“Why Governments Should Run Experiments”
Date: Thursday, 26 FebruaryTime: 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM (including Q&A)Venue: Clive Price Conference Rooms, 01C50, Building 1, Level C, Room 50, University of CanberraAbout the TalkEvery day, governments make decisions that affect communities, services, and public spending. Yet many of these decisions rely on precedent or instinct rather than evidence. Randomised trials offer a practical, powerful alternative—allowing policymakers to test ideas before scaling them, compare real options, and learn from the variation that naturally exists. Drawing on examples from Australia and overseas, this lecture will explore how experimentation has moved from the margins of policymaking into mainstream public administration. It will highlight how the establishment of the Australian Centre for Evaluation represents a shift toward governments becoming learning institutions—more adaptive, transparent, and evidence-informed.
