Program Evaluation

We deliver program evaluations that help you understand what's working, what's not, and why. From small community pilots to multi-year government initiatives, our practical, evidence-based approach gives you insights you can trust and act on.

As experienced program evaluation consultants, we work with organisations across Australia to evaluate programs, policies and strategies across health, environment, education, social justice and community services.

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Evaluation / Program Evaluation

What is a program evaluation?

A program evaluation is a systematic assessment of how a program, project, policy or strategy is being delivered and whether it's achieving its intended outcomes. Organisations commission program evaluations for many reasons: to meet funder reporting requirements, to understand whether a program should continue or be redesigned, to demonstrate impact to stakeholders, or simply to learn from what they've done.

Evaluations can focus on different questions depending on where you are in your program's lifecycle. A process evaluation examines how a program is being implemented — whether it's reaching the right people, being delivered as intended, and what's helping or hindering delivery. An outcome evaluation assesses whether the program is achieving its short, medium and long-term outcomes. Many evaluations combine both, giving you a complete picture of what happened, why, and what difference it made.

We also evaluate policies and strategies, bringing the same rigour to assessing whether government strategies, regulatory frameworks or sector-wide initiatives are achieving what they set out to. Whether it's a state government climate change adaptation plan or a 10-year disability justice strategy, we tailor our evaluation approach to the scale and complexity of the initiative.

How a typical evaluation engagement works

Every evaluation is different, but our process follows a consistent structure that keeps things on track and ensures the findings are useful.

1

Scoping & Planning

We work with you to clarify the evaluation questions, scope, timeline and approach. This often includes reviewing program documentation and meeting with key stakeholders.

2

Evaluation Design

We develop the evaluation framework, finalise the methodology and design data collection tools — surveys, interview guides, analysis plans — tailored to your context.

3

Data Collection

We gather evidence through interviews, surveys, document review, case studies, workshops or other methods suited to your evaluation questions and stakeholders.

4

Analysis & Sensemaking

We analyse quantitative and qualitative data, triangulate across sources, and work with you to make sense of what the evidence is telling us.

5

Reporting & Recommendations

We deliver clear, actionable findings and practical recommendations — in the format that works for your audience, whether that's a full report, a brief, or a presentation.

What we evaluate

We've delivered hundreds of program evaluations across a wide range of sectors and program types. Our program evaluation specialists bring deep experience across government, not-for-profit and community settings — and we're comfortable working across different scales, from a single community project through to a suite of state-wide programs.

Sectors we work across

• Public health and health promotion
• Mental health and suicide prevention
• Environment, NRM and biodiversity
• Climate change and sustainability
• Social justice and community development
• Education and active travel
• Emergency management and bushfire recovery
• Arts, culture and creative industries

Types of evaluation we deliver

• Process and implementation evaluations
• Outcome evaluations
• Combined process and outcome evaluations
• Policy and strategy evaluations
• Mid-term and final evaluations
• Grant program evaluations
• Multi-program and portfolio evaluations
• Retrospective evaluations

Program Evaluation Projects

A selection of our program evaluation work across different sectors and scales.

Featured Project

Evaluation of the ACT Disability Justice Strategy

ACT Community Services Directorate

We evaluated progress against the ACT's 10-year Disability Justice Strategy, examining implementation across five focus areas. Our evaluation included interviews with people with disability — including some currently in detention — using participant-centred methods and Easy English materials. Findings informed the development of the Strategy's Second Action Plan.

Disability Social Justice Policy Evaluation

View the evaluation report

Featured Project

Local Prevention Program Evaluation

Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation

We led the evaluation of this $6.5 million flagship grants program, working across 14 partnership projects delivering prevention activities in communities across Victoria. Our evaluation used case studies, social network analysis, focus groups and interviews to assess both program-level and project-level outcomes over three years.

Public Health Prevention Grant Program

View the evaluation summary

Evaluation of Four Major Energy Programs

Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA)

Evaluating four major Victorian energy programs including the New Energy Jobs Fund, Zero Emissions Vehicle program, Renewable Hydrogen Fund, and Neighbourhood Battery Initiative.

