Procuring for Effective Evaluation

Area of Interest: Government and Leadership

Australian public services continue to face a critical shortage of evaluation capability. This gap affects not only the ability of organisations to conduct evaluations but also their capacity to commission effective evaluations from external providers. Without a solid understanding of evaluation principles, organisations risk investing in processes that fail to deliver actionable insights or drive meaningful improvement.

This course is designed to address that gap. It introduces learners to key concepts and practical tools needed to procure high-quality evaluations. Participants will explore:

• What evaluation is and why it matters

• The essential elements of effective evaluation

• How to design and commission evaluations that meet organisational needs

Through hands-on activities such as critically analysing real-world evaluation tenders, learners will develop the skills to assess, refine, and improve evaluation procurement for diverse purposes.

By the end of this short course learners will be able to:

• Recognise weaknesses in procurement tenders calling for program/project evaluation.

• Determine how different evaluation theories and practices lead to more useful evaluations for decision-making.

• Apply knowledge to develop stronger evaluation procurement.

Whether you’re new to evaluation or looking to strengthen your organisation’s capability, this course offers a practical foundation for making evidence-informed decisions.

• People new to evaluation

• Established public servants

• Those working under contract to government (e.g. non profits/private organisations)

• Anyone who wants to do better evaluation

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites for this course.

Helen Dickinson’s expertise is in public services, particularly in topics such as: design and implementation of disability policies and services, evaluation and performance management and the use of digital technologies in public services. Helen has published extensively on these topics and is a frequent commentator within the mainstream media. In 2015 she was made a Victorian Fellow of the Institute of Public Administration Australia and in 2019 awarded a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. In 2021 Helen was named one of Apolitical’s 100 most influential academics in government. She has worked with a range of different levels of government, private sector and community organisations on research and consultancy programs in Australia, and internationally.

Amy Gullickson is a member of the University of Melbourne Faculty of Education and a Fellow of the Australian Evaluation Society who has been doing, researching, and teaching evaluation for more than 20 years. She is in demand internationally as an expert in evaluation-specific methodology, evaluation teaching and learning, and evaluation capacity building for individuals, organisations, and systems. As a member of the AES Pathways committee, she co-leads the ongoing work on evaluator competencies and self-assessment. At the University of Melbourne, she led development of the fully online, multidisciplinary Graduate Certificate and Master of Evaluation and continues to teach professionals from a variety of professions, sectors, and global locations about evaluative reasoning, evaluation practice, and evaluation capacity building.

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