Authors: Sarah Jane Springer (Springer Health Consultants), Catherine Boekel (Whereto Research)Evaluation involving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples has historically positioned First Nations engagement as a consultation activity occurring after evaluation priorities, frameworks and methods have already been determined. Even approaches framed as co-design can unintentionally reproduce existing power structures in knowledge generation and limit the capacity of evaluation to reflect First Nations governance, priorities and ways of knowing.
This paper introduces the Culturally Governed Evaluation Framework, an emerging methodological approach that embeds First Nations authority within the governance structures that determine evaluation purpose, design, interpretation and accountability. In this approach, engagement is not positioned as advisory input, but as a governance function within the evaluation system itself.
The framework is grounded in three interconnected principles:
- First Nations authority, embedding leadership within governance structures that shape priorities and definitions of success;
- Relational accountability, ensuring evaluation is grounded in trust, reciprocity and sustained engagement; and
- Shared interpretation, enabling findings to be interpreted through First Nations knowledge systems with shared authority in meaning-making.
By foregrounding governance and relational accountability, this approach contributes to national discussions on ethics, power and methodological legitimacy. It aligns with reform agendas including the National Agreement on Closing the Gap and has direct implications for how evaluation is commissioned, governed and interpreted across government, research and community settings.
The presentation will invite critical reflection on how culturally governed approaches can reshape evaluation practice and strengthen both the legitimacy and effectiveness of evaluation outcomes.
