aes26 International Evaluation Conference: Full Schedule

This is the draft aes26 program, subject to change. To register for workshops and the conference, go to: https://www.aes26.aes.asn.au/

11:00am ACST

How should we evaluate legal policy?

Wednesday September 16, 2026 11:00am - 11:30am ACST

Waterfront 1

Authors: Caitlin Morton, Maggie Hawkins (Attorney General's Department)
This session poses the question – how should we evaluate legal policy? Evaluators across all sectors encounter legal frameworks, yet few forums explicitly address how law itself can and should be evaluated. This session seeks to help carve out that space within evaluation practice.

Strong approaches to evaluating legal policy are critical to achieving just, fair, and secure society - the remit of the Attorney-General's Department. In this session, past and current evaluators from the AGD reflect on observations, challenges, and conversations, and invite discussion on what it looks like when legal policy is working well. We present an overview of existing dialogue on this question, and argue that it is critical to examine the social and ethical foundations of legal policy, the principles that inform legal policy, and how the law can support the operation of impactful legal policy.

We will investigate how law does and does not align with the beliefs and assumptions of the communities it touches, and how law is interpreted and put into practice. Together we will explore localisation as a major challenge and opportunity in evaluating legal policy – noting the persistent regional/metro divide in accessing legal services, and diversity between communities and across states, which always requires collaboration.

This session is critically important to evaluators as law touches all public policy, which in turn impacts the operations of not just federal governments, but local and state governments, private businesses, community organisations, not-for-profits, and more.

Speakers

Caitlin Morton

Acting Director

Maggie Hawkins

Evaluation Lead, Attorney General's Department

Wednesday September 16, 2026 11:00am - 11:30am ACST
Waterfront 1 Stokes Hill Rd, Darwin City NT, Australia

Ethics and integrity

Format Short paper
Audience Level Advanced, Intermediate
Industry Public administration and safety
ID 262

11:00am ACST

Introduction to Evidence for New, Emerging and Non-Evaluators

Wednesday September 16, 2026 11:00am - 12:00pm ACST

Hall 2

Author: Charlie Tulloch (Policy Performance)

This session at the start of the conference orients new, emerging and non-evaluators to the types of topics and content they will encounter over the coming days. It provides a foundational overview of evidence-related fields (e.g. evidence, monitoring, evaluation, learning), debunks key concepts/language, offers insights into what evaluators do day-to-day, discusses values/valuing, ethical considerations, competencies and key steps usually considered when completing high quality evaluation projects.The session strengthens defines the boundaries and intersections of evaluation and other disciplines to understand this field of endeavour, the pathways in and the opportunities it offers.

The session’s main aims are to share and discuss:

How evidence is used in different policy and organisational landscapes

The roles and types of projects led by evaluators

Techniques frequently used by evaluators•Ways that evaluators think (logic, data, outputs, outcomes, impact)

Why and when evaluations happen (or do not)

Practical tips for evaluation commissioners and working with evaluators

Capability building (skills and knowledge) to promote use of evaluation in-house

A seven-stage approach to planning and conducting an evaluation project

Essential skills of evaluators, including logic modelling, defining key/interview questions, forming value judgments, and selecting effective evaluation approaches/methods.The session will provide attendees with an opportunity to ask questions anonymously, so they feel very comfortable as the conference commences.

Questions will be addressed during the session, creating an open, interactive discussion.The session will also provide an overview of the conference structure, learning opportunities and flow, to provide a guide to attendees about how to gain the most value from their time.

Speakers

Charlie Tulloch

Director, Policy Performance

Policy Performance is a proud conference sponsor! Charlie delivers evaluation projects, capability building support and drives public sector improvement. Charlie loves to help those who are new to evaluation or transitioning from related disciplines. He is a past AES Board member... Read More →

Wednesday September 16, 2026 11:00am - 12:00pm ACST
Hall 2

Special

Format Big room
Audience Level Foundational
Industry Public administration and safety, International development, Community and social services, Not for profit Philanthropy

11:30am ACST

When no one has time for evaluation - building learning cultures that survive pressure

Wednesday September 16, 2026 11:30am - 12:00pm ACST

Waterfront 1

Author: Su-Ann Drew (Grosvenor)
Many organisations value evaluation in principle but struggle to sustain it in practice, particularly when time is limited, priorities shift, or politically sensitive issues arise. Under pressure, evaluation is often treated as an optional task rather than a way of thinking embedded in everyday work. This short paper examines what allows evaluative thinking to persist under these conditions, especially where leadership support is intermittent, symbolic or short lived.

Speakers

Su-Ann Drew

Senior Manager, Grosvenor

Su-Ann is a Manager specialising in program evaluation within Grosvenor’s public sector advisory practice. Su-Ann has more than a decade of rich and diverse professional experience, which enables her to offer a unique perspective and critical lens to solving complex problems for... Read More →

Wednesday September 16, 2026 11:30am - 12:00pm ACST
Waterfront 1 Stokes Hill Rd, Darwin City NT, Australia

Roots and routes

Format Short paper
Audience Level Foundational
Industry Public administration and safety, Not for profit Philanthropy, Community and social services
ID 188

12:00pm ACST

The ethics of independence – what does ‘independent evaluation’ mean in 2026?

Wednesday September 16, 2026 12:00pm - 12:30pm ACST

Hall 2

Author: Jo van Twest Farmer (Rooftop Social)

Independence is often posited as a primary means of ensuring evaluation is rigorous, trustworthy and fair. Independence is Norm 4 of the United Nation’s Evaluation Group Norms and Standards for Evaluation (2016), which states it is “necessary for credibility”. Built into this standard are two concepts – behavioural independence (evaluating without undue influence) and organisational independence (structures that support independent practice). For many in the evaluation landscape, the best means of ensuring independence has been for ‘independent evaluators’ to conduct ‘independent evaluations’.
Discussions around what constitutes independence have long been a feature of evaluation literature, but arguably there have never been so many pressures on maintaining independence in evaluation. There is growing interest in evaluation approaches where the relationships between program delivery and evaluation is less clear-cut, such as developmental, participatory and lived experience-led evaluations. As evaluation capability grows, evaluation functions are more widespread across teams and embedded in business-as-usual learning practice, rather than contracted out. Less positively, changing fiscal conditions place more pressure on organisations to undertake evaluation with less capacity for external expertise and support. The need to demonstrate impact to access funding in tightening funding environments means evaluations are higher stakes than ever, and there are often vested interests in demonstrating programs are effective.
This short paper will discuss what independence means in 2026, arguing that evaluation has moved beyond ‘organisational independence’ and must instead focus on how to support ‘behavioural independence’. Contemporary evaluation practice requires understandings of independence grounded in ethics and integrity. This approach directly challenges traditional role boundaries in evaluation, such as external versus internal or participant versus evaluator. In responding to the challenges of maintaining independence in 2026 and beyond, the presentation will suggest criteria to support evaluators to guide the ethics of their own practice, and a framework for upholding independent practice.

Speakers

Jo van Twest Farmer

Rooftop Social

Wednesday September 16, 2026 12:00pm - 12:30pm ACST
Hall 2

Boundaries and bridges

Format Short paper
Audience Level Foundational, Intermediate
Industry Community and social services, Education and training, Health and disability, Not for profit Philanthropy, Public administration and safety
ID 214

12:00pm ACST

The Reckoning

Wednesday September 16, 2026 12:00pm - 12:30pm ACST

Waterfront 1

Author: Salli Cohen (The Policy Room)
This presentation explores the uncomfortable space where policy and evaluation structurally reinforce harm. Its objective is to challenge assumptions of neutrality and examine how evaluative frameworks can either illuminate or obscure inequity.
The core argument is threefold: (1) evaluation and policy are never neutral and must interrogate power; (2) systems alignment and cultural authority determine whether outcomes are real or performative; and (3) accountability must ask “for whom” evaluation and policy work; and who bears the cost.
The session blends applied case insight with structured reflection and peer dialogue to provoke critical engagement and practical recalibration.

Speakers

Salli Cohen

Founder, The Policy Room

Wednesday September 16, 2026 12:00pm - 12:30pm ACST
Waterfront 1 Stokes Hill Rd, Darwin City NT, Australia

Ethics and integrity

Format Short paper
Audience Level Intermediate, Advanced
Industry Not for profit Philanthropy, International development, Public administration and safety, Community and social services, Health and disability
ID 82

2:30pm ACST

Epistemic Justice: victim survivors of child sexual abuse as co-evaluators

Wednesday September 16, 2026 2:30pm - 3:30pm ACST

Waterfront 1

Authors: Nic Vogelpoel (Day Four Projects), Malika Reese (Lived Experience Advisor), Sandra Collins (Lived Experience Advisor)
What happens when evaluation is not just informed by lived experience, but led by it?

This presentation offers a rare, practice-based account of a lived experience-led evaluation undertaken with the National Centre for Action on Child Sexual Abuse, where victim survivors worked as co-evaluators across all stages of the process. Established to centre victim survivors in awareness-raising, help-seeking, advocacy and best-practice responses, the Centre provided a powerful context to rethink how evaluation knowledge is produced, and by whom.

The session argues that lived experience-led evaluation is not an ethical “add-on”, but a fundamental shift in values, power and epistemology. Drawing on the evaluation findings, presenters will explore three core propositions.

First, nothing about us without us: moving from evaluation on people to evaluation led by people with lived experience reshapes evaluation questions, evidence, outcomes and definitions of rigour. Second, epistemic justice: lived experience leadership challenges entrenched assumptions about who gets to ask questions, whose knowledge counts, and how institutions respond to new forms of evidence. Third, beyond advice to synthesis: lived experience cannot simply “advise” evaluation, it must be integrated as a distinct way of knowing that transforms the whole evaluation.

Co-presented by lived experience evaluators and Day Four Projects evaluators, the session will combine reflective storytelling, concrete practice examples and facilitated dialogue. Participants will be invited to critically examine their own evaluative assumptions, engage in small-group reflection, and explore practical strategies for making space for multiple knowledge systems while maintaining evaluative integrity and meeting institutional requirements.This session will be particularly valuable for evaluators, commissioners, researchers and practitioners seeking more just, credible and impactful approaches to lived-experience evaluation in complex and sensitive contexts.

Speakers

Nic Vogelpoel

Director, Day Four Projects

We specialise in the theory and practice of good collaboration. We have a particular interest in learning and evaluation for partnerships, platforms and collaborative initiatives. We work with international and domestic partners from multilateral organisations, governments, NGOs... Read More →

Malika Reese

Lived Experience Advisor

Angela Obradovic

Wednesday September 16, 2026 2:30pm - 3:30pm ACST
Waterfront 1 Stokes Hill Rd, Darwin City NT, Australia

Boundaries and bridges

Format Long paper
Audience Level Advanced, Intermediate
Industry Not for profit Philanthropy, Health and disability, Community and social services, Public administration and safety, Education and training
ID 45

2:30pm ACST

Using partnering principles to navigate power and ethics in evaluation

Wednesday September 16, 2026 2:30pm - 3:30pm ACST

Rooms 1+2

Author: Dana Cross (Grosvenor)

Effective evaluation increasingly depends on strong partnerships across communities, commissioners, service providers and evaluators. Yet partnering is often guided by goodwill rather than shared principles, leaving teams vulnerable to power imbalances, ethical drift and unspoken assumptions. This skill building session focuses on principles-based partnering, defined as the deliberate use of a small, shared set of agreed principles to guide roles, behaviours and decision making within evaluation partnerships.

The objective of the session is to build participants’ capability to use partnering principles intentionally and appropriately in real world evaluation contexts, particularly where values, authority and accountabilities differ. Drawing on applied evaluation practice, the session introduces principles based partnering not as a universal solution, but as a supporting mechanism that must be applied judiciously and adapted to context and place.

Participants will develop three core skills:
1.Identifying when partnering principles are likely to be helpful and when they are unlikely to add value or may even create risk.
2.Understanding and applying practical processes for establishing partnering principles, including who should be involved, how principles can be co-created, and how they can be revisited over time.
3. Using principles to navigate tension, power dynamics and ethical dilemmas as they arise during the evaluation lifecycle.

The session is designed as an interactive workshop. Participants will work in small groups to explore short evaluation scenarios, test whether principles-based partnering is appropriate, and practice establishing and applying principles in context. This will be followed by whole group discussion to surface lessons and challenges.
Participants will leave with a clear, adaptable approach for deciding when and how to establish and use partnering principles. The session is suited to foundational and intermediate evaluators seeking hands on skills grounded in real world practice.

Speakers

Dana Cross

Associate Director, Grosvenor Public Sector Advisory

Dana is a public sector expert, possessing over 17 years of deep experience advising government organisations on program evaluation, organisational review, service optimisation and performance management. She is a member of Grosvenor’s Executive Leadership Team as Head of Strategy... Read More →

Wednesday September 16, 2026 2:30pm - 3:30pm ACST
Rooms 1+2 Stokes Hill Rd, Darwin City NT, Australia

Ethics and integrity

Format Skill building
Audience Level Foundational, Intermediate
Industry Community and social services, Environment and climate change, Health and disability, Natural resources and energy, Public administration and safety
ID 118

2:30pm ACST

Beyond Symbolic Inclusion - Building a Collective Mandate for Indigenous-Led Understanding Measurement Evaluation & Learning (UMEL)

Wednesday September 16, 2026 2:30pm - 3:30pm ACST

Hall 2

Author: Liz Wren (Gilibanga)

