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Background

In Western Australia (WA), the Department of Communities (Communities) is responsible for the coordination of emergency relief and support services during and following disasters. Over the past few years, WA has seen natural disasters increase in size, severity and complexity.

The Kimberley Flood recovery has reinforced the need to enhance monitoring and evaluation activities to be more inclusive of cultural needs and recognise inequalities.

Communities has engaged a consultant, a key Indigenous researcher on the Disaster Recovery Capitals (ReCap) project and the Indigenous Healing Framework, to deliver the Cultural Outcomes Framework Project (the Framework). The Project establishes cultural program outcomes and indicators to measure the impact of program activities and develop an inclusive framework that can be used for future recoveries. Development included consultation with service providers and recovery workers.

The project team is currently seeking feedback and input to finalise the Framework, with a focus on the evaluation tool component, by 20 November 2024. If you would find this framework and/or tool helpful, or wish to provide feedback, please complete this .

The Framework 

The WA Post-Disaster Cultural Evaluation Framework has been adapted through consultation and drawing on existing research. The Framework is aligned with the Closing the Gap Strategy, the Disaster Indigenous Healing Framework, The Recovery Capitals and the Social and Emotional Wellbeing Framework.

The purpose of the Framework is to improve the quality of disaster recovery programs in Indigenous communities. The Framework helps to provide a consistent approach to support service delivery of recovery programs that can also support comprehensive evaluation.

The Framework is designed for anyone working in Indigenous communities after a disaster and can be implemented by local and State governments, as well as non-government organisations.

The Framework offers: 

• replicable outcomes across different communities and contexts, while having the flexibility to respond to each case study 
• outcomes that can be incorporated into an overall program logic 
• a list of questions that support measurement of impact indicators 
• guidance on sourcing and collecting information, and
• guidance on community and representation. 

The Framework also recognises that Indigenous leadership and self-determination are integral in this evaluation process. The Framework is broad and designed to be adapted to the circumstances, needs and priorities of individual communities. The Tool (see below) is designed to be workshopped with appropriate delegates of communities or an appropriate representative group or organisation. Results from an evaluation should be socialised with Indigenous leaders or representative organisations who can assist to interpret and provide meaning and context of results.

The outcomes of an effective recovery framework include six key components:

• Country – the environment is healthy and accessible 
• Financial – free from hardship 
• Built environment – safe and adequate housing and infrastructure 
• Health – sufficient access to medical care and professional service or otherwise healthy
• Opportunity – planning for the future 
• Agency – feel in control 

The Tool – Impact Indicators

To support the outcomes, an evaluation tool has been developed to measure the success of a recovery program. The Tool includes a suite of questions designed to measure positive or negative responses, which can be calculated to form a score, measuring outcomes in each recovery domain introduced above.

Impact Indicators sample

Below are sample questions to measure how the community may be feeling after a disaster. The questions are linked to each outcome and sit across all areas’ recovery/community capital.