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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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.
Every evaluation is different, but our process follows a consistent structure that keeps things on track and ensures the findings are useful.
We work with you to clarify the evaluation questions, scope, timeline and approach. This often includes reviewing program documentation and meeting with key stakeholders.
We develop the evaluation framework, finalise the methodology and design data collection tools — surveys, interview guides, analysis plans — tailored to your context.
We gather evidence through interviews, surveys, document review, case studies, workshops or other methods suited to your evaluation questions and stakeholders.
We analyse quantitative and qualitative data, triangulate across sources, and work with you to make sense of what the evidence is telling us.
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.
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.
A selection of our program evaluation work across different sectors and scales.
Movember
We have supported Movember's Social Innovators Challenge across Australia, Canada and the UK, evaluating approaches to improving men's social connectedness and mental wellbeing. From a shared evaluation framework for 12 pilot projects to leading the evaluation during the scaling phase, we work with funded teams to understand what works, for whom and why.
Creative Australia
We are evaluating two rounds of Creative Australia's Creative Futures Fund, which supports Australian artistic works and new ways for audiences to engage with them. We combine applicant interviews and surveys with review of applications and progress reports. Using Ripple Effects Mapping, we trace how funded activities contribute to partnerships and wider outcomes, generating evidence to inform future funding opportunities.
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.
View the evaluation report
Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation
We evaluated 14 community organisations' projects to prevent gambling harm, funded through innovation and capacity building grants. Analysis of 758 participant surveys and project reports examined changes in awareness and attitudes, program reach and the contribution of partnerships.
View the evaluation summary
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.
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.
View report
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.
View report
South East Community Links
We are evaluating a financial wellbeing initiative that brings financial counsellors, utility providers and legal services together to support people experiencing hardship. The evaluation examines the existing model and its statewide expansion, including outcomes for participants and what supports delivery in different communities.
Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES)
We evaluated five recovery programs established after Tropical Cyclone Ilsa, covering support for households, businesses and primary producers, alongside parks clean-up. Surveys, interviews and document review examined delivery and outcomes to inform future disaster recovery efforts.
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
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.
Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation
The Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation's 2019–2022 Prevention Partnerships Program funded 14 organisations with just under $2 million in innovation and capacity building grants. Projects tested approaches to preventing gambling harm and raising awareness in priority communities. Several projects continued into 2022 following delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
We independently evaluated program outcomes and the contribution of funded projects and their partnerships. A centralised survey was developed by CQUniversity's Professor Nerilee Hing in collaboration with FPC. We helped each project select questions aligned with its intended outcomes, with translated versions available in 14 languages. Our analysis drew on 758 completed surveys and final reports from all 14 organisations.
The evaluation found improvements in awareness of gambling harm and help-seeking options, alongside reductions in stigmatising attitudes. It also examined the role of partnerships in extending reach and supporting delivery. Recommendations informed future prevention investment and program design. Longer-term outcomes could only be inferred because the evaluation did not include follow-up measures.
Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA)
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.
ACT Health
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.
Transport Canberra and City Services
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.
Movember
Movember's Social Innovators Challenge supports new approaches to increasing social connectedness and a sense of belonging for men. The program operates across Australia, Canada and the UK, with funding progressing through ideation, piloting and scaling phases.
We joined the global evaluation team before the piloting phase, working alongside a Canadian evaluation partner. We helped establish a shared evaluation framework, identify measures of social connectedness and mental wellbeing, and support 12 funded projects to collect and use evaluation data. This phase identified early evidence of effectiveness and the factors contributing to change.
During the scaling phase, we took on leadership of the evaluation and expanded data collection with individual projects. We have worked closely with five funded teams, combining quantitative and qualitative evidence to examine their outcomes and understand how approaches work for different groups of men. The evaluation has adapted as projects developed and delivery timeframes changed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
South East Community Links
Bring Your Bills brings financial counsellors, utility providers, legal services and community organisations together to offer early support to people experiencing financial hardship. Delivered by South East Community Links, the model is expanding from Melbourne's south east to metropolitan and regional Victoria in 2026-27.
We are conducting a two-stage independent evaluation. An interim assessment examines the existing model's effectiveness, the factors supporting its delivery and its readiness to scale. The second stage evaluates implementation and outcomes across seven events during the statewide rollout.
We are drawing on document and data review, event observations, participant surveys, stakeholder interviews and case studies. Comparison across sites, together with an economic assessment of value for money, will inform decisions about future delivery, investment and expansion.
Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES)
Tropical Cyclone Ilsa caused significant damage across Western Australia in April 2023. Joint Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements supported recovery programs across three local government areas.
DFES engaged us to evaluate five Category D recovery programs covering primary producers, homeowners, small and medium businesses, and clean-up of national, conservation and marine parks. We examined program delivery, achievement of outcomes and the experiences of grant recipients and other stakeholders.
We combined document review with surveys and interviews to develop lessons and recommendations for future disaster recovery efforts. The evaluation produced four individual program reports and a combined summary report.
Creative Australia
The Creative Futures Fund supports the creation and sharing of Australian stories and new ways for people to engage with them. Through the Fund, Creative Australia invests in artistic works that develop partnerships, extend engagement and attract additional revenue and investment.
We are undertaking an outcomes evaluation across two funding rounds. Our approach combines review of applications and progress reports with data collection from successful applicants over the course of delivery.
We are also using Ripple Effects Mapping to trace the connections between funded activities and subsequent changes. This helps identify intended and unintended outcomes and how they develop over time. Reporting across the two rounds is intended to inform subsequent funding opportunities.
