aes26 International Evaluation Conference: Full Schedule

Presenter and chair information page, resources for conference presenters, authors and session chairs.

9:00am ACST

Opening plenary: Welcome to Country followed by Robyn Ober "Being comfortable with discomfort"

Wednesday September 16, 2026 9:00am - 10:30am ACST

Welcome to Country: Kim Mulholland
Opening address: Kim Grey, President, Australian Evaluation Society

Being comfortable with discomfort
Robyn Ober, Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education, Lead Researcher and Educator

This keynote challenges evaluators and commissioners to get comfortable with discomfort, and to rethink what ethical, rigorous evaluation looks like when it happens on Country.

Responding to the aes26 theme Making Space, Valuing Place, Dr Robyn Ober draws on three decades of practice in Aboriginal communities to show how traditional knowledge systems and contemporary evaluation can work together.

Through vivid stories from remote and very remote contexts, the talk brings to life the tensions at the heart of evaluation practice: timelines versus relationships, control versus trust, and methodological neatness versus lived reality. At the centre is the Community Researcher Approach, where local people are co-researchers who shape the questions in collaboration with evaluators, lead conversations in language, and make meaning on their own terms.

The talk argues that ethics and integrity are enacted in how we show up, who holds authority, and whether participants’ voices are recognised, respected and valued so they feel safe to share their own truths. Integrity is also enacted when Aboriginal people can see that the purpose of evaluation is for the benefit of Aboriginal people. You’ll leave with practical ways to commission and conduct evaluation on Country to strengthen voice, evidence quality and impact.

Chair

John Guenther

Research Leader, Education and Training, Batchelor Institute

John Guenther is a senior researcher and evaluator with the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education, based in Darwin. Much of his work has been based in the field of education. He has worked extensively with community-based researchers in many remote parts of the Northern... Read More →

Speakers

Kim Mulholland

IvolveGen

Kim Mulholland is a proud Larrakia and Yanyuwa man and Founder of IvolveGen. His work sits at the intersection of Aboriginal Knowledge Systems, Social & Emotional Wellbeing (SEWB), trauma-informed practice, leadership, organisational development, ceremony and community healing. Over... Read More →

Robyn Ober

Lead Researcher and Educator, Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education

Robyn is a Mamu/Djirribal woman from Far North Queensland. She is a Lead Researcher and educator at Batchelor Institute and has extensive experience in the Northern Territory that spans three decades. She is well renowned for her expertise of both-ways pedagogy, working to combine... Read More →

Kim Grey

President, Australian Evaluation Society

Christabelle Darcy

Director, Evidence and Evaluation, NT Department of Treasury and Finance

I'm co-convenor of aes26, along with Alison Reedy. In my day job, I lead the Program Evaluation Unit within the Department of Treasury and Finance in the Northern Territory Government. We aim to help government achieve the best outcomes within the allocated budget and build an evidence-base... Read More →

Alison Reedy

Manager Evaluation, Northern Territory Government

I am an education and social science researcher and evaluator working in the Northern Territory Government. My recent work is in the evaluation of government programs, policy, strategy and legislation across the areas of housing, community development, arts and culture, local government... Read More →

Wednesday September 16, 2026 9:00am - 10:30am ACST
Hall 2

Plenary

Format Keynote address
Audience Level Advanced, Foundational, Intermediate

1:30pm ACST

Plenary: Lígia Teixeira "From evidence to impact: reclaiming evaluation as a means to an end"

Wednesday September 16, 2026 1:30pm - 2:30pm ACST

Hall 2

From evidence to impact: reclaiming evaluation as a means to an end
Lígia Teixeira, Founder and Chief Executive of the Centre for Homelessness Impact

Evaluation has never been more sophisticated, yet many challenges it seeks to address remain stubbornly persistent. Across sectors, we generate high-quality evidence, but too often struggle to translate it into meaningful, sustained impact. The risk is not just a lack of rigour, but a loss of connection to purpose: the way evaluation is used within systems can allow it to become an end in itself, rather than a means to improve lives.This keynote argues for renewed focus on evaluation as a discipline of impact. Drawing on international efforts to tackle homelessness, it explores how outcomes are shaped not by individual interventions alone, but by the systems in which they operate. Without a systems lens, even strong and diverse forms of evidence – quantitative, qualitative and lived - can lead to fragmented action, missing the broader dynamics that ultimately determine success.

