1. Introduction

Legislation for the model of new income management was passed on 1 July 2010 and was introduced by the Australian Government from 9 August 2010. The model first commenced in the Northern Territory (NT) in urban, regional and remote areas. Over time, and drawing on evidence from implementation experience in the NT, it may progressively be rolled out more broadly across Australia.

The Australian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) has commissioned a consortium of researchers from the Social Policy Research Centre, the Australian Institute of Family Studies and the Australian National University (Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research and the Research School of Economics) to assist in the development of a framework for the evaluation of the new model of income management.

A transparent and objective evaluation process increases the credibility of the assessment of the new measure of income management. The involvement of an external and independent evaluator will provide legitimacy to both the evaluation process and the assessment of the measure.

Ideally, in evaluating social policies data would be collected prior to the implementation of the policy (baseline data). Data collected after the implementation of the policy would then be compared to the baseline data to track changes over time.

However, in the case of NIM, income management has been implemented in 73 discrete communities since 2008 as part of the Northern Territory Emergency Response, which makes collecting ‘pure' baseline data (ie to identify the circumstances and beliefs of people before the implementation of policy) impossible. Even if it were possible to have ‘pure' baseline data, other policies that may also affect people in the Northern Territory who are subject to income management have also been subject to change.  Thus, it would not be possible to attribute, confidently, pre- and post-implementation differences in data collected to the NIM measure. 

Given that it is not possible to collect ‘pure' baseline data in this context, the evaluation framework includes an early implementation snapshot study. This should provide information to complement administrative baseline data generated prior to implementation of income management policy. Together, these will provide benchmark data for the assessment of NIM. 

The implementation snapshot should include collection and analysis of primary data from a wide range of people affected by NIM or involved in administering or implementing the model. This would include people who are income managed, community leaders, Centrelink staff, merchants, money management and financial counselling service providers, and child protection workers.

The evaluation framework is designed to ensure the key evaluation questions will be able to be answered using data collected from multiple sources, using both quantitative and qualitative research methods. This will provide "triangulation" for the key findings of the evaluation.

The terms of reference for developing the evaluation framework are that the evaluation:

• be completed by December 2014
• provide information on the implementation of the NIM in the Northern Territory by the end of 2011 in order to inform decisions about an expansion of the model beyond the Northern Territory
• result in data being collected that can be used to evaluate short, medium and, where possible, longer-term impacts/outcomes of new income management, and
• include a set of ethics guidelines and an ethical clearance strategy relevant to this evaluation project.

This document outlines a framework for the evaluation of the NIM model in the NT and should not be read as a detailed evaluation work plan. The evaluation itself will have to establish the practicality of the approach proposed here, in particular the availability and quality of the various secondary datasets, and the specific issues involved in engaging with individuals, families and communities affected by NIM. The conceptual basis for the program, including the description of the new income management policy and the program logic, is described in detail in Sections 2 and 3. Sections 4-6 outline the consortium's proposed evaluation framework including challenges in evaluating this measure, the study design and methodology and proposed reporting timelines.

Background information to the development of NIM can be found at Appendix A. Appendix B discusses current income management evaluation activities undertaken by FaHCSIA. Appendix C provides FaHCSIA's program logic model for the NIM model. Appendix D shows the hierarchy of outcomes and associated data.

A comprehensive English language literature reviewon evaluation methodologies used to evaluate relevant international programs such as conditional cash transfers and financial counselling programs is at Appendix E. A list of data sources needed to support the evaluation is at Appendix F, while Appendix G describes other funded initiatives in the NT that support vulnerable children and families.

In developing the framework, extensive consultations have been undertaken with staff from the Northern Territory Department of Health and Families, the Western Australian Department of Child Protection, Centrelink, the Department of Finance and Deregulation, Government and Non-Government Think Tank Reference Groups, and the Australian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs.