Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is a forum of 21 Asia-Pacific economies, comprising more than 2.9 billion people and 60 per cent of global GDP. Strategic is the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT)’s advisory support contractor, supporting Australia’s engagement in APEC by designing and evaluating Australia’s economic and technical cooperation initiatives in APEC and conducting research and analysis to maximise impact and effectiveness.

Strategic was engaged to prepare and finalise an updated Investment Design Document (IDD) for the Australia Assists program Phase 2.  The IDD defined the strategic direction for the program for the following five years in alignment with the Australian Government Development Policy, building on existing successes and taking advantage of emerging opportunities. (Image c/o DFAT image library)

Strategic was contracted to design the second Syria Humanitarian and Resilience Package, develop a Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning system and provide ongoing reporting support to the program.

Strategic designed this service for women experiencing domestic and family violence for St John’s Community Services in Sydney. The service offers the highest quality practical help, empowerment and connection to vulnerable women and children.

AIMS is working with coral reef managers, scientists across the Pacific, and Traditional Owners to use artificial intelligence to monitor the health of coral reefs impacted by climate change and other pressures. Strategic designed this unique collaboration between DFAT, AIMS and their Pacific partners, and also supported partnership building and monitoring and evaluation of the program.

DAWE, as the lead agency in partnership with DFAT and the Australian Fisheries Management Agency (AFMA), contracted Strategic to design a program to combat Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing in Southeast Asia with a subsequent M&E advisory role to the program.

Beginning in 2018, Strategic was engaged by TAFE Queensland as an Associate in the implementation of the DFAT-funded Australia Pacific Training Coalition (APTC). For four years as an ongoing partner in the implementation of the program, our role included: recruitment of the APTC management team; change management from the previous phase of the program; giving technical advice on labour mobility; and organisational review.
(Image: Dion Isaacson for DFAT)

The Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific (AIFFP)’s Digital Resilience in Palau: Addressing gendered harmful digital communications through enhanced coordination, regulation, services and education program (Digital Resilience Program). Strategic undertook a rapid assessment of current Gender Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) issues relating to digital access, availability, and use, as well as emerging cybersecurity concerns presented by improvements in Palau’s communication and connectivity.

We were contracted to deliver the design of the English Language for ASEAN Accession or ELTAA Program. The ELTAA Program will support the Government of Timor-Leste to enhance its English language capacity and increase its ability to participate fully in all ASEAN mechanisms.

Beginning in 2017, Strategic was engaged by the International Centre for Democratic Partnerships as an Associate in the implementation of the DFAT-funded Pacific Connect program. Our five-year role in the implementation of the program included leading the development of Pacific partnerships through two team members based in Suva, giving strategic advice to the board, and facilitating international and domestic dialogue meetings.

Strategic was engaged by Ginninderry – a residential development of 11,500 homes in western Canberra – to design a training and employment program to maximise the benefits of the development for disadvantaged groups who are disconnected from the labour market. These groups included youth, aboriginal, mature aged, long-term unemployed and culturally and linguistically diverse people.

Strategic was engaged to develop an engagement strategy and undertake community and stakeholder engagement for Edify’s proposed solar farm and power station near Forbes, NSW. We planned and undertook bespoke engagement activities with the local community, capturing the views of the community on the project, answered questions, and provided opportunities for suggestions​. The resulting report fed into Edify’s formal documentation for the project approval process.

Strategic was engaged to develop a Youth Strategy and Action Plan and provide structure and guidance to youth-focused activities in the Tamworth region. Through community engagement, co-design with the Youth Council and collaboration with local stakeholders, our team developed a comprehensive Youth Strategy, with summary documents in youth-friendly formats.

Knowles and their sister company, aged care provider Arcare, are expanding into the ACT with a new 98-bed facility in Wright, ACT and a 120-bed facility in Aranda, ACT. Knowles approached Strategic to develop and implement Community Engagement Strategies for both sites, conduct consultation sessions, gather feedback and prepare Consultation Reports to be submitted with the development applications to the ACT Government.

