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Counting sounds easy until we actually attempt it, and then we quickly discover that often we cannot recognize what we ought to count. Numbers are no substitute for clear definitions, and not everything that can be counted counts.
William Bruce Cameron (1957)

Reviewing policies and programs

Our firm has wide experience in reviewing policies and programs for industry and government.

Our work ranges from conceptualisation and implementation of new policies and programs, to evaluation post-implementation or after a program has been concluded. We have written training manuals on program evaluation and, in our consultancy assignments, we apply practical and tested techniques in assessing policy and programs.

As part of a program review we:

  • confirm the program objectives
  • assess the outcomes against these objectives
  • assess the appropriateness of the approach, the inputs required, the processes used, and the outputs, given the desired outcomes
  • determine any ancillary benefits or unexpected side-effects
  • analyse the effect of the program on stakeholders, including targeted program recipients. This can include stakeholder consultation
  • conduct the analysis in the context of the internal and external environment
  • recommend future strategies.

Miriam O'Brien has been designing, implementing and reviewing policies and programs for more than 20 years. As a senior government officer, Miriam designed and/or managed corporate planning, workforce management, legislative review and equal employment opportunity programs when they were first introduced in government.

As a management consultant, Miriam managed a national review of horticultural export inspection systems and standards which resulted in major changes to the Australian horticultural export inspection system.

Our firm conducted a review for the Delatite Shire, a rural municipality in Victoria Australia. The purpose was to assess the desirability and feasibility of splitting a the shire into two. Our review included examination of economic, social and environmental factors and extensive consultation with the community. The findings of our report were accepted by the Victorian Government and two shires have now been created, being the only de-amalgamation since the major Victorian local government restructure in the early 1990s.

Miriam has worked with Yass and Queanbeyan Councils in NSW to assist in the preparation of a submission to the NSW Government on boundary restructure and has done similar work with local councils in Victoria.

Other significant policy and program reviews have been conducted with the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, Animal Health Australia, Fisheries and Dairy R&D Corporations, the Department of Education, Employment & Training (Victoria), the Department for Victorian Communities, a private health services provider, the South Australian Minister for Fisheries, various local governments and others.

Our approach

We use quantitative and qualitative techniques to evaluate policies and programs. A policy review might take various forms, for example, in a broad-based policy mapping exercise, we would:

  • map policies across the organisation
  • group policies into broad categories
  • assess the extent to which policies conform with strategic direction and intent
  • highlight inconsistencies
  • rationalise and sort into policies and associated guidelines, procedures and work instructions
  • re-draw the policy map with a hierarchy showing related guidelines and procedures
  • identify key policy responsibilities
  • show links with programs and functional areas.

In helping develop new policy we may:

  • explore key issues and rationale for the policy
  • consult those affected by the policy, internally and externally
  • research similar policies elsewhere, including benefits and pitfalls
  • prepare a risk analysis and impact statement
  • conduct the analysis in the context of the internal and external environment
  • make recommendations on the policy and its implementation.

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