Australia would have a new office for evaluating government programs under a federal Labor government, to improve the way the country grapples with issues such as inequality and climate change.
Shadow assistant treasurer Andrew Leigh will detail Labor's plan to establish an office of the Evaluator General in an address at the Australian National University on Tuesday.
The office, based in the Treasury department, would conduct high-quality assessments of government programs, with randomised trials preferred.
Such trials aim to reduce bias by randomly allocating some people to test out the program, while others - a control group - continue to receive what is currently available.
Dr Leigh says relatively few Australian policies are subjected to such rigorous checks.
"When it comes to social policy, the vast majority of programs designed to help the most vulnerable are grounded more in greybeard beliefs than empirical evidence," he will say in Canberra on Tuesday.
"The alternative to rigorous evaluation is often to ask the HiPPO - the highest paid person's opinion.
"The more we ask the question 'what's your evidence?', the more likely we are to find out what works - and what does not."
Improving assessments of programs will give the government a better shot at dealing with challenging issues, Mr Leigh will also stress.
"As Australia faces challenges such as inequality, climate change, and Indigenous disadvantage, it's time we raised the evidence bar."
Should Labor form government after the next election, due by May, the office would be created by 2019-20, at an annual cost of $5 million.
The Auditor-General, the Productivity Commission, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, the former COAG Reform Council and the Grattan Institute are among groups to have called for better evaluation of government programs.
Australian Associated Press
