The primary purpose of this report is to assess the suitability of the National Women’s Alliance (NWA) model as a vehicle for bringing women’s voices to the Australian Government to inform policy development. More specifically, this report aims to examine (1) how well suited the NWA model is to delivering the objectives of the Women’s Leadership and Development Program; (2) whether recent changes to the model have improved NWAs’ focus and the delivery of outcomes and activities; and (3) whether the model has been adapted by grantees to their particular contexts, and what impact any adaptations have had on meeting the model’s objectives. The report is an outcome of a joint evaluation by the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership (GIWL) at the Australian National University and the Office for Women (OfW) in the Australian Government Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

Our analysis suggests that the NWA model is a suitable a vehicle for delivering women’s voices to government and appears to be largely achieving the intended NWA outcomes. However, this delivery is currently made possible by the free labour of many women, and as a result additional resourcing and support is needed to effectively leverage the contribution of the NWA. Currently, the full effectiveness of the model is constrained by inadequate resourcing and restrictive grant management procedures. Options to address mismatches between the NWA model and delivery of its objectives and outcomes are a key focus of the recommendations.

Examining recent changes to the NWA model, our research suggests that modifications to the composition of the Alliances have improved the focus and delivery of the program objective of improving representation by better including under-represented women. However, changes to the grant management process, while improving transparency and clarity, have not improved the focus and delivery of the program objectives to lift representation. Instead, these changes appear to impede collaboration by encouraging a compliance-based approach to relationship management. Co-designed reporting requirements that are less time-intensive and emphasise flexibility should increase trust between the OfW and Alliances, and will allow the NWA to focus on delivering model objectives.

We find that the model has been adapted by grantees to suit their particular context, particularly the needs, preferences, and priorities of their members. Adaptations involve changes to the activities undertaken by Alliances in growing and consulting with their membership. These adaptations largely appear operationally necessary for Alliances to secure the trust and engagement of members. Adaptations to governance were also observed; three Alliances have auspicing agreements with larger organisations. These auspicing agreements have helped Alliances to meet model objectives by removing administrative burdens and providing additional resourcing for Alliances to represent the women’s sector. However, these resources are provided on an un-costed basis by auspicing organisations and as such, may not be sustainable. 

We propose a range of recommendation to support the optimisation of the NWA’s contribution to the objectives of the Women’s Leadership and Development Program and to help future-proof the NWA model as a bridge between Government and Australian women.