It’s important that the Government is accountable for the money it spends and that Queenslanders can be confident that government policies and programs are meeting its objectives efficiently and effectively.
The Queensland Government Program Evaluation Guidelines outline a broad set of wise-practice principles to assist agencies to plan, commission, manage and conduct consistent, transparent and high-quality evaluation.
The guidelines are accompanied by separate information sheets that describe specific evaluation topics in more detail and complement a range of other existing Queensland Government guidelines including the Performance Management Framework and Project Assessment Framework.
Developing a program logic model
A logic model communicates how program designers expect activities to bring about change. This can identify what to measure to understand if and how the program has achieved its outcomes.
Writing an evaluation framework or plan
Evaluation plans and frameworks guide what evaluations will focus on and how they will be conducted.
Performance measurement frameworks
Performance measurement frameworks provide a structure for evaluators to collect, analyse and report on how programs use resources to achieve results.
Integrating evidence and evaluation
Different types of information can be used to support policy making and program evaluation. Evidence will have the most impact when it is accessible, relevant, and high-quality.
Economic evaluation
Economic evaluation measures a program’s costs and benefits. There are some key steps to undertake this type of evaluation and various approaches that evaluators can choose.
Ethics and Evaluation
Ethical practices benefit both the evaluation process and public trust. This information sheet outlines ethical principles, practices and strategies to manage ethical risk.
Evaluation is a form of applied research. It uses evidence from multiple sources to make judgements about a program or policy. Evaluations can help with decision-making and show how to improve services for the community. Evaluation can identify:
Program evaluators analyse evidence to help support decision making, learning, and provide an understanding of how a program has performed.
Evaluators use a range of applied research skills to collect evidence from various sources. This may include existing research, program data, surveys or stakeholder interviews.
Evaluation questions focus an evaluation on what decision-makers need to know. The number and type of evaluation questions will depend on:
| Question type | Example questions |
| Appropriateness (or relevance) |
Agencies should consider evaluation as well as performance monitoring when a program:
