Introduction

The Framework will assess the progress of the National Strategy’s objective and 62 measures outlined in the National and Commonwealth Action Plans. The Framework refers to these 62 measures as ‘activities’ to avoid confusion with the use of the term ‘measures’, which in the context of evaluation refers to measuring whether a short-, medium- or long-term outcome has been achieved. 

The Framework is an activity under the First National Action Plan of the National Strategy. 

This document explains the components of the Framework and how they will be used to evaluate progress of National Strategy activities. This document is intended to be used by policymakers, researchers, service delivery partners and members of the public interested in the progress of National Strategy activities.

Purpose of monitoring and evaluation

The Framework will ensure the implementation of National Strategy activities is accountable and transparent. The Framework will track progress against short-, medium- and long-term outcomes by embedding monitoring and evaluation into all policies and programs. Effective monitoring and evaluation of National Strategy activities will help determine ‘what works’ for preventing and responding to child sexual abuse.

The Framework will work alongside, but not duplicate:

• the Child Abuse Royal Commission Evaluation Framework – including the 10-Year Child Abuse Royal Commission Review
• the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations Evaluation Framework
• other existing reporting methods.

Framework timeframes

The Framework will be in place for the lifetime of the National Strategy. While it is mapped against the themes of the National Strategy’s First National Action Plan and First Commonwealth Action Plan, it will be reviewed and updated at the beginning of each new National Strategy action plan to reflect any changes and to include new or improved data sources and performance indicators.

Framework outputs

There are 4 key outputs from the Framework which will help assess implementation progress towards the National Strategy’s objective and outcomes: 

1. National Strategy Annual Reports: Annual progress reporting on the implementation of each of the 62 National Strategy activities. The National Strategy First Annual Report was released in December 2023. These annual reports will also report on the status of the 122 recommendations from the Royal Commission directed wholly or partially at the Australian Government. We are committed to continuing to address the Royal Commission’s recommendations and to build on the policies and programs already in place.
2. National Strategy Data Dashboard: The available data underpinning the Framework will be reported through an online data dashboard. This dashboard will be released in 2024 and will be progressively updated as new data becomes 
   available.
3. Evaluations of National Strategy activities: An evaluation of each National Strategy activity will be undertaken by the lead agency. This evaluation work will assess the implementation of specific activities and whether they are having the intended impact. These evaluations will be released to correspond to the completion of each National Strategy Action Plan. See the Evaluations of National Strategy activities chapter for further information.
4. Evaluation of the First National Action Plan and First Commonwealth Action Plan: The National Office will undertake an implementation evaluation of the National Strategy’s First Action Plans in the 2024–2025 financial year. It will assess if the First Action Plans have been delivered as intended, what has worked well, what could be improved on, and any early outcomes. It is anticipated that an evaluation of subsequent action plans will be undertaken in 2027 and 2030. 

The findings from the Framework’s 4 outputs will directly inform the development of subsequent National Strategy action plans. In particular, mapping success against medium-term outcomes will highlight gaps that can be met with new activities.

Framework governance

Oversight for the Framework will be provided by the Strategic Management Group and National Strategy Policy Working Group, which oversee the National Action Plans and Commonwealth Action Plans respectively. These sit beneath a Senior Oversight Group and an Interdepartmental Executive Group that oversee the implementation of the broader National Strategy. An overview of National Strategy governance can be found in the National Strategy First Annual Report.