how that should shape their practice.
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3
Four subthemes give different entry points
Traditions and new ways, ethics and integrity, boundaries and bridges, and roots and routes each open up a distinct conversation — from acknowledging failure to staying grounded as evaluators in a post-truth environment.
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4
The keynote line-up spans local and international voices
Robyn Ober opens the conference with her work weaving Indigenous yarning into research and evaluation. She's joined by Lígia Teixeira on systems approaches to homelessness, Bagele Chilisa on Made in Africa evaluation, Selwyn Button on evaluation and policy from the Productivity Commission, and Emily Gates closing with ethical reflexivity in systemic change.
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5
A smaller conference invites more cross-pollination
Darwin's scale and setting encourage attendees to step outside their usual silos, sit in sessions they wouldn't normally choose, and have their thinking stretched — the kind of unexpected encounters that bigger conferences can wash out.
Topics Covered
Resources Mentioned
- AES 2026 Conference — program, registration, and conference information for Darwin, 14–18 September 2026
- Australian Evaluation Society — membership, professional development, and resources
- Rethinking Systems Evaluation with Emily Gates — Emily's earlier It Depends episode, ahead of her AES26 closing keynote
About Christabelle and Alison
Christabelle Darcy
Director, Program Evaluation Unit, NT Department of Treasury and Finance
Christabelle leads the Program Evaluation Unit within the Northern Territory Department of Treasury and Finance, supporting agencies across government to evaluate their programs and using that evidence to strengthen advice to cabinet. A scientist by training with a PhD from Charles Darwin University, she came to evaluation through an interest in how government makes its funding decisions.
Alison Reedy
Manager of Evaluation, NT Department of Housing, Local Government and Community Development
Alison manages evaluation at the NT Department of Housing, Local Government and Community Development. Her pathway into the field came through research, including a postdoctoral role at the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá evaluating scholarship of learning and teaching. She's been in the NT since 2006, with earlier work at the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education, and joined the NT public service in 2021.
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