Centre for Economic Evidence

About us

The Centre for Economic Evidence (CEE) was established in 2018 to provide economic analysis and advice to promote evidence-based decision making across the NSW government. CEE’s role is to support the NSW public sector to build evidence to help the government deliver its objectives and improve the wellbeing of the New South Wales people. The team promotes and advises on the practice of public economics, to advance the effectiveness, efficiency and equity of government initiatives.

What we do

CEE’s main functions are to: 

• work with agencies to develop a bank of evidence to inform government decision-making 
• establish and maintain an investment framework that supports building and using evidence in investment decision-making (e.g. NSW Government Cost-Benefit Analysis Policy and Guidelines and NSW Government Evaluation Policy and Guidelines) 
• work with agencies to build capability and apply the investment framework consistently across policies, programs and projects
• provide advice regarding, and quality assessment of, public sector cost-benefit analyses (CBAs) and evaluations.

The Investment Framework

CEE supports and maintains the NSW investment framework policies and guidelines, which set the standards for building evidence across the investment lifecycle. The investment framework comprises:

• Business Case Policy and Guidelines
• Cost Benefit Analysis Policy and Guidelines
• Evaluation Policy and Guidelines
• Benefits Realisation Management Framework
• Guidelines for Pricing of User Charges

The investment framework aligns with other NSW government policies and frameworks designed to support delivery of government’s objectives, including:

• NSW Gateway Policy

The framework identifies requirements, recommendations and guidance relevant to the different stages of initiative development, from problem definition through to post-implementation evaluation:

*TPG: Treasury Policy and Guidelines

Evidence Bank

The Evidence Bank is a NSW Treasury led whole-of-government initiative that promotes evidenced-informed decision making. It supports the collection and sharing of information on evidence practices and policy within New South Wales with the aim of improving quality, consistency, and collaboration. The Evidence Bank Annual Insights Report provides further details about the Evidence Bank and an overview of evidence related policies and trends over the past 12 months.

How CEE can help

CEE supports NSW government agencies to meet evidence standards by providing:

1. Resources – to support evidence-building practices, including the employment calculator and evaluation workbooks and resources. We also work with clusters to develop sector-specific cost benefit analysis guidance.
2. Advice – to NSW government agencies, in consultation with agency economic and evaluation teams.
3. Training – including business case, cost-benefit analysis, and evaluation training. We also co-host the business case community of practice.

Please direct enquires to [email protected]