The keynote reflects on how evaluation can better connect global insight with local context, enabling faster learning while respecting place-based realities. It also argues that effective systems prevent harm before it occurs, rather than responding once it is entrenched.

This is a call to re-centre evaluation on its core purpose: not just to understand the world, but to change it.

Chair

Eleanor Williams

Managing Director, Australian Centre for Evaluation

Eleanor Williams is the Managing Director of the Australian Centre for Evaluation in the Commonwealth Department of the Treasury. She has worked in a variety of senior executive roles in the Victorian and Australian Governments, and is a former board member of the Australian Evaluation... Read More →

Speakers

Lígia Teixeira

Founder and Chief Executive, Centre for Homelessness Impact

Dr Lígia Teixeira is the Founder and Chief Executive of the Centre for Homelessness Impact , part of the UK Government’s What Works Network. She works with governments and cities to rethink how homelessness is understood and addressed – using data, evidence, and experimentation... Read More →

Wednesday September 16, 2026 1:30pm - 2:30pm ACST
Hall 2

Plenary

Format Keynote address
Audience Level Advanced, Foundational, Intermediate

9:00am ACST

Plenary: Emmanuel Jimenez "Putting Money Where the Evidence Is: a perspective from international development"

Thursday September 17, 2026 9:00am - 10:00am ACST

Hall 2

Putting Money Where the Evidence Is: a perspective from international development
Emmanuel Jimenez, Director General, Independent Evaluation Department of the Asian Development Bank

As resources become increasingly constrained, organizations face growing pressure to make better decisions with limited funding. Evidence of what works is needed even more when resources are tight. In this environment, evaluation matters not simply because it generates knowledge, but because it helps organizations learn, adapt and improve as they optimize the allocations of their resources.

As richer countries reprioritize their spending due to economic pressures and geopolitical shifts, the downward trend in donors’ aid budgets may weaken the impetus for strengthening evaluation ecosystems – just when credible evidence is most needed to guide difficult choices.

Drawing on experiences from the Asian Development Bank, this plenary will reflect on the institutional opportunities and challenges for evaluation in a resource-constrained world. The questions are practical and pressing: how do we strike an appropriate balance between accountability and learning in generating credible evidence when incentives are not always well-aligned, when there are debates on the credibility of methods, and when there is uneven capacity to undertake evaluation? How do we ensure that evaluation findings, once generated, are communicated well and used effectively by decision-makers?

The lessons from answering these questions are relevant to governments, organizations and evaluators as the need for evidence is growing and the resources to produce and use it are under pressure.

Chair

Christabelle Darcy

Director, Evidence and Evaluation, NT Department of Treasury and Finance

Speakers

Emmanuel_Jimenez

Director General, Independent Evaluation Department of the Asian Development Bank

Being the Director General of the Independent Evaluation Department of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), I report to ADB’s Board of Directors, with responsibilities including assessing ADB’s development effectiveness, as well as providing lessons to inform ADB operations. Prior... Read More →

Thursday September 17, 2026 9:00am - 10:00am ACST
Hall 2

Plenary

Format Keynote address
Audience Level Advanced, Foundational, Intermediate

9:00am ACST

Plenary: Selwyn Button "Insight that Delivers: How Good Evaluation Shapes Better Policy and Practice", and handover to aes27

