Performance of Australian Aid 2015–16 May 2017

Outline of this report

Chapter 1 reports on the ten strategic targets under Making Performance Count, which provide the basis for assessing the performance of the aid program as a whole.

Chapter 2 summarises the performance of country and regional aid programs. The analysis draws on a selection of results from four regional groups: Pacific; South-East and East Asia; South and West Asia; and Africa, the Middle East and other regions.

Chapter 3 highlights results from major global programs including core funding to key multilateral development organisations and Australian NGOs. The performance of Australian scholarships and volunteer programs is also summarised in this chapter.

Chapter 4 assesses the performance of the Australian aid program across the six priority areas of investment under the aid policy as well as disability-inclusive development and innovation. A selection of aggregate development results for Australia’s aid in 2015-16 are also summarised here under relevant priority areas.

The report also includes a summary of the major activities and achievements of ODA appropriated to other Australian Government departments and agencies (Annex A).

The performance information in this report is subject to a process of quality assurance and verification by the Office of Development Effectiveness (ODE), under the guidance of DFAT’s Independent Evaluation Committee. A description of this process and their assessment is set out in Annex B.

Approach to assessing performance in the aid program

• whole of aid program level; 

• bilateral (country and regional) and global programs; and

• individual aid investments.

The performance of key aid delivery partners is also separately assessed.

At the whole of aid program level, alignment with the Government’s policy directions and progress against the ten strategic targets in Making Performance Count are assessed and reported annually in Performance of Australian Aid reports.

At the program level, the approaches to performance assessment are tailored to the characteristics of different programs.

For country and regional aid programs, performance is assessed each year and published in Aid Program Performance Reports (APPRs). To ensure the assessments made are contested and robust, all APPRs are peer reviewed and approved by DFAT senior management. The ODE also conducts an annual independent quality review of APPRs. Judgements about performance are made against program objectives contained in Aid Investment Plans for each country or regional program, and expressed as one of three ratings: progress towards objectives is on track; progress is at risk (less than expected); or progress is not on track. APPRs also report on progress against program-specific performance benchmarks and mutual obligations. In 2015-16, all 26 programs for which an APPR was required completed and published their APPRs on the DFAT website³.

Each year, DFAT undertakes multilateral performance assessments for selected multilateral organisations receiving core funding from Australia. All major multilateral partners are assessed every 3-4 years. Summaries of multilateral performance assessments completed in 2016 for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, United Nations Population Fund, United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, UN Women, World Health Organisation, and the World Bank Group are included in Chapter 3.

At the individual investment level, quality reporting is completed annually for all aid investments over $3 million. Through Aid Quality Checks (AQCs), each aid investment is rated as performing satisfactorily or unsatisfactorily on a six-point scale against seven aid quality criteria⁴. In 2015-16, 432 AQCs were completed⁵, representing 100 per cent of eligible aid investments⁶. To ensure performance assessments in AQCs are robust and contestable, they are subject to peer moderation. The ODE also undertakes an annual spot check of the quality of AQCs. During the reporting period, all aid investments with a budget of $10 million or higher were required to undergo an independent evaluation at least once in their lifetime.

Performance information generated at the individual aid investment level feeds into assessments of program performance, which in turn provides the basis for assessing the performance of the aid program as a whole. To ensure that DFAT’s reporting on the performance of Australian aid is rigorous, credible and supported by robust evidence, the ODE, under the guidance of the Independent Evaluation Committee, undertakes strategic evaluations of particular programs or thematic areas and provides independent oversight of departmental aid performance assessment systems. Evaluations undertaken by ODE, and published in 2016, are listed in Annex B.

A phased approach to implementation and reporting of the 2030 Agenda is underway, including further alignment of the aid program and performance reporting processes with the SDGs, which will enable more specific analysis of how the aid program is contributing to the 2030 Agenda over time.