MONITORING AND EVALUATION

We have developed a systematic monitoring and evaluation practice that is responsive to Aboriginal peoples’ interests and world views, starting with our community development, ranger and good governance programs. We seek the views of Aboriginal people about our work to ensure we are accountable to them and continue to refine our approach and efforts to achieve outcomes they value.

We have published independent annual monitoring reports of our community development program since 2010. The reports, accessed through links below, assess all program areas while providing in-depth reviews of selected projects and communities.

In 2014, an independent evaluation of the program’s work in Imanpa, Willowra and Lajamanu found that community residents valued it highly. Residents reported the community development projects were making a tangible and observable difference to their lives, especially by creating local employment.

The evaluation also found that the program’s success depends heavily on the partner organisations and contractors we engage to deliver the projects and, in some cases, they didn’t have the capacity deliver to constituent’s expectations. Yet it found our community development program highly cost effective.

In 2017, the Warlpiri Education and Training Trust and Ninti One reviewed the effectiveness of the trust, identifying how the trust can improve its education and learning outcomes.

In the same year, we partnered with independent research groups to test the scientific evidence that ranger work provides social, cultural and economic benefits in addition to environmental outcomes. This included an epidemiological study of rangers, and qualitative evaluation of the program’s progress and opportunities for improvement. The findings are published in The Benefits of Ranger Work.

The Warlpiri Education and Training Trust’s Yitakimaninjaku, warrirninjaku, payirninaku manu pina-jarrinjaku (YWPP) is a yapa-led monitoring, evaluation and learning program. Working in collaboration with La Trobe University, the program supports the trust’s yapa members to track and learn about WETT-funded programs and community priorities for education and training. We employ yapa community researchers to lead the work collecting and analysing community stories, with a particular focus on talking to young people. Though YWPP we provide local Aboriginal employment opportunities, elevate the voices of young Aboriginal people and support WETT’s yapa governance members in their decision making.

Another example is the independent evaluation of the Good Governance Program. This learning-as-you-go approach empowers Aboriginal corporation directors to give feedback to the trainers and us so we can adapt and strengthen the program in real time.

We are currently exploring how to use the lessons from this work to extend our monitoring and evaluation in order to further improve our accountability to Aboriginal people and other stakeholders around the outcomes and impact of our activities.

As with all of our work, our council members and constituents will be actively involved in the discussion, piloting and refinement of our monitoring and evaluation practice.

Community Development Program

Ranger program

Good governance program

One of the discretionary functions of the Aboriginal Land Rights (NT) Act is the administration of Aboriginal corporations by agreement.

The boards of the two largest corporations we administer, the Kurra Aboriginal Corporation and the Granites Mine Affected Area Corporation, have funded and participated in a successful ‘good governance’ program for a number of years.

The program is delivered by company MLCS Corporate with support from the Central Land Council and aims to strengthen the corporations’ directors’ understanding of and capacity in financial and corporate governance. This includes the ability to engage effectively with independent investment advice to guide future investments to ensure the sustainability of the corporations beyond the life of the mine.

A key aspect of the program has been ongoing monitoring and evaluation which regularly reviews the directors’ perspectives on what is going well, practical and contextual issues, and their aims and vision for the program. All participants in the program are committed to a director-centred approach based on the feedback gathered through the real-time evaluation. Prioritising director voices ensures the training is delivered in a way that best meets the directors’ learning needs.

The boards of each corporation have approved public plain English summaries of their monitoring and evaluation reports for the first three years of the Good Governance Program. Find the KAC report here and the GMAAAC report here.

Case studies

Our annual report outlines the work we delivered during the year and includes a performance statement comparing actual and target key performance indicators. The performance statement is quantitative, in line with compliance requirements, however much of the organisation’s performance cannot be assessed by numbers. To enhance performance information and provide more understanding of the outcomes from our work, longitudinal qualitative case studies have commenced and will be updated as each project progresses.