Friday September 18, 2026 9:00am - 10:00am ACST

Hall 2

Insight that Delivers: How Good Evaluation Shapes Better Policy and Practice
Selwyn Button, Commissioner, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Stream, Australian Productivity Commission

Good evaluation does more than measure outcomes or meet accountability requirements — it helps shape better public policy and improve practice across government and community sectors. In a context of increasing complexity, constrained resources, and rising expectations, evaluation provides critical evidence to inform decision-making, strengthen services, and improve outcomes for communities.This keynote explores how evaluation can move beyond compliance to become a practical tool for learning, adaptation, and system improvement. Drawing on examples of formal and informal evaluation processes from the Productivity Commission, community-controlled health organisations, government departments and consulting experiences, the session will examine how evaluation helps organisations understand what works, for whom, and under what conditions.The keynote will also reflect on the realities faced by public servants and community organisations, including balancing evidence with operational pressures, engaging stakeholders meaningfully, and translating findings into action. Effective evaluation strengthens accountability, informs investment decisions, and supports more responsive, equitable, and impactful services.

Followed by: handover to the aes27 International Evaluation Conference, Brisbane, Australia

Chair

Alison Reedy

Manager Evaluation, Northern Territory Government

Speakers

Selwyn Button

Commissioner, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Stream, Australian Productivity Commission

Selwyn Button was appointed for a 5-year term as a full time Commissioner in June 2024. Selwyn is Gungarri man from Southwest Queensland and an experienced leader of health, education and governance organisations across the public, private, not-for-profit and community-controlled... Read More →

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 →

Friday September 18, 2026 9:00am - 10:00am ACST
Hall 2

Plenary

Format Keynote address
Audience Level Advanced, Foundational, Intermediate

2:30pm ACST

Closing plenary: Emily Gates "When “What’s Right” is Contested: Ethical Reflexivity in Systemic Change"

Friday September 18, 2026 2:30pm - 3:30pm ACST

Hall 2

When “What’s Right” is Contested: Ethical Reflexivity in Systemic Change
Emily Gates, Associate Professor of Evaluation, Boston College

Ethics in evaluation is often treated as a matter of personal values, organisational commitments, or compliance with professional guidelines. But in systemic change, ethics becomes an ongoing, relational practice that asks us to hold space for hard questions and disagreement about “what’s right.”

In this session, we’ll make space for diverse perspectives and value the contexts and communities in which evaluation happens. We’ll practice ethical reflexivity together using photos, comics, and other visual moments from real evaluation work to explore:

How our roles change when we evaluate systems instead of programs, and how we decide what responsible involvement looks like.
How we navigate values, perspectives, and power, while avoiding the reproduction of unjust dynamics.
How to assess “success” when outcomes are emergent, contributions are multi directional, and interpretations differ.

At its heart, this session sharpens the questions we ask of ourselves and each other, strengthening the ethical reflexivity needed to act with integrity when “what’s right” is genuinely contested.

Followed by:
Closing address: Kim Grey, AES President.

Chair

Jess Dart

CEO, Clear Horizon

Dr Jess Dart is the founder and CEO of Clear Horizon, an Australian-based specialist evaluation company. Having received the 2018 Outstanding Contribution to Evaluation Award from the Australian Evaluation Society (AES), Jess is a recognised leader with over 25 years of experience... Read More →

Speakers

Emily Gates

Associate Professor of Evaluation, Boston College

Emily Gates is a tenured associate professor at Boston College whose research explores how evaluation can support meaningful, values-driven change in complex systems. Her work bridges theory and practice, spanning more than 30 publications and two coauthored books: Evaluative Inquiry... Read More →

Kim Grey

President, Australian Evaluation Society

Friday September 18, 2026 2:30pm - 3:30pm ACST
Hall 2

Plenary

Format Keynote address
Audience Level Advanced, Foundational, Intermediate

9:00am ACST

1:30pm ACST

9:00am ACST

9:00am ACST

2:30pm ACST

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