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Mid-Term Evaluation

Evidence informed action leading to systems change

Commissioned in 2024 and independently reviewed by a panel of systems-change experts, the Hands Up Mallee (HUM) Mid-Term Evaluation, released in April 2025, shows that HUM’s collaborative, place-based approach is delivering real systems change and better outcomes across the Mildura LGA.

How we measure change?
Our Governance Structure
How we partner with the community?
Data Hub

Why It Matters

Evaluating place-based work is complex. Change is rarely linear, and long-term impact takes time. This evaluation goes beyond outcomes — it explores the enabling conditions that make lasting change possible.

The Mid-Term evaluation found that HUM had strengthened the ways in which partners worked and delivered evidence of system improvement.

The findings highlight that promising shifts are already underway:

  • Early signs of systems change in health, youth services, and government engagement.
  • Significant shifts in how local service providers collaborate with community.
  • Changes in how resources are allocated and shared in Mildura.
  • Increased community confidence in decision-making.
Mid-term Evaluation Report

HUM has made a difference in engaging vulnerable peoples who are wary of agencies as well as giving voice to marginalised community.

Community Member

The Most Significant Change that happened as a result of HUM’s work is the ability for community to have a voice, making members feel valued and that they can contribute to their own community’s future direction and development.

Service provider

Our Evaluation Approach

To ensure transparency and rigour, HUM partnered with Clear Horizon to deliver an independent evaluation using:

  • Use of mixed methods- outcomes harvesting, most significant change, and systems & policy improvement tracking.
  • 106 data sources, surveys, and interviews.
  • Rubrics co-developed with HUM assessed outcomes across three case studies.
  • A panel of four independent systems-change experts convened twice to review evidence and recommend refinements
  • Four joint sense-making workshops with key stakeholders validated findings and pinpointed actions for improvement.
  • National Impact: Findings shared through a four month long national communications campaign.
Enablers of Change

Enablers of Change

Our mid-term evaluation shows that placing the community at the centre drives system change and better outcomes. Guided by our community aspirations, we aim to improve outcomes for children and families in Mildura. Our ‘enablers of change’ form the foundation of our Theