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Federal government policies and programs will be tested to see if they are actually working in a move proponents argue will save taxpayers’ money.
The May 9 budget will contain $10 million over four years for the creation of a specialist policy evaluation unit within the federal Treasury. The unit will examine policies and programs across the entire government and use randomised trials to see if they are delivering their claimed outcomes.
The federal budget will contain funding for a new unit that will test if government policies actually work.
The idea of evaluating government programs was contained in the 2019 Thodey review of the public service. It found that a collapse in the ability of departments to evaluate programs had contributed to poor policy outcomes.
Evaluation is often done at the state level.
An examination of the Victorian healthy homes program found that targeted upgrades of houses delivered cost savings to occupants within three years through reduced energy use and better health outcomes.
In Western Australia, a 2016 study of an infant simulator program aimed at reducing the rate of teenage pregnancies found it actually contributed to an increase in teen pregnancies and abortions.
Federal Assistant Competition Minister Andrew Leigh said the rigorous appraisal of policies and programs was fundamental to good government and should lead to better use of taxpayer dollars.
“This unit will conduct high-quality impact evaluations of government programs, including randomised policy trials. This will allow government to evaluate the impact of policies with the same rigour we use to test new medical treatments,” he said.
“Quality evaluation will save taxpayers’ money, and help government design and adapt programs to better serve the community. It’s good for the budget bottom line, and good for all Australians.”
The move is also aimed at reducing the government’s use of outside contractors. The government spends up to $50 million a year on evaluation reports from private consultants.
The internal evaluation unit will eventually replace outside consultants used to examine government programs. The government went to the 2022 election promising to cut spending on consultants, contracts, legal expenses and travel by $3 billion.
On Thursday, the Committee for Economic Development of Australia released research showing 95 per cent of federal government programs over the past decade had not been properly examined to see if they were delivering.
It found that of 20 federal programs costing more than $200 billion, just one had been appropriately evaluated.
A quarter of the programs had no evaluation framework while 70 per cent had either incomplete, inconsistent or poor evaluation systems.
The committee’s chief executive, Melinda Cilento, said government had to overhaul the way it examined policies to stop wasting money on services and programs that did not work.
“The community rightfully expects that taxpayer funds are used to effectively improve economic and social outcomes for all citizens, but too often this is not the case,” she said.
“We must take steps now to improve evaluation, starting with major community services.”
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