Overview: For too long, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander practitioners have navigated a ‘middle space’—a complex intersection where Cultural obligations to Community and Country often collide with the rigid, competitive structures of Western bureaucracy. This session, presented by Gilibanga, synthesises critical insights from the Gilibanga Blak Think Tank based on the original work of the First Nations UMEL Peer Learning Circles, a national initiative conducted between 2025 and 2026 as part of a collaboration between Kowa and the Social Enterprise Development Initiative (SEDI).
The Collective Mandate: Moving beyond deficit-based ‘capacity building,’ this session articulates a Collective Mandate for the evaluation sector. We challenge the industry to shift from a model of individual scarcity to one of communal abundance. Drawing on the "U" in UMEL—Understanding—we prioritise early investment in relationships, local context, and Community aspirations as the foundational bedrock of all evaluative work.
Key Themes for Discussion: Participants will engage with four transformative thematic areas identified by the First Nations evaluation community:
• Structural Reformation: Moving from competitive procurement models that force "Mob to compete" toward collaborative contracting and ecosystem thinking.
• Dual Accountability: Acknowledging the emotional and professional labour required to hold ‘Two-Worlds’ practice, balancing contractual obligations with Cultural integrity.
• Broadening the Definition of "Evaluator": Validating place-based, relational, and lived expertise that exists outside traditional Western academic credentials.
• Material Decolonisation: Shifting from symbolic language to the practical transformation of contracts, reporting templates, and the active upholding of Indigenous Data Sovereignty.

Speakers

Liz Wren

Wednesday September 16, 2026 2:30pm - 3:30pm ACST
Hall 2

Traditional and new ways

Format Big room
Audience Level Foundational
Industry Public administration and safety, Community and social services, Not for profit Philanthropy
ID 328

4:00pm ACST

Strategy evaluation. Does it have to be this hard?

Wednesday September 16, 2026 4:00pm - 4:30pm ACST

Rooms 3+4

Authors: David Stuart (Creative Australia)
Strategies are everywhere involving all sorts of topics and all kinds of goals, actions and stakeholders. Strategy defines important goals and outlines how an organisation's activities will meet those goals. You would think that strategy and evaluation were great friends. But why is strategy evaluation so low profile in evaluation literature, and so hard to pull off? This paper reflects on several attempts at strategy-based evaluation and the lessons for fruitful strategy evaluation including the role for evaluators and evaluation in supporting strong strategy design and success.

Speakers

David Stuart

Director Evaluation And Impact Measurement, Creative Australia

Wednesday September 16, 2026 4:00pm - 4:30pm ACST
Rooms 3+4 Stokes Hill Rd, Darwin City NT, Australia

Traditional and new ways

Format Short paper
Audience Level Intermediate, Advanced
Industry Arts and recreation services, Public administration and safety
ID 166

4:30pm ACST

Professional isolation in evaluation: AES members’ experiences, and ways to strengthen peer connection and community

Wednesday September 16, 2026 4:30pm - 5:30pm ACST

Hall 2

Authors: Martina Donkers, Julie Elliott

Professional isolation is an experience that, ironically, many evaluators share. As evaluators, we often find ourselves in a team of one – the only evaluator in the room, the only evaluator at the organisation, one bringing an evaluative lens to the problem. This can be hard. It can feel like people are turning to us for more answers than we have, or expecting something unrealistic. Sometimes we find ourselves feeling isolated due to our culture, our methodological approach or our disciplinary background.
There are structural ways isolation shows up – evaluators who work remotely in regional areas, evaluators who are self-employed, evaluators who balance their role with kids and family responsibilities. These experiences can leave us feeling like an outsider, with no one to test ideas, no one to help when the going gets rough, and no one to help grow our capabilities.
This panel session will explore AES members’ experiences of professional isolation, and what has worked (and not worked!) to help them combat it. We’ll present anonymised experiences from AES members about professional isolation to show attendees they aren’t alone.
We’ll then hear from 3 panellists at different stages of their professional journey, and what they’ve done to address professional isolation they’ve felt as evaluators. Finally, we’ll open the floor to questions – how can we feel more connected in our work? – and explore a range of ways that we can combat professional isolation in our field. This panel is presented by the AES Peer Group Mentoring Program Working Group, and considers how the program helps strengthen connection to peers. It also extends thinking beyond AES initiatives, and considers other ways that evaluators can combat professional isolation in a disconnected world. If you’ve ever felt lonely as an evaluator, this session is for you.

Speakers

Martina Donkers

Wednesday September 16, 2026 4:30pm - 5:30pm ACST
Hall 2

Boundaries and bridges

Format Panel
Audience Level Intermediate
Industry Public administration and safety, Community and social services, Education and training, Not for profit Philanthropy, Health and disability
ID 311

11:30am ACST

Case studies – an overlooked technique in evaluation?

Thursday September 17, 2026 11:30am - 12:00pm ACST

Waterfront 2

Authors: Alan Woodward, Alan Woodward Consulting, Leanne Kelly, Alfred Deakin Institute, Deakin University
Evaluations of community-based and place-based programs regularly require methods capable of examining context, relationships, and emergent outcomes. While case studies are a long-standing qualitative research approach, they are often under-utilized or misunderstood within evaluation practice. Drawing on the evaluation of Australian Red Cross’ Community Resilience Teams as an applied example, the presentation demonstrates how case study design enabled exploration of contextual dynamics, stakeholder perspectives, and underlying mechanisms that would not have been visible through survey or indicator-driven approaches alone. Participants will be offered practical guidance on when case studies are suitable and considerations for conducting case study activities.

Speakers

Alan Woodward

Principal, Alan Woodward Consulting

My evaluation experience is broad, ranging from the conduct of evaluations of programs and services, the commissioning of evaluations, the engagement of communities on evaluation activities, the design of evaluation strategies and capacity building within organisations. I work in... Read More →

Thursday September 17, 2026 11:30am - 12:00pm ACST
Waterfront 2 Stokes Hill Rd, Darwin City NT, Australia

Traditional and new ways

Format Short paper
Audience Level Advanced, Intermediate
Industry Community and social services, Public administration and safety, International development, Health and disability, Not for profit Philanthropy
ID 57

11:30am ACST

Ubuntu in Evaluation Practice: Bridging Traditional African Ways of Knowing with Contemporary Program Evaluation

Thursday September 17, 2026 11:30am - 12:00pm ACST

Waterfront 1

Author: Gerald Onsando, Ubuntu Impact Consulting

This short paper presents an Ubuntu-informed evaluation of the Black Rhinos Basketball Program, a grassroots community crime prevention initiative supporting young African Australians in metropolitan Melbourne. The topic centres on how traditional African ways of knowing, being, and valuing – specifically the African philosophy of Ubuntu – can be meaningfully integrated into contemporary evaluation practice to enhance cultural responsiveness, ethical engagement, and practical relevance in Australia.

The objective of the presentation is to demonstrate how Ubuntu philosophy, often articulated by the maxim “I am because we are”, was operationalised as both a conceptual and methodological foundation for evaluation, and why this culturally responsive approach matters in contexts where communities experience marginalisation and overrepresentation in justice systems. The importance of the topic lies in addressing persistent gaps in evaluation practice where dominant Western frameworks may inadequately capture relational, collective, and community-defined notions of value and impact.

