consulting

Sep 4 2023

Evaluation of an important disaster response program

The 2019-20 bushfire season was the worst New South Wales has recorded. Over the course of a few months, 26 lives were lost, 2448 homes destroyed and 5.5 million hectares of land burnt. If I say St Vincent de Paul Society, what do you think of? Vinnes charity shops along main streets? You’d be right, […]

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Nov 16 2022

Can too much positivity be a bad thing?

If you run a program, project or initiative that you intend to evaluate, it’s natural that you hope the evaluation will show evidence of positive outcomes. Favourable evaluation outcomes may be needed for your initiative to leverage ongoing funding, perhaps from government, philanthropic funders, or other foundations. As an evaluator, there have been many times […]

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Oct 19 2021

Practising what I preach

For almost 20 years, my evaluation work has taken me to regional and remote Australia, researching and evaluating arts, disaster recovery and community building projects. In 2018 I researched and wrote an important guidelines document for Regional Arts Australia: Collaborating with Regional Communities. This publication was designed to assist those working in regional communities achieve […]

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Mar 3 2021

5 things councils need to know about evaluation

Evaluation is important on a local government level for many reasons. As a discipline and process it will enable you to better plan your programs, initiatives, events and activities. It will also give you the tools the test your internal or public documents and strategies. But if you don’t have a lot of experience conducting […]

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Feb 8 2021

5 tips for good survey design

As we emerge from the pandemic and start to evaluate COVID- response programs and initiatives, it’s likely that you may need to collect data in the form of online surveys. Online survey software is available to everyone at little or no cost. But if your survey is not well designed, the internal validity (accuracy) of […]

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Jan 29 2021

Evaluating like COVID contact tracers

Contact tracing is the process of gathering information about the people a known case of COVID-19 might have been in contact with, and the places they have been. Australia now has a well established COVID contact tracing system. I believe contact tracing can serve as a reminder as to what good evaluation is about. And […]

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Dec 14 2020

The role of the arts in disaster recovery

Art and culture have always been important in connecting and consoling us in times of disaster. The COVID-19 pandemic acted as a timely reminder of this, as, during lockdowns around the world, people watched and participated in online choirs, orchestral concerts, film screenings and talks. Australia has just entered its annual bushfire season. This time […]

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Dec 7 2020

A successful and timely program model

The Australian live music industry was the first sector to be significantly impacted by COVID-19, when non-essential gatherings were banned in March. Eight months on, restrictions in Australia have eased and the live music industry is in recovery mode. At this significant time of rebuilding and recovery, targeted and tailored creative initiatives are more important […]

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Aug 3 2020

Let’s celebrate Local Government Week!

This week (3-9 August) is a time for local government areas across NSW to celebrate council services that extend beyond rubbish, roads, rates and rubbish to include areas such as arts and culture, the environment, public libraries, childcare centres, sporting facilities, building and development. There are even Local Government Week awards! Peak organisation, Local Government […]

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Jul 21 2020

4 things council staff need to know about evaluation

Program evaluation play a key role in supporting local government decision-making by helping council managers understand whether a program is working, for whom, in what context, when it’s not working, and why not. Except in larger LGAs, councils often have inadequate time and personnel to learn the specialist skills required to conduct evaluations. Additionally, the […]

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