Our team supported CSIRO to pursue redevelopment of a significant parcel of land in the ACT, by leading community engagement for the project and convening an expert workshop on best practice in affordable housing.

We led a process of stakeholder mapping and analysis to enable the Australian Civil-Military Centre to better perform its coordination function.

Looking to expand and improve their Holt aged care facility, RFBI engaged Strategic to conduct the community and stakeholder consultations required to support the proponent-initiated Territory Plan amendment to rezone the site with the ACT Government.​

Ginninderry is a 40-year, 11,500-home cross-border residential development in Western Canberra and the Yass Valley. Consisting of 4 suburbs, this community will eventually house 30,000 people. Strategic has been involved with Ginninderry since its inception over 10 years ago, providing strategic advice and conducting community and stakeholder engagement. We facilitated and chaired the Ginninderry People and Place Group, a representative forum that brings together community groups, businesses, traditional custodians, social services, environmental groups and technical specialists to inform the development. We also lead the project’s community engagement in NSW, implementing a wide variety of engagement initiatives.

IRT is an aged care provider that develops and manages senior living facilities. Strategic was engaged to lead a national co-design process with prospective customers and communities to tailor future facilities to the needs of specific local communities. Over three years, Strategic delivered a national survey and site-specific consultations to develop the findings that now inform design briefs and development applications.

The 160-hectare Wyalong Solar Farm will generate approximately 75 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 27,000 average Australian homes. Strategic developed the Consultation and Engagement Plan, including procedures for managing community expectations, informing stakeholders of potential impacts, providing project information to stakeholders, and registering and responding to feedback.

EG Managed Funds was looking to do a large housing development on the former site of the Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children (RIDBC) in North Rocks, a suburb of Sydney in the Parramatta local government area. Strategic was engaged to manage and chair an Expert Advisory Panel to ensure that the development proposal would represent best practice. We also supported EG through the development of a Training and Employment concept note and Engagement Strategy.

Strategic conducted an evaluation focusing on how partnerships have contributed to development and diplomacy outcomes from Australia-Mekong Water Facility (AMWF) under AWP Phase 2. We examined eight partnerships that were active in 2022 and 2023, with detailed case studies and analysis undertaken on 5 of the partnerships. Our specialists led the team, working with national consultants in Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.

A Humanitarian Logistics Capability Investment Design was approved in 2018 to underpin DFAT's commitment to respond within 48 hours of a request for assistance to simultaneous emergencies in the region. Strategic undertook an evaluation to review the performance of DFAT’s logistics capability and to assist DFAT in identifying areas for improvement for the remaining investment period.

Strategic conducted the Mid-Term Review of the ASEAN Australia Counter Trafficking Program (ASEAN-ACT). Strategic’s team of experts in evaluation, gender and social inclusion and counter-trafficking engaged with government and non-government stakeholders across ASEAN to review the relevance, effectiveness and efficiency of the program.

Aus4innovation is the flagship program of the innovation cooperation between Australia and Vietnam to strengthen Vietnam’s innovation ecosystem, embrace the opportunities of Industry 4.0, and help shape Vietnam’s science and technology innovation agenda. Since 2020, Strategic has been providing bespoke MEL advice to the program, which works across all of Vietnam’s 37 provinces, trialling innovative solutions, building science commercialisation, and strengthening Vietnam’s innovation policy.

The National Koala Recovery Team sought a program logic for the National Recovery Plan for the Koala. Strategic was engaged to develop the program logic, undertaking online consultations with teams across Australia and completing documentation including an outcomes hierarchy, risk management framework, and key performance indicators. 

This project focuses on strengthening CBFM through improving coordination and cooperation among national agencies and organisations and enhanced community awareness leadership and management of coastal fisheries. Strategic has been engaged over the long term, providing program reviews, design and monitoring and evaluation services.