The core argument is that Ubuntu offers a robust bridge between traditional and emerging evaluation approaches. Three key messages will be shared: first, how Ubuntu reframes evaluation purpose from individual outcomes to relational and collective wellbeing; second, how an Ubuntu transformative methodology supports culturally responsive design, data collection, and interpretation; and third, how the Ubuntu framework of support enables evaluators to assess social impact beyond conventional value-for-money metrics, including family connectedness, community engagement, and participation in society.

The presentation will be structured as a short paper, combining conceptual explanation with applied examples from the evaluation’s process and outcomes findings. To promote interactivity and engagement, the audience will be invited to reflect on their own evaluation contexts through guided prompts, considering when and how traditional philosophies like Ubuntu could reshape their evaluation designs and judgments of value.

Speakers

Gerald Onsando

Principal Consultant, Ubuntu Impact Consulting

Dr Gerald Onsando is a Queensland-based evaluation specialist and Principal Consultant at Ubuntu Impact Consulting, a practice grounded in the African relational philosophy of Ubuntu; “I am because we are”. Dr Onsando brings extensive experience across government, community, and... Read More →

Thursday September 17, 2026 11:30am - 12:00pm ACST
Waterfront 1 Stokes Hill Rd, Darwin City NT, Australia

Traditional and new ways

Format Short paper
Audience Level Foundational, Intermediate
Industry Public administration and safety, Not for profit Philanthropy
ID 252

11:30am ACST

When the story turns against the evidence: Navigating media scrutiny as evaluators

Thursday September 17, 2026 11:30am - 12:30pm ACST

Rooms 3+4

Authors: Stephanie Carter (Healthconsult), Megan Anderson (Healthconsult), Felicity Miles (Healthconsult)

Evaluation findings do not exist in a vacuum. Evaluators increasingly operate in environments where public and media narratives form alongside, and sometimes ahead of, emerging evidence. In some cases, this scrutiny is heightened even when programs are demonstrating early signs of effectiveness.
This roundtable explores ethical, practical, and relational challenges evaluators face when evaluation findings are still emerging yet are already subject to public scrutiny, interpretation or debate.
This session will draw on real-world examples where early media attention was significant but subsided following the public release of independent evaluation findings, highlighting the role of timing, transparency and credibility in shaping public discourse.
Evaluators operate within complex social, cultural and political “places,” where narratives influence how evidence is understood and trusted. These dynamics are particularly relevant in place-based contexts, where community expectations and local perspectives shape interpretation and use of findings.
Participants will consider questions such as:
• What is the evaluator’s role when media scrutiny oversimplifies findings?
• How do we uphold principles of integrity and independence when public narratives are misaligned with evidence that is still being assessed?
• What strategies help evaluators support clients and communities when media attention becomes a risk?
• How can we strengthen transparent communication without breaching confidentiality or compromising methodological rigour?
The session will be highly interactive, and use structured facilitated reflection to encourage participants to share experiences, unpack dilemmas, and co-develop strategies.
This roundtable will generate practical principles and strategies through:
• Provocation scenarios based on real evaluation–media tensions to spark discussion.
• Small‑group discussion rounds where participants unpack dilemmas, share experiences, and co‑develop strategies.
• Collective synthesis where groups contribute key principles, strategies, and questions to a shared summary.

Speakers

Stephanie Carter

Healthconsult

Megan Anderson

Healthconsult

Felicity Miles

Healthconsult

Thursday September 17, 2026 11:30am - 12:30pm ACST
Rooms 3+4 Stokes Hill Rd, Darwin City NT, Australia

Ethics and integrity

Format Round table
Audience Level Foundational, Intermediate
Industry Not for profit Philanthropy, Health and disability, Public administration and safety, Community and social services
ID 244

11:30am ACST

Walking in Two Worlds: evaluating First Nations programs in the public sector

Thursday September 17, 2026 11:30am - 12:30pm ACST

Hall 2

Authors: Anna Rasalingam (Attorney-General’s Department), Daniel Maher (Attorney-General’s Department)
This presentation will demonstrate an example of an internal government evaluation team working with First Nations communities in both traditional and new ways.
It will cover the experience of a First Nations-led evaluation team evaluating a Federal Government program, actively overlaying culturally appropriate evaluation methods as they come up against historic government policies and commissioning practices. It will highlight these systemic barriers, our efforts to navigate these barriers to ensure First Nations voices are not only included but central.
From our experiences at the last AES conference, there was a re-occurring theme from fellow evaluators on working with First Nations communities with integrity. This presentation will provide an example of working with and centring First Nations voices.
Utilising the theme of “Walking in Two Worlds”, the presentation will explore dichotomies of traditional and new ways of evaluation within the public sector. Key points will include:

Historical colonial barriers of commissioning, designing and implementing evaluations impacting First Nations peoples.
Challenges of designing culturally responsive evaluations within this colonial paradigm.
Centring First Nations voices, lived experiences, wisdom and perspectives.

The Big Room format would provide flexibility to facilitate culturally appropriate engagement and discussion, including impactful multi-media presentation and in-person discussions.
The presentation will include multiple perspectives of ACCOs engaged in the evaluation as well as the evaluation team.
The presentation will engage participants through inviting shared experiences tackling these barriers and challenges in their work.

Speakers

Anna Rasalingam

Daniel Maher

Thursday September 17, 2026 11:30am - 12:30pm ACST
Hall 2

Traditional and new ways

Format Big room
Audience Level Intermediate, Advanced
Industry Health and disability, Community and social services, Public administration and safety, Education and training
ID 306

12:00pm ACST

Evaluating ‘value for the public’: Public value as a framework for assessing impact

Thursday September 17, 2026 12:00pm - 12:30pm ACST

Waterfront 3

Authors: Danielle Thornton, The Social Research Centre, Stephen Cuttriss, The Social Research Centre
The concept of value is at the heart of evaluation, yet conventional approaches to assessing value tend to focus on effectiveness, utility or efficiency as defined by commissioning agencies and governments. Realist approaches can help push back against the insistence that programs meet narrowly conceived outcome metrics or return on investment but may still fail to capture the range of social benefits generated. The invisibility of these forms of value to policymakers and economists can lead to perverse outcomes: to the recommissioning of ‘effective’ programs of little obvious benefit to participants or the broader community, and the defunding of initiatives that may meet community needs but not policy agendas.

This disconnection, between the types of programs communities want and need, and the programs that get commissioned, feeds into cynicism and distrust of the political class and government as a whole, and left unchecked, risks weakening the social contract on which democratic governance rests.

In this context the concept of public value, that is the social value generated by governments when they act in the public interest, offers an alternative framework grounded in democratic values. Whether as a practical means of accounting for value where impact cannot be quantified, or as a form of evaluative practice which centres the lived experience of citizens, public value asks that we assess programs not only on the terms set by governments, but also the extent to which they contribute to our collective wellbeing.