Climate & Energy Multi-program

Evaluation of the Fresh Tastes Program

ACT Health

Final evaluation of a free ACT Government service helping primary schools make healthy food and drink part of everyday life, using evidence-based behaviour change approaches over three-year cycles.

Public Health Education

View report

Evaluation of ACT School Active Travel Programs

Transport Canberra and City Services

A 10-year retrospective evaluation assessing whether school active travel programs influenced student travel behaviour and safety outcomes across the ACT.

Transport Education

View report

Related evaluation services

Evaluation Frameworks & Logic Models

Impact Evaluation

All Evaluation Services

Need a program evaluation?

Whether you're planning an evaluation from scratch, need to evaluate a program mid-way through, or want to assess whether a policy or strategy has achieved its goals — we can help.

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ACT Community Services Directorate

Evaluation of the ACT Disability Justice Strategy and First Action Plan

Disability Justice Social Justice Policy Evaluation

We were commissioned to evaluate progress against the ACT Disability Justice Strategy 2019–2029, with a focus aligned to the five focus areas outlined in the Strategy's First Action Plan 2019–2023.

The evaluation drew on extensive documentation review and interviews with government and non-government staff, as well as a small number of people with disability, including some currently in detention. We used a participant-centred approach, adapting interview questions to Easy English and providing them in advance to reduce stress and allow adequate preparation.

Findings were collated and recommendations developed to inform the Second Action Plan.

Methods & Approach

Document review Phone interviews Easy English materials Participant-centred design

View the evaluation report

Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation

Local Prevention Program Evaluation

Public Health Prevention Grant Program Social Network Analysis

The Local Prevention Program (LPP) was the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation's $6.5 million flagship public health initiative, delivered over three years. The grants were provided to community-oriented organisations to deliver primary, secondary and tertiary prevention activities across the state.

We led the evaluation at both the program and project level, facilitating reflective practice sessions, conducting case studies, running focus groups and interviews, and using social network analysis to map collaboration patterns across the funded organisations.

Our evaluation informed ongoing program design and was published by the Foundation as a key resource for the prevention sector.

Methods & Approach

Case studies Literature review Document review Focus groups Phone interviews Social network analysis

View the evaluation summary

Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA)

Evaluation of Four Major Energy Programs

Climate & Energy Multi-program Government

We were engaged by DEECA to evaluate four major Victorian energy programs: the New Energy Jobs Fund, the Acceleration of Zero Emissions Vehicle Adoption program, the Renewable Hydrogen Commercialisation Pathways Fund, and the Neighbourhood Battery Initiative.

Each evaluation assessed the original program scope and objectives against actual implementation, delivery methods and outcomes, including analysis of how proponents and delivery partners contributed to results. The findings inform future energy program design and investment decisions.

Methods & Approach

Case studies Online survey Phone interviews Data analysis

ACT Health

Final Evaluation of the Fresh Tastes Program

Public Health Education Behaviour Change

Fresh Tastes was a free ACT Government service for Canberra primary schools to make healthy food and drink a normalised part of everyday life at school. Centred around evidence-based modules, schools were supported to implement three-year action plans to address barriers to positive food and drink cultures.

We conducted the final evaluation drawing on extensive documentation, interviews, and supplementary data to assess the program's effectiveness and identify lessons for future healthy eating initiatives in school settings.

Methods & Approach

Document review Phone interviews Data analysis

View the evaluation report

Transport Canberra and City Services

Evaluation of the ACT School Active Travel Programs

Transport Education Active Travel Retrospective

The ACT Government delivered a range of school active travel programs between 2012 and 2022, encouraging students to walk, cycle, scoot or use public transport to get to and from school. These included the Ride or Walk to School Program, Active Streets for Schools, and the School Crossing Supervisor Program.

We conducted a 10-year retrospective evaluation assessing the overall effectiveness of the portfolio, examining long-term trends in student travel behaviour and safety outcomes. The evaluation used a logic model workshop, document review, surveys and interviews to build a comprehensive picture of program impact over a decade.

Methods & Approach

Document review Logic model workshop Online survey Virtual interviews Phone interviews

View the evaluation report