Day 3 of the AES26 Evaluation Conference on beautiful Larrakia Country in Darwin came to a close, and Matt was only a day behind getting the episode out! This one is a little bit different. Matt still has a few thoughts to share, but also a spontaneous placing of the microphone means that we can bring you the entirety of the crowd pleasing 2026 Mostly Serious Debate: Evaluation's pluralism strengthen's its external influence.

Plus, stick around to the end, to hear a snippet of the tunes from the lunchtime choir - a group of people who just wanted to get together to wholesome music. It's a beautiful way to end the episode, but also it felt like the right way to cap off this years daily wrap-ups!

Thanks for listening to the It Depends Podcast! You can find out more about First Person Consullting on our website, follow us on LinkedIn, or sign up to our semi-regular newsletter.

Day 2 of the AES26 Evaluation Conference on beautiful Larrakia Country in Darwin has come to a close - but the festivities are only just beginning. The end of Day 2 formalities means that delegates are now getting ready for the Gala Dinner!

Matt brings you a few reflections on the day, and a whole lot more thoughts from delegates on what they heard from Day 2, or what they're still thinking about from Day 1.

Other news from Day 1 was that Iris Ethics have launched a world first Knowledge Base - so if the interface between ethics and ethical review processes and evaluation practice are something you're grappling with Gerard and the team have you covered. And it's free!

Matt also ran a session on scaling in the context of place, and a new tool to be added to the open-source Scaling Field Guide on the FPC website.

And finally, Stephanie and Sophie from ARTD ran a session on monitoring on a shoestring, and the use of nifty tools to help automate / streamline the process of producing reports. And they've got resources to share! No coding knowledge required - check it out!

Thanks for listening to the It Depends Podcast! You can find out more about First Person Consullting on our website, follow us on LinkedIn, or sign up to our semi-regular newsletter.

Day 1 of the AES26 Evaluation Conference on beautiful Larrakia Country in Darwin is done! Matt brings you some delegates initial thoughts, and a bit of a download and debrief from what he heard. More to come over the next two days, so make sure you've hit the 'follow' button on your preferred platform.

Thanks for listening to the It Depends Podcast! You can find out more about First Person Consullting on our website, follow us on LinkedIn, or sign up to our semi-regular newsletter.

In this episode, Matt speaks with Dr Stephanie Godrich — Senior Lecturer in Nutrition at Edith Cowan University, Registered Public Health Nutritionist, and the driving force behind the Food Community program of work in Western Australia. From delivering cooking and nutrition programs across the state to establishing Foodbank WA's regional strategy spanning 2.5 million square kilometres, Stephanie's career has been shaped by one recurring lesson: how people get food for their families depends entirely on where they live.

The conversation unpacks what food systems actually are — the interconnected web of production, distribution, consumption and waste that shapes our health, economies and communities — and why so many organisations and government departments are doing food systems work without realising it. Stephanie grounds it all in two Western Australian examples: the Food Community work, which has mapped, evaluated and strengthened 170 food security initiatives across every region of the state, and WA's first food action groups, now funded in the Wheatbelt and Central Great Southern and delivering exactly what communities asked for. Her advice for anyone doing this work? Get listening. Get curious. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable.

If you like this episode, then make sure to check out #7 Rethinking Systems Evaluation with Emily Gates for more on systems thinking in practice.

Resources mentioned:

• Food Community — including the searchable food security initiative directory and case studies
• Transforming Food and Agriculture Through a Systems Approach (FAO, 2025)
• Amity Health
• Healthway
• Minderoo Foundation
• Foodbank WA
• Regen Melbourne

If you like what you hear sign up for our mailing list! We share resources, publications, and other ways to learn. You can also find FPC on LinkedIn, or visit our website.

In this episode, Matt speaks with Tanya Rong — Chair of the Latrobe Health Assembly, Australia's first community-led health assembly, set up in the wake of the 2014 Hazelwood mine fire to give the Latrobe Valley community a genuine voice in the decisions that shape its health and wellbeing. A former intensive care nurse with a background in health promotion, Tanya is now completing a PhD at Monash University on place-based approaches to health — and she has been part of the Assembly from its earliest days, as a volunteer, board member and chair.

A simple conviction sits at the heart of the conversation: place-based work thrives on trust. Rather than dropping cookie-cutter programs into a community, genuine place-based practice starts by honouring local knowledge and getting the "preparation" right — building relationships and laying the groundwork long before anything is delivered.

If you like this episode, then make sure to check out #13 Governance, Not Geography: Redefining What Place-Based Work Really Means with Luke Craven for more on this topic.

Resources mentioned:

• Latrobe Health Assembly
• Preparation, Participation, Impact (PPI) Framework
• Exploring community engagement in place-based approaches (Rong, Ristevski & Carroll, 2023)
• Tanya's 2025 research on community engagement and place (Social Science & Medicine)
• PLACE — Partnerships for Local Action and Community Empowerment
• Local Trust — Big Local
• Hands Up Mallee
• The Australian Centre for Social Innovation (TACSI)
• Collaboration for Impact

If you like what you hear sign up for our mailing list! We share resources, publications, and other ways to learn. You can also find FPC on LinkedIn, or visit our website.