Drawing on lessons from an evaluation of a program designed to promote respectful sexual relationships among young people, this paper explores the applicability of public value as a framework for accounting for a wider range of social impacts and a method for making an assessment not of ‘value for money’, but the benefits generated for and on behalf of the public.

Speakers

Danielle Thornton

Senior Research Consultant, The Social Research Centre

Stephen Cuttriss

Research Director, The Social Research Centre

Thursday September 17, 2026 12:00pm - 12:30pm ACST
Waterfront 3 Stokes Hill Rd, Darwin City NT, Australia

Roots and routes

Format Short paper
Audience Level Intermediate, Advanced
Industry Public administration and safety, Community and social services
ID 318

1:30pm ACST

From Panic to Practice: Putting AI to Work in Evaluation

Thursday September 17, 2026 1:30pm - 2:00pm ACST

Rooms 1+2

Author: Dorothea Huber
Lessons management in emergency management typically relies on mixed method approaches, with qualitative analysis carrying much of the analytical burden. Evaluators are increasingly expected to synthesise large volumes of unstructured material under tight timeframes, often in resource constrained public sector environments. Against this backdrop, artificial intelligence is alternately framed as a threat to professional judgement or as a solution to chronic capacity pressures. This paper argues that both framings are unhelpful.

Rather than replacing evaluative expertise, this presentation positions AI as a methodological assistant that can undertake defined, low risk tasks while leaving interpretation, sense making and ethical judgement firmly with the evaluator. Using real world examples drawn from emergency management lessons processes, the paper explores where AI has demonstrated practical value across the evaluation lifecycle. These include rapid document triage, support for qualitative coding within pre specified frameworks, identification of recurring themes and contradictions, synthesis of lessons learned, and surfacing gaps that may be missed under time pressure.

The paper also addresses common methodological and governance concerns, including transparency, bias, over reliance on fluent outputs, and the risk of mistaking confidence for insight. It outlines practical strategies for supervised AI use that protect rigour, credibility and accountability, particularly in settings where evaluative findings must withstand scrutiny and inform high stakes decisions.

Structured as a short paper, the presentation will focus on three key messages: where AI adds genuine value; where it should not be used; and how evaluators can establish clear boundaries for its application. Audience interaction will be built in through targeted questions and discussion, inviting participants to share their own experiences of using—or choosing not to use—AI in evaluation practice. The presentation reframes the central question from whether AI is the enemy, to how evaluators can use it well.

Speakers

Dorothea Huber

Amsa

Thursday September 17, 2026 1:30pm - 2:00pm ACST
Rooms 1+2 Stokes Hill Rd, Darwin City NT, Australia

Roots and routes

Format Short paper
Audience Level Foundational, Intermediate
Industry Public administration and safety
ID 292

3:30pm ACST

From insight to action: A pragmatic, participatory approach to improving cancer clinical trial systems

Thursday September 17, 2026 3:30pm - 4:00pm ACST

Waterfront 3

Author: Cally Jennings, Commission On Excellence And Innovation In Health
Change in complex systems rarely fails because of a lack of ideas. It fails because people do not share a common understanding of what needs to change, or why. This presentation describes a pragmatic, participatory process used to develop shared priorities for improving cancer clinical trial start‑up across South Australia.

In 2025, the South Australian Comprehensive Cancer Network, working with the Commission on Excellence and Innovation in Health, led a statewide review of ethics and governance processes for cancer clinical trials across public, private, and regional providers. The aim was to develop a shared understanding of how the system operates in practice and to identify agreed priorities for improvement.

A mixed qualitative approach, which included structured interviews, sponsor surveys, comparative system mapping and facilitated workshops, was used. These methods were selected to identify variation across sites, highlight common bottlenecks, and draw on interstate and international examples to explore what good could look like. The findings were synthesised into a concise set of system‑level insights and tested through collaborative workshops to identify a small number of priorities that formed the foundation of a broader reform program.

The presentation will share three lessons:
1.How participatory process methods can build shared understanding and readiness for change.
2.How participatory approaches can promote ownership but also reveal the limits of readiness for change.
3.Why even well designed, collaborative processes must demonstrate early wins to build and maintain trust.

Designed for a foundational to intermediate audience, the session will invite participants to reflect on balancing rigour with pragmatism, including exploring how early evidence and shared insight can move complex systems from talking about change to taking the first steps.

Speakers

Cally Jennings

Strategic Lead - Research Translation And Impact, Commission On Excellence And Innovation In Health

Thursday September 17, 2026 3:30pm - 4:00pm ACST
Waterfront 3 Stokes Hill Rd, Darwin City NT, Australia

Boundaries and bridges

Format Short paper
Audience Level Foundational, Intermediate
Industry Health and disability, Public administration and safety
ID 187

3:30pm ACST

Is the value of evaluation hiding in the shadows?

Thursday September 17, 2026 3:30pm - 4:00pm ACST

Rooms 3+4

Authors: Robert Grimshaw (Australian Taxation Office), Megan Lugg (Australian Taxation Office)

As evaluation practitioners in a large government agency, we recognise the value of learning and insights created by applying evaluation thinking, tools and techniques at all stages of the policy or program life cycle. We’re less practiced however in naming and demonstrating to decision-makers and other diverse stakeholders the value created from applying evaluation thinking and practices long before a final evaluative judgment is made and reported.

In this presentation we will share practical examples of how evaluation strengthens the design of new programs early in their development and causes reflection on the appropriateness of established, long-standing programs.

We will use a case study related to the ATO shadow economy program to share experiences and reflections of observed value created for program management and decision making by applying evaluation thinking and practices early in and throughout the program cycle – leading to a stronger evidence base and improved policy response. This provides a practical demonstration of Gullickson’s (2020) discussion of how defining evaluation to include activities that ‘fully describe’ the evaluand allows space for us to ‘explain…how what we have done…fits into the general process of evaluation.’

We will also share reflections from a recent evaluation of our own Evaluation Hub activities that provide valuable insights and lessons for collaborating with and developing the evaluation capability of people from diverse roles and disciplines. This includes findings about commonly used evaluation capacity building approaches including leading a community of practice, delivering learning events and resources, and providing expert advice and support.

Our observations are positioned within the context of how we anticipate continued steady progress over time. As McDonald, Rogers and Kefford (2003) recommend, it’s important to both allow sufficient time to build evaluation capacity, and ‘to quickly and repeatedly get ‘points on the board’, to be seen as…of some use immediately’.