IPPIN aims to reduce plastic waste in the Indo-Pacific region by building a network of Innovation Hubs that convene academia, industry, investors, NGOs and governments. Strategic supports CSIRO with MEL services for the program, including MEL framework development and implementation, data collection and program reporting.

Strategic was engaged by DT Global on behalf of the DFAT-funded Transport Sector Support Program Phase 3 (TSSP III) in PNG to provide MEAL support to the PNG Department of Works and Highways (DoWH). We worked closely with DoWH to develop its first monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning (MEAL) framework, including results framework, tools for measurement, analysis and reporting, and establishing systems and processes to build institutional capacity.

Resilient Clarence is a program that works with bushfire-affected communities across the Clarence Valley local government area to build community resilience and natural disaster preparedness. Strategic worked with Council to co-design a Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Framework for the program and undertook an independent evaluation of the initiative with a strong emphasis on community voice.

The National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA) engaged Strategic to undertake this strategic review in 2020. Our review made 28 recommendations covering eight step-changes in the management of this $1.3b program, all of which were accepted by the NIAA Executive Board.

Strategic assisted the International Engagement team of the AHRC with the review of the AHRC-ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) Engagement Project. We facilitated online discussions with AICHR representatives and the Secretariat and with Australia’s mission to ASEAN.

Strategic was engaged by DOSS to lead a review of the DSP with emphasis on the experience of people living with disabilities applying and being assessed for the DSP, particularly focusing on the impairment tables. This review was used to inform legislative reform. We leveraged our experience in disability inclusion and stakeholder consultation to design safe and accessible mechanisms to enable the fullest participation of people living with disabilities and to deliver a report with a national scope that included a range of ‘voices’, including those less often heard.

CulturalPulse implements EMPR in partnership with the Australian and New Zealand governments to improve remittance literacy and access to financial services for people sending money from Australia and New Zealand to the Pacific. Strategic conducted a mid-term review of the program to assess progress towards the program goal and identify any strategies/changes to the program methodology that could improve the program during the second half of implementation.

The Samoa Disability Partnership Program (SDPP) is a four-year partnership between the Government of Australia and the Government of Samoa, supporting disability-inclusive development in Samoa. Strategic delivered the evaluation, which aims to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of the program and partnership arrangements in achieving the End of Program Outcomes and other key evaluation measures with consideration of the ongoing challenges in the program. The findings will be used by the program partners, including the Government of Australia, to inform the design of any future bilateral disability inclusion programming in Samoa, specifically through the Tautua Program.

The Australia Pacific Climate Partnership is the framework for Australia’s partnerships with Pacific Island governments to deliver climate-resilient, low-carbon economic growth. Strategic undertook the independent mid-term review of this flagship initiative to assess effectiveness, value for money, strengths, collaboration and opportunities for adaptation.

The SIIP is Australia’s 10-year, AUD 250million+ bilateral infrastructure investment into the Solomon Islands, which aims to improve the quality and accessibility of infrastructure to contribute to broad-based, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth in the Solomon Islands. Strategic delivered the Mid Term Review (MTR) to understand the program’s performance during Phase One and inform planning for Phase Two of the program.

Strategic was engaged by the ACT Education Directorate to review the operation of their investment in Community Language Schools. The evaluation included extensive consultation with culturally and linguistically diverse stakeholders, and provided forward-looking recommendations for future investment to the Minister for Multicultural Affairs.

The Pacific Fusion Centre (PFC) delivers strategic analysis and training against priorities identified by Pacific Island Forum (PIF) Leaders in the 2018 Boe Declaration on Regional Security. Strategic delivered the first program performance review, examining relevance for PIF members, including the appropriateness of governance arrangements and effectiveness of operations.

Strategic undertook the 2019 independent evaluation of DFAT’s New Colombo Plan. Our recommendations led to significant changes to the direction and operation of this high-profile Australian Government international mobility program.