In this episode, Matt speaks with Michael Hogan — Executive Convenor of the Queensland Kids Partnership, an initiative hosted by ARACY that brings together philanthropy, government, community and research to improve the wellbeing of Queensland's children and young people. Michael has more than 35 years' experience in public-purpose work, including roles as Director-General of two Queensland departments.

A deliberate choice sits at the heart of the partnership: rather than create another organisation or service, it set out to use what's already there — convening, catalysng and connecting the people and programs already doing the work, and drawing on ARACY's national networks instead of adding to a crowded ecosystem.

We talk about what makes work genuinely systems-focused, how the partnership organises its work around six portfolios and the idea of "lead, facilitate, affiliate", and why so much of the most important work — relationships, partnerships, weaving networks together — stays invisible and undervalued by funders. Michael also unpacks the role of philanthropy as active partners rather than passive funders, and why shifting outcomes for kids means following the money and changing how investment is done.

His message is clear: we've spent too long prioritising competitive advantage and not enough valuing collaborative advantage — and systems are built by everybody, over generations.

In this episode we cover:

• Why the partnership chose not to add to the fragmentation, and what "use what we've got" means in practice
• The shift from working in a place to genuinely place-based, systems-focused work
• Organising around six portfolios — and the idea of "lead, facilitate, affiliate"
• The systems intermediary role: bridging sectors, levels and organisations
• Making invisible relationship work visible through social network analysis
• Philanthropy as partners and "doers", not just funders
• Following the money — investment, commissioning and contracting as levers for change
• A shared language through ARACY's Nest, instead of reinventing frameworks
• From competitive advantage to collaborative advantage

Resources mentioned:

• ARACY (Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth)
• The Nest Wellbeing Framework
• Country Collaborative — Social Network Analysis Toolkit
• Thriving Places, Thriving Kids Network

If you like what you hear sign up for our mailing list! We share resources, publications, and other ways to learn. You can also find FPC on LinkedIn, or visit our website.

In this episode, Matt speaks with Christabelle Darcy and Alison Reedy — co-convenors of the 2026 Australian Evaluation Society Conference being held in Darwin from 14–18 September. Christabelle leads the Program Evaluation Unit at the NT Department of Treasury and Finance, and Alison manages evaluation at the NT Department of Housing, Local Government and Community Development.

Under the theme Making Space, Valuing Place, Christabelle and Alison walk us through the thinking behind this year's program — the four subthemes, the keynote line-up, and why they wanted a conference that welcomes a broader audience into evaluation conversations.

We talk about what it means to do evaluation in place, the role of Indigenous voices and authority in the work, and how the program is designed to encourage people to step outside their usual silos. Christabelle and Alison also share what they're personally hoping to take from the experience — from the richness of working with this year's keynote speakers to the conversations that happen in the margins.

Their message is clear: the evaluation community is wider than the people who already call themselves evaluators, and AES26 is built to bring that wider community into the room.

In this episode we cover:

• The thinking behind the theme Making Space, Valuing Place
• The four subthemes: Traditions and new ways; Ethics and integrity; Boundaries and bridges; Roots and routes
• The 2026 keynote line-up — Robyn Ober, Bagele Chilisa, Lígia Teixeira, Selwyn Button, and Emily Gates
• Why context and Country matter in evaluation
• What a smaller conference makes possible
• What Christabelle and Alison are personally hoping to take away

Resources mentioned:

• AES 2026 Conference
• Australian Evaluation Society
• It Depends Episode 7 with Emily Gates

If you like what you hear sign up for our mailing list! We share resources, publications, and other ways to learn. You can also find FPC on LinkedIn, or visit our website.

In this special episode, Matt and Tenille speak with Diana Connell - lived experience advocate, ambassador for McAuley Community Services for Women and Global Sisters, and a powerful voice for systems change across family violence, housing and economic security.

Diana shares her story of surviving two decades of family violence, becoming homeless with her two children, and the journey that led her into her advocacy and systems change work. She walks us through what genuine co-design with lived experience actually looks like, the importance of creating space for change, slowing down, and crucially what dignity actually looks like.

We talk about the Safe at Home Trial in Geelong (a continuation of the conversation from Episode 18 with Jocelyn Bignold), the deep interconnection between family violence, housing and economic security, and the work of Global Sisters in supporting women into economic independence through micro-business, business school and the Little Greenhouses initiative.

Diana's message is clear: women deserve more than just to survive. We all need to be bold, lift the bar, and build something incredible together.

In this episode we cover:

• The link between family violence, homelessness and economic insecurity
• What genuine co-design with lived experience looks like in practice
• The Safe at Home Trial and the case for early intervention
• Global Sisters and economic independence for women
• Fair pay, trauma-informed practice, and meaningful inclusion
• Why one seat at the table is never enough

Resources mentioned:

• McAuley Community Services for Women
• Global Sisters
• Safe at Home Trial
• WEstjustice Community Legal Centre
• Council to Homeless Persons
• It Depends Episode 18 with Jocelyn Bignold

If you like what you hear sign up for our mailing list! We share resources, publications, and other ways to learn. You can also find FPC on LinkedIn, or visit our website.