Speakers

Megan Lugg

Director, Evaluation and Performance Measurement, Australian Taxation Office

Robert Grimshaw

Evaluation Manager, ATO

Robert works in the Australian Taxation Office Evaluation Hub, helping business areas to build their evaluation culture, capacity and practice. This includes providing advice and support for using fit-for-purpose evaluation to inform evidence-based policy and program delivery, and... Read More →

Thursday September 17, 2026 3:30pm - 4:00pm ACST
Rooms 3+4 Stokes Hill Rd, Darwin City NT, Australia

Boundaries and bridges

Format Short paper
Audience Level Intermediate
Industry Public administration and safety
ID 161

3:30pm ACST

Culturally Governed Evaluation: Reframing First Nations Engagement from Consultation and Co-design to Governance

Thursday September 17, 2026 3:30pm - 4:00pm ACST

Hall 2

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.

Speakers

Sarah Jane Springer

Springer Health Consultants

Catherine Boekel

Thursday September 17, 2026 3:30pm - 4:00pm ACST
Hall 2

Ethics and integrity

Format Short paper
Audience Level Foundational, Intermediate
Industry Health and disability, Public administration and safety, Community and social services, Education and training
ID 228

3:30pm ACST

Uncertain impacts, real decisions: measuring and communicating causal uncertainty in quantitative evaluations

Thursday September 17, 2026 3:30pm - 4:00pm ACST

Waterfront 1

Author: Dimitria Gavalyugova, NSW Department of Education
Evaluators face a core dilemma: decision-makers typically expect a definitive measure of program impact, yet the designs capable of delivering one are rarely feasible for large-scale government programs. Quasi-experimental methods and administrative data are often the only tools available to quantify long-term outcomes, but the assumptions needed to establish causal impact cannot always be met – or tested – with available data. This mismatch has driven evaluations into a sub-optimal equilibrium where uncertainty is understated, even though addressing it could lead to better-informed decisions. This presentation explores how to reconcile the need for reporting actionable findings with what the evidence can support.

The session draws on systematic analysis of the 22 combined outcome and economic evaluations published in the NSW Treasury library. By mapping the confidence of causal language attributing outcomes to programs across report sections, the analysis identifies a persistent "within-document gap." In many cases, findings are treated as causal in executive summaries and recommendations, even when underlying methodologies note that they should be interpreted with caution. Scoring each estimation strategy against a risk-of-bias framework reveals observable misalignment between evaluations’ methodological constraints and the confidence of causal claims.

When causality is uncertain, the program effect that gets monetised in economic evaluations contains the true impact plus some degree of bias. Existing guidance addresses uncertainty around monetary parameters and discount rates, but not around estimated program impacts. In the absence of such guidance, the evidence shows that potentially biased estimates routinely enter cost-benefit analyses as true effects. Using an anonymised real-world example, the presentation demonstrates how even small levels of bias can alter benefit-cost ratios and funding recommendations.

The session invites participants to collectively explore practical solutions across four areas: leveraging available methods and data to strengthen evidence, turning limitations into guidance for future evaluation design, communicating uncertainty effectively, and modelling uncertain impacts within economic analyses.

Speakers

Dimitria Gavalyugova

Senior Research and Evaluation Officer, NSW Department of Education

Thursday September 17, 2026 3:30pm - 4:00pm ACST
Waterfront 1 Stokes Hill Rd, Darwin City NT, Australia

Traditional and new ways

Format Short paper
Audience Level Intermediate, Advanced
Industry Education and training, Health and disability, Economic development tourism and infrastructure, Community and social services, Public administration and safety
ID 323

3:30pm ACST

Finding your space - the psychological, organisational and political dynamics of being a resilient evaluator

Thursday September 17, 2026 3:30pm - 4:30pm ACST

Waterfront 2

Authors: John Stoney, DSS, Kim Grey, AES President, Ruth Nicholls, Australian Centre for Evaluation, Samantha Mayes, Systems, Planning and Analysis Australia
The idea of keeping going in the face of obstacles is a recurring cultural theme: Nelson Mandela asked us not to judge him by his successes, but by how often he fell down and got back up again. Wise evaluator Eleanor Chelimsky told us that evaluators need to understand our context to win allies and collaborate.

The panel aims to support practitioners to identify, understand and navigate challenges from ethical, good practice and self-care perspectives.

The panel draws on many sources - our favourite proverbs and inspiring leaders - as well as psychology, philosophy and the evaluation literature.

The beneficial effects of identity and belonging will be unpacked, along with how each of us can nurture these powerful drivers of self-care through engaging with evaluation as a profession. This draws on social identity theory and the evidence for the ‘social cure’, which suggests that social groups and a sense of community may be as beneficial as regular exercise - promoting adjustment, coping and well-being.

What do evaluators think supports their resilience? Research into evaluator resilience identifies features of individual and institutional dimensions that support adaptability, including soft skills, relationships, communication skills, flexibility, and professional confidence to refer to codes of ethics, plus organisational mechanisms for discussing rigour and integrity with stakeholders, managers or commissioners, normalising ethical practice.

We’ll also explore the contexts in which we often practice - the barriers, set-backs or cycles, in the dynamic world that evaluation is part of, including the drivers of expansion and contraction in evaluation activity, variation across levels of change (global, national, organisational or people driven), and the dynamic interacting forces that drive cycles to flow at varying or contradictory pace. This can have implications for us as practitioners, requiring adaptability, resilience and self-care, but can also affect the evaluation discipline and profession.

Speakers

Kim Grey

President, Australian Evaluation Society

Ruth Nicholls

Director - Evaluation Leadership, Policy and Capability, Australian Centre for Evaluation

I live and work on Ngunnawal Country. I’ve worked in research and evaluation roles for over 20 years, mainly within government across of range of social policy including health, disability, community development, and First Nations contexts. In my current role with the Australian... Read More →

Samantha Mayes

Lead - Evaluation and Review, Systems, Planning and Analysis Australia

Social policy evaluation

John Stoney

Assistant Director, DSS

I’m an Assistant Director in the Evaluation Hub in the Department of Social Services. With my team mates I provide technical advice and support on evaluation to policy and program colleagues across the department. I also help deliver the Evaluation Readiness Service (ERS) which... Read More →

Thursday September 17, 2026 3:30pm - 4:30pm ACST
Waterfront 2 Stokes Hill Rd, Darwin City NT, Australia

Boundaries and bridges

Format Long paper
Audience Level Foundational, Intermediate
Industry Environment and climate change, Health and disability, Public administration and safety
ID 192

10:30am ACST

How to evaluate a company

Friday September 18, 2026 10:30am - 11:00am ACST

Waterfront 2

Author: Gerard Atkinson, Iris Ethics
Evaluation is typically applied to discrete policies and programs, yet organisations themselves require systematic assessment of whether they achieve their goals and align with their values. This presentation examines how evaluation practice can be adapted to assess an entire company, drawing on a case study from Iris Ethics where we designed and implemented an integrated company-level evaluation plan.

The objective is to demonstrate how evaluative thinking can bridge the fragmented approaches currently dominating corporate contexts. Here strategy evaluation focuses on financial/operational objectives, ESG operates as carved-out compliance, and program evaluation remains siloed. This matters because organisations exist within interconnected systems: programs, profitability, and stakeholder value cannot genuinely be disentangled, yet corporate evaluation practice rarely addresses them holistically.

The presentation makes three core arguments. First, whole-of-company evaluation requires integrated thinking across traditionally separate domains: financial performance, operational delivery, social impact, and stakeholder value, grounded in evaluation's systematic logic whilst incorporating corporate strategy, ESG frameworks, market research methodologies, and economic value-for-investment thinking. Second, evaluability must be embedded from the start: mission and vision statements developed with explicit monitoring and evaluation capability, avoiding vague aspirations that cannot be assessed. Third, evaluation must be integrated into operational platforms rather than existing as separate reporting exercises, making assessment continuous rather than episodic.

The presentation follows a case study structure using a start-up example: establishing why whole-of-company evaluation matters, presenting the step-by-step framework (including whole-of-company logic models), demonstrating how evaluation integrates with strategy, governance, financial management, and competitive positioning, and identifying transferable lessons. Building on methodologies developed for NFP and government sectors but adapted to incorporate profitability and commercial risk, it demonstrates evaluation's applicability beyond traditional boundaries.

It will comprise a structured Q&A and discussion on barriers to integrated company evaluation, and invites participants to identify how the profession can engage with this frontier of practice.

Speakers

Gerard Atkinson

Managing Director, Iris Ethics

Gerard Atkinson is Managing Director and founder of Iris Ethics, Australia's first on-demand Human Research Ethics Committee serving the social research, market research, and evaluation sectors. He started his international career in market research and evaluation in 2001, learning... Read More →

Friday September 18, 2026 10:30am - 11:00am ACST
Waterfront 2 Stokes Hill Rd, Darwin City NT, Australia

Boundaries and bridges

Format Short paper
Audience Level Intermediate, Advanced
Industry Public administration and safety, Community and social services, Economic development tourism and infrastructure
ID 24

10:30am ACST

Who defines a ‘professional’ evaluator? Roots and routes across government reform and the evaluation field

Friday September 18, 2026 10:30am - 11:30am ACST

Hall 2

Authors: Ruth Nicholls, Treasury. Eleanor Williams, ACE, Tony Kiessler, Australian Indigenous Psychology, Liz Wren, Kowa, Jade Maloney, ARTD, Nigel McPaul, Dementia Org
In an era of public sector reform, the evaluation profession is being reshaped from multiple directions. In Australia, this is occurring through two intersecting pathways: the Australian Public Service (APS) Evaluation Profession, established as part of broader APS Reform; and the ongoing question of professionalisation within the Australian Evaluation Society (AES) and the evaluation field more broadly. This panel explores how these two “routes” to professionalism interact, reinforce and sometimes challenge one another. The discussion asks how evaluation can remain grounded in its core professional principles of rigour, ethics, cultural responsiveness and learning; while adapting to new institutional expectations, roles and accountabilities.

Using the APS Evaluation Profession Strategy as a starting point, panellists will reflect on how professionalism is being articulated, operationalised and experienced within government. They will consider what it means to professionalise evaluation inside a public service context shaped by reform agendas, capability frameworks and system stewardship.

At the same time, the panel will widen the lens to examine how professionalism has traditionally been understood within the AES: through standards, competencies, peer accountability and professional identity. We will explore what this means for First Nations Evaluators.

Rather than assuming these perspectives naturally align, the panel will surface key tensions and questions. Who defines what “good” or “professional” evaluation looks like? How do institutional reform agendas interact with professional norms developed within the evaluation community? What happens when professional judgement, independence or methodological standards are tested by political urgency, contested evidence or strong beliefs? And how do unconscious biases and assumptions shape whose knowledge is valued and whose evidence is trusted? What might be lost with professionalisation - in particular diversification of evaluators and building evaluative thinking into all types of roles - and how we might avoid this.

Speakers

Jade Maloney

CEO, ARTD

I work with government agencies, not-for-profits and citizens to co-design, refine, communicate and evaluate social policies, regulatory systems and programs. I am passionate about ensuring citizens have a voice in shaping the policies that affect their lives, translating research... Read More →

Eleanor Williams

Managing Director, ACE

Eleanor Williams is the Managing Director of the Australian Centre for Evaluation and established the Australian Public Sector Evaluation Network in 2019. She is a former AES Board member and chairs the OECD's Public Policy Evaluation Experts group.

Eleanor is currently undertaking PhD research on evidence use in fast-paced policy contexts with supervisors at the University of Queensland and University College London and has a particular interest in rapid evaluation methods... Read More →

Liz Wren

Ruth Nicholls

Director, Treasury

Tony Kiessler

CEO, Australian Indigenous Psychology

Nigel McPaul

Dementia

Friday September 18, 2026 10:30am - 11:30am ACST
Hall 2

Roots and routes

Format Big room
Audience Level Intermediate
Industry Economic development tourism and infrastructure, Public administration and safety
ID 219

11:30am ACST

What’s your problem? Navigating the impact of problematisation on evaluation

Friday September 18, 2026 11:30am - 12:30pm ACST

Rooms 3+4

Author: Liesl Harrold, Australian Taxation Office
Problematisation is a deliberate process of dismantling a problem to understand the different ways of thinking that lead to the classification of phenomena as a problem. It goes beyond the construction of problem statements to focus on the effort required to understand historical and theoretical assumptions underpinning its framing. Problematisation is a way to test assumptions, generate new ideas, and make new connections to theoretical understandings. In evaluation, it has the potential to provide rigour to practices associated with judging through structuring evaluative thinking.

Using a skill building format, this paper will help participants understand the role of problems in evaluation. The format will follow an explain-model-apply in a group teaching format including practical application of selected trans-disciplinary theories and approaches. It will include a brief overview of:

•Problem logics and how they can be constructed
•Problem representation and the genealogy of problems
•Key theories that can support evaluators to think differently e.g. social identity and psychological safety theoretical frameworks.

Problematisation provides a systematic approach that offers evaluators support to think differently, rather than using existing knowledge to validate existing thoughts. Evaluators’ worldviews and skills influence their competence which may manifest in generalisations of the problem.

Problem-solving is a role in evaluation, as it supports the purpose of interventions in directing social change. They are primarily considered in the needs analysis phase of an evaluation to anchor program logics. However, this foundation has implications for intervention design, defining outcomes and establishing criteria of merit. Monitoring frameworks, particularly when using sentinel indicators, are also influenced by problem framing and assumptions.
Indigenous and transformative approaches, where the rectification of historical power imbalances is essential, would find this particularly relevant. Problematisation can prepare participants for truth-telling, a step in reconciling intergenerational trauma and stopping systemic violence (Payne & Norman, 2025).

