Drought policy

The National Drought and North Queensland Flood Response and Recovery Agency’s (the Agency) published the ‘Review of Australian Government Drought Response’ in October 2020. The Review found that there has been limited and inconsistent evaluation of drought support programs, leading to a lack of meaningful information on drought program performance and continuous improvement on Government’s response to drought.

This document sets out monitoring and evaluation principles and guidance to support Commonwealth Government agencies to consistently assess the performance (effectiveness, efficiency and appropriateness). The principles and guidance bring together Commonwealth Government best practices on monitoring and evaluation, and the National Drought Agreement (NDA) objectives.

Principles

1. All drought support programs will consider and apply monitoring, evaluation and learning activities, scaled and tailored as appropriate to their program.
2. All drought support programs will contribute to regular government reporting on drought support, including but not limited to annual reports against the NDA and the National Drought Response Resilience and Preparedness Plan, and any evaluation activities.
3. All drought support programs will directly contribute to one or more of the agreed NDA outcomes.

The NDA is a framework agreed by the Commonwealth and state and territory governments in December 2018, to prioritise objectives and outcomes that enhance long‐term preparedness, sustainability, resilience and risk management for farming businesses and farming communities in Australia. To support the Commonwealth Government’s annual reporting obligations under the NDA, any drought support program should be informed by at least one of the below NDA outcomes.

National Drought Agreement Outcomes (Clause 7)

1. Farming businesses have an improved capability to manage business risks and the tools to implement sustainable and resilient risk management practices.
2. Farming businesses, industry service providers, agri‐finance, community organisations and local government are partners of government and support rural communities to prepare for, and respond to, drought.
3. Farming businesses, farming families and farming communities are supported in times of hardship and have an increased understanding of, and access to, available support.
4. Roles and responsibilities of jurisdictions in responding to drought:
   1. are clear;
   2. promote consistency of drought policy and reform objectives;
   3. complement drought preparedness, response and recovery programs; and
   4. reduce gaps and unnecessary duplication.
5. Improved sharing, and quality, of common sources of data and information across jurisdictions to strengthen policy and business decision making.
6. Future programs related to the objectives of this agreement are consistent with the principles for reform at Attachment A of the NDA.
7. Future programs providing temporary in‐drought support are consistent with the principles and processes at Attachment B of the NDA.

Guidance

The following high‐level guidance can be adapted to suit the scale and range of drought support programs. The guidance recommends establishing a Program Logic model, Performance Measures and Monitoring & Evaluation Strategy for Government drought support programs. This will support robust reporting and advice to Government on the performance (effectiveness, efficiency and appropriateness) of its drought support programs. The accompanying self‐assessment questions will help to ensure that monitoring and evaluation considerations are applied consistently throughout the life of a program (beginning, middle and end).

1. Outcome/s

The drought support program should directly contribute to one or more of the agreed outcomes from the NDA. Developing an overarching outcome statement will set out the purpose of the drought support program and ensure linkage with the NDA. Setting out a hierarchy of outcomes will also provide a clear connection between desired outcomes established for the short term, medium term and long term, in order to achieve the overarching outcome.

2. Outputs & Inputs

Outputs are efforts within an entity’s direct control that lead to the outcome/s. Inputs are the entity’s resources required to achieve the outputs. Identifying inputs and outputs set out the entity’s assumptions on the sequence of activities required to achieve the desired outcome/s of drought support programs. The outputs of drought support programs should include a communications approach to ensure awareness and accessibility among its target group.

3. Performance Measures

Performance measures provide a basis for assessment of an entity’s performance over time; and need to be directly linked with the outputs and outcomes of the program. Identifying data sources for the measures will ensure that data collection is achievable and there is a strong evidence base for performance. Performance measures should set targets to measure effectiveness and efficiency; and follow the SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time‐bound) principle.

4. Monitoring & Evaluation Strategy

Performance monitoring is the routine collection and initial assessment of performance data at fixed timeframes (e.g. monthly, quarterly). Evaluation makes judgements on the efficiency, effectiveness and appropriateness of the program; and should consider industry and community consultation. A strategy will set out the planning for monitoring and evaluation arrangements to allow for robust reporting throughout the life of the program. Program reporting should also align with Commonwealth reporting on the NDA.

5. Lessons Learnt

Identifying lessons learnt in final reporting and reflections will ensure the relevance of future drought support programs. Lessons learnt would be drawn from qualitative data and may include case studies, feedback from support recipients, regional communities and program administrators, and interviews.