Workshop: Informed Decision Making in Evaluation Practice with and for Australia's LGBTQI+ Communities

Date and time: Monday 17 June & Wednesday 19 June, 9.30am to 12.30pm AEDT (registration from 9.15am) Registrants are to attend both sessions. (full day workshop - 2 sessions)

Venue: Via Zoom. Details will be emailed to registrants just prior to the workshop start time

Facilitators: Dr. Gregory Phillips II and Ms. Eva Sarr

Register online by: 14 June 2024, unless sold out prior limited to 25 participants.

Fees (GST inclusive): Members $295, Organisational member staff $415, Non-members $485, Student member $140, Student non-member $226. Students must send proof of their full-time student status to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Please note: Participants will require materials to bring to the sessions including but not limited to various coloured post it notes; white board markers; paper and more. Details will be included closer to the date. 

Workshop Overview

The history of LGBTQI+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and other sexual and gender minority individuals) oppression and marginalisation is complex and spans many centuries. Traditionally, societies have often stigmatised and discriminated against individuals whose sexual orientations and gender identities did not conform to societal norms. However, in the 21st century there is a glimmer of hope, as there has been growing recognition of the need for Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) in service of underserved and marginalised LGBTQI+ persons. In line with this broader social awakening, evaluators —scholars and practitioners alike—recognise that evaluation knowledge, techniques, and practices have traditionally used demographic data collection methods that center the majority (e.g., cisgender heterosexual) and routinely exclude LGBTQI+ persons.
The good news is that this does not have to happen. Culturally Responsive Evaluation (CRE) theory guides evaluators to collectively drive change! LGBTQ+ Evaluation provides clear guidance on how to better conceptualise sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity (SSOGI) during the CRE “select and adapt instrumentation” phase so that Australia’s LGBTQI+ demographics can be systematically included in evaluative judgement.
Language in data collection tools, analytic frameworks in research methods, and systematic inquiry are fundamental to program design and evaluation. Each provides a structured, evidence-based approach that informs decision-making, promotes objectivity, identifies best practices, supports continuous improvement, and enhances accountability. This is why a workshop to build the capacity of AES membership to engage in LGBTQI+ evaluation is crucial.
Despite best practices recommendations from Australia’s LGBTQI+ community members and organisations, Australia chose to ask about sex on the 2021 Census with three categories: male, female, and non-binary. Although nearly 0.2% of the population indicated a non-binary sex, there was massive backlash from the transgender community about being erased by the Census. Not only will the current Census data likely underestimate the gender minority population in Australia, but it also has long-lasting repercussions as trans and gender diverse individuals will be less likely to engage with Federal surveys. This is just one example of structural exclusion and how data collection and evaluation processes that are not led by and conducted with the LGBTQI+ community can lead to inequity.
The workshop's purpose to build AES evaluator competencies to design and implement culturally responsive survey and study tools aligns with the facilitators' expertise. We have a proven track record of conducting professional development workshops on CRE online, including presentations at AEA and AES. The inclusion of hands-on activities ensures that participants will be equipped with the knowledge and skills to apply these tools and ways of thinking to their unique evaluation contexts.
Furthermore, our diverse backgrounds, lived experience and commitments to addressing social inequalities contribute to the workshop's cultural responsiveness. In conclusion, the workshop aims to supplement the AES competency framework and align professional development offerings with current directions in the evaluation profession.
We intend to cover the following topics- how to work with and for LGBTQI+ communities as well as how to collect useful and affirming qualitative and quantitative data from and about LGBTQI+ communities. The purpose of this workshop, therefore, is to build evaluator competency and capacity to understand key terminology to be used in evaluation data capture systems and/or surveys for LGBTQI+ inclusion. Our philosophy is “some data to inform decisions are better than none.”

Workshop Content

We will challenge workshop attendees to broaden the ways they think of capturing and categorising LGBTQI+ data, once they have framed the right Key Evaluation Questions. To do so, this workshop will begin by highlighting the importance of LGBTQI+ cultural responsiveness and community inclusion.

Next, we will facilitate activities and discussions to clearly define the process of and steps to use CRE in collecting and reporting data about and with Australia’s LGBTQI+ community. The session will conclude with an interactive, collaborative activity to teach attendees how to apply this mindset and information to evaluation design, data collection and interpretation, and community engagement, and will provide guidance on how to implement this knowledge in their ongoing and future work.

Facilitators will use different online adult teaching/learning approaches including large group discussions to review and discuss culturally responsive language when collecting data about and with LGBTQI+ people; videos/pictures to illustrate concepts; and small group activities that allow participants to practice how to data capture frameworks and tools with an emphasis on Australia’s LGBTQI+ communities. In addition, resources (i.e., websites, articles) will be offered to provide participants guidance beyond the workshop.

Workshop Objectives

Attendees will learn…

1. the importance of collecting SSOGI data, and of exhibiting LGBTQ+ cultural responsiveness and inclusion in their evaluation work, and basic best practices for collecting and analysing demographic data on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity;

2. common identity categories, terminology, and language that is inclusive and culturally responsive to the LGBTQ+ community;

3. appropriate considerations and approaches for engaging with LGBTQ+ evaluands; and

4. actionable strategies for overcoming anticipated barriers and integrating lessons learned into evaluation design and implementation.

PL competencies

This workshop aligns with competencies in the AES Evaluator’s Professional Learning Competency Framework. The identified domains are:

• Domain 1 – Evaluative attitude and professional practice

• Domain 3 – Culture, stakeholders and context 

• Domain 4 – Research methods and systematic inquiry

Who should attend?

While a basic understanding of CRE and survey design is preferred, knowledge on these topics is not required for participation. Evaluators at any stage (foundational, intermediate, advanced) can participate in and benefit from this workshop.

 Workshop start times

• VIC, NSW, ACT, TAS, QLD: 9.30am

• SA, NT: 9.00am

• WA: 7.30am

• New Zealand: 11.30am

• For other time zones please go to https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html

About the facilitators

Dr. Gregory Phillips II is a Tenured Associate Professor in the Departments of Medical Social Sciences and Preventive Medicine, Director of the Evaluation, Data Integration, and Technical Assistance (EDIT) Program, and Co-Director of the Community Health Research Concentration within the Program in Public Health at Northwestern University. Dr. Phillips earned his PhD in HIV Epidemiology from The George Washington University in 2012 and has spent his career centering the work of minoritized communities, particularly LGBTQ+ communities. He currently leads multiple projects funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as well as multi-year projects funded by the Chicago Department of Public Health to oversee the evaluation and quality management work of over 50 local community-based organizations, with the goal of ending HIV disparities among marginalized populations, particularly sexual and gender minorities and people of color.

Ms. Eva Sarr is an indigenous Serer woman from Sene-Gambia, in West Africa. She is also a 6th generation Australian woman of indigenous Celtic-Scottish and Irish-descent. Her father was Muslim while her mother, Catholic. Eva, a trained public health practitioner, applies pragmatic evaluation skills guided by prominent evaluation theories and methodologies that advocate collaboration, participation, equity, social justice and empowerment. She has held diverse roles including as a manager, evaluation lead, director, commissioner, consultant, and evaluation capacity-building specialist, in the international development, not-for-profit (NFP), Indigenous, State, and Federal Government sectors. Throughout her career,  Eva has contributed to a variety of small, medium, and large-scale/complex health, education, and employment projects and programs, most of which have included various forms of evaluation capacity building. Eva has either led and/or collaborated with researchers and evaluators to design and implement mixed methods projects incorporating rigorous experimental and non-experimental designs such as field experiments, case-control analyses and pre/post assessments, population and program-level surveys, questionnaires, observational studies, cross-sectional analyses, and descriptive investigations. Eva is also the founding director of the Centre for Multicultural Policy and Program Evaluation and one of two Founding Chairs of the AES’ first Multicultural Special interest groups. Like Gregory, in 2020, Eva was named an affiliate faculty member of the Center for Culturally Responsive Evaluation and Assessment (CREA), making her only one of two CREA faculty affiliates, based in Australia.