Speakers

Liesl Harrold

Assistant Director, Small Business Evaluation Hub, Australian Taxation Office

Liesl works in the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), helping business areas build their evaluation culture, capacity and practice. With over 20 years of evaluation experience, Liesl has also worked for Queensland Treasury and Trade where she assisted government agencies, community... Read More →

Friday September 18, 2026 11:30am - 12:30pm ACST
Rooms 3+4 Stokes Hill Rd, Darwin City NT, Australia

Boundaries and bridges

Format Skill building
Audience Level Foundational, Intermediate
Industry Economic development tourism and infrastructure, Education and training, Public administration and safety, Community and social services, Not for profit Philanthropy
ID 128

11:30am ACST

Across the aisle: building practical skills for navigating ethical pressures in evaluation commissioning

Friday September 18, 2026 11:30am - 12:30pm ACST

Rooms 1+2

Authors: Su-Ann Drew, Grosvenor, Jo van Twest Farmer, Rooftop Social, Eleanor Williams, ACE, Emma Williams, Martina Donkers
Ethical pressures arise due to a range of conflicting incentives that for those who commission and deliver evaluations. Evaluators may try to maintain methodological rigour while meeting tight timeframes or limited budgets. Commissioners may need defensible evidence while navigating organisational expectations, political sensitivities or shifting priorities. These pressures are real and often lead to ethical tensions for all involved, without an agreed or shared language for discussion. This session creates space for attendees to discuss challenges openly, safely and constructively, helps participants recognise and make sense of pressures shaping commissioning decisions, and builds participants’ confidence in responding in ways that support both quality and working relationships.

Building on previous AES presentations on 'everyday ethics', we give participants tools to apply in real-world commissioning contexts by introducing a simple organising framework, the Evaluation Pressure System, which helps participants identify the mix of pressures influencing a situation and why tensions arise. The framework is a guide to support reflection and conversation rather than a technical model.

Using the framework, we will explore fictional but realistic scenarios that illustrate common pressure points in commissioning and evaluation delivery. Participants will be invited, through anonymous polling, to indicate the extent to which each scenario reflects situations they have encountered. Through in-room conversations, attendees will use the framework to examine what helps maintain integrity and constructive working relationships when pressures collide. The intention is not to analyse cases in depth, but to build a clearer shared understanding of tensions that arise and how they can be handled well.

To support ongoing application, attendees will receive a Trade‑off Log to clarify constraints and integrity risks, and practical communication strategies for raising concerns early and negotiating expectations. These will help participants recognise tensions earlier, discuss them more openly and navigate them in ways that support quality and collaboration.

Speakers

Su-Ann Drew

Senior Manager, Grosvenor

Emma Williams

Jo van Twest Farmer

Rooftop Social

Martina Donkers

Friday September 18, 2026 11:30am - 12:30pm ACST
Rooms 1+2 Stokes Hill Rd, Darwin City NT, Australia

Ethics and integrity

Format Skill building
Audience Level Foundational, Intermediate
Industry Community and social services, Public administration and safety, Not for profit Philanthropy
ID 179

11:30am ACST

Evaluation professionalisation: where to from here?

Friday September 18, 2026 11:30am - 12:30pm ACST

Hall 2

Authors: Eleanor Williams, ACE, Jade Maloney, ARTD, Jess Buchwald
Did you grow up wanting to be an evaluator? For most of us the answer is no, and there is value in the way we have all fallen into evaluation profession from diverse backgrounds.

But what does this mean for our career pathways and the way others think of evaluation and evaluators? What does it mean for evaluation as a profession?

As the leading voice for evaluation in Australian, the Australian Evaluation Society has long considered options for and pathways to professionalisation that strengthen our roots as a society, and develop the routes to a future in which evaluation profession is increasingly recognised and valued.

The 2024-2028 AES Strategic Plan firmly put considering pathways to professionalisation back on the agenda. A working group has since been exploring options for professionalisation, drawing on learnings from the review undertaking by Peersman and Rogers in 2017, consistent with the AES values, and informed by the experiences of other evaluation associations and other professionalisation associations in Australia.
Now it’s time to seek your views because professionalisation is for you, the Australian evaluation community.

Harnessing the success of the fishbowl approach to exploring quality evaluation that makes a difference at the 2025 conference, we are inviting everyone to jump in and share their thoughts about the value professionalisation would provide, and the risks to be managed to ensure the pathway are accessible, inclusive and respectful of diverse ways of knowing. The working group understands there are diverse views on professionalisation and invites these to be surfaced in this conversation.

The session will be facilitated by professionalisation working group co-chairs Eleanor Williams, Jade Maloney and Jess Buchwald with opportunities to contribute live or through written formats. The working group will use what you share in shaping the route forward.

And yes, there will again be chocolate fish rewards for contributors.

Just think: What would it look like if the next generation could grow up wanting to be an evaluator? What if when you became an evaluator you could see a clear pathway forward?

Speakers

Jade Maloney

CEO, ARTD

Eleanor Williams

Managing Director, ACE

Friday September 18, 2026 11:30am - 12:30pm ACST
Hall 2

Roots and routes

Format Round table
Audience Level Foundational, Intermediate
Industry Not for profit Philanthropy, Public administration and safety, International development
ID 243

11:30am ACST

Staying Grounded in Complexity: Designing an M&E System for Counter-Trafficking in Persons

Friday September 18, 2026 11:30am - 12:30pm ACST

Waterfront 1

Authors: Anne Stephens, Ethos of Engagement, Jill Thomas
This presentation explores the design of a systemic Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) system for counter-trafficking in persons (CTIP) in the ASEAN region. Developed in 2023, the system supports the adoption and implementation of three victim-centred and gender-sensitive guides for counter trafficking in persons, in use across ASEAN member states. The presentation focuses on how systemic, participatory approaches to evaluation design can enhance uptake of evaluation and the role of a well-designed framework to support the capacity of individuals to monitor and evaluate their work.

The objective of this presentation is to present the process used to develop a simple to use M&E system within a complex setting; show the public facing guidance documents and tools used to support novice and highly skilled evaluators to use the system; and describe our challenges and learnings.

This presentation offers a timely and practice-grounded contribution to the evaluation field by demonstrating how evaluators can design for relevance, capacity development and impact in complex, real-world settings. It provides actionable insights for practitioners seeking to strengthen the value and use of evaluation in increasingly uncertain and contested environments.

Speakers

Anne Stephens

Director, Ethos of Engagement

Anne is the Director and Co-Founder of Ethos of Engagement Consulting a global and women-led research and evaluation firm. We work in Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Central America, UK and USA. We use Inclusive Systemic Thinking to guide our methodology and approaches and diversity is... Read More →

Jill Thomas

Senior Consultant, J.A Thomas & Associates

Jill is an experienced evaluator and analyst, having worked in the health, higher education and finance sectors in major cities and far northern Queensland. Jill specialises in working with organisations to design and implement performance monitoring and evaluation frameworks, conduct... Read More →

Friday September 18, 2026 11:30am - 12:30pm ACST
Waterfront 1 Stokes Hill Rd, Darwin City NT, Australia

Roots and routes

Format Long paper
Audience Level Intermediate, Advanced
Industry Education and training, Public administration and safety, Health and disability, International development, Community and social services
ID 180

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