Building evaluation in the Department of Immigration and Citizenship

1. Building evaluation in the Department of Immigration and Citizenship Canberra Evaluation Forum Anita Davis Executive Director Policy Innovation, Research & Evaluation Unit Department of Immigration and Citizenship 18 August 2011

2. Building evaluation in the Department of Immigration and Citizenship • “The purpose of DIAC is to build Australia’s future through the well-managed movement and settlement of people” • Andrew Metcalfe – Foreword to DIAC strategic Plan 2011-12 • The strategic importance of research and evaluation • Building DIAC’s evaluation capacity • Measuring success 2

3. The strategic importance of research and evaluation in DIAC • The challenge of migration management • Migration has always played a critical role in Australia but the nature of migration is changing. • The movement of people globally is increasing and becoming increasingly complex. • International trends intersect with domestic issues to create dilemmas that place migration at or near the top of the policy agenda for many governments. • The environment for migration policy in Australia is highly contested. 3

4. The strategic importance of research and evaluation in DIAC • The role of DIAC in managing migration • DIAC plays a crucial role in delivering the government’s economic, social and security agendas. • We are one of the few agencies with an integrated responsibility for policy development, program management, service delivery, investigation and enforcement functions. • We’re a large global organisation and our policies and programs need to work in a wide variety of locations for a large range of stakeholders and highly diverse clients. 4

5. The strategic importance of research and evaluation in DIAC • Understanding migration through research and evaluation • An informed understanding of migration and its impacts is vital to the development of innovative, strategic and adaptive policies and programs that: • maximise migration’s benefits to the nation • contribute to government priorities • maintain the intent and integrity of migration and citizenship programs. • DIAC is committed to ensuring its policies and programs are informed by robust research and evaluation and their appropriateness, effectiveness and efficiency is monitored and assessed. 5

6. The strategic importance of research and evaluation in DIAC • Investing in research and evaluation • DIAC has established PIREU and the Economic Analysis Unit to influence policy and program development through insights generated from research and evaluation. • The focus of PIREU & EAU is on a program of strategic research and evaluation projects that support key DIAC priorities, including an integrated program of surveys that examine high level policy outcomes. • The work of PIREU & EAU complements the research and evaluation projects that the department’s business areas conduct for their specific policies and programs. 6

7. The strategic importance of research and evaluation in DIAC • Investing in research and evaluation (cont’d) • Through the research and evaluation program we are establishing an evidence base that addresses broad, whole of agency issues as well as individual programs. • We are also committing resources to ensure that staff have the capabilities they need to carry out or commission research and evaluation activities. 7

8. Building DIAC’s evaluation capacity • Evaluation strategy • DIAC has adopted a three-year strategy for building evaluation capacity. • Strategy articulates the department’s vision for an effective and sustainable evaluation system and culture. • Five broad, interrelated areas of focus: • organisation • culture • capability • support • quality. 8

9. Building DIAC’s evaluation capacity • Organisation • Key outcome - improving the coordination and management of evaluation in DIAC. • Key actions: • communicating expectation that evaluations are a normal part of good policy or program management • ensuring roles and responsibilities for evaluation are clear • providing a clear line of sight to executive committee of evaluation activity. • An evaluation policy has been developed for the department that: • provides a common evaluation vocabulary and frame of reference • establishes an institutional framework for evaluation. 9

10. Building DIAC’s evaluation capacity • Culture • Key outcome – embedding a strong and sustainable evaluation culture in DIAC. • Key actions include: • expanding the DIAC evaluation network and developing an evaluation community of practice • improving communication about evaluation and its benefits • identifying and working with evaluation champions • promoting organisational learning from evaluation • acknowledging evaluation achievements in the department. 10

11. Building DIAC’s evaluation capacity • Capability • Key outcome – building the evaluation capabilities of DIAC staff so they are ‘informed consumers of evaluation and its findings. • Key actions include: • identifying current levels of evaluation skills and knowledge • designing and delivering targeted evaluation learning and development courses • facilitating on-the-job evaluation learning and development opportunities in the workplace 11

12. Building DIAC’s evaluation capacity • Support • Key outcome – ensuring staff have access to the resources and support they need to enable them to conduct or manage evaluations and use the findings. • Key activities: • Providing advice and assistance to staff undertaking evaluation activities • Developing evaluation resources for staff to use, including an evaluation guide, toolkit, fact sheets, an evaluation library and an evaluation webpage • Ensuring appropriate financial and human resources are allocated to evaluations 12

13. Building DIAC’s evaluation capacity • Quality • Key outcome – enhancing the quality of policy development, program management and decision making through effective use of evaluation. • Key activities are: • working with policy and program areas to ensure that evaluations: • are credible and meet the standards and guidelines set out in the evaluation policy • take account of fiscal constraints and are cost effective • conform to DIAC and APS values, and meet ethical standards • undertaking periodic reviews to monitor evaluation quality and the use of their findings. 13

14. Measuring success “Evaluation capacity building by its nature remains fluid, ever changing, and never complete.” Compton et al, ‘Ongoing capacity building in the American Cancer Society’, 2002 “However beautiful a strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.” Winston Churchill (reputedly) 14

15. Measuring success • DIAC’s evaluation strategy is evolving to take into account feedback and changing circumstances. • It will be reviewed in 2013 to identify how well it has met its intended outcomes. • More broadly, DIAC is looking at ways of measuring the impact of its investment in research and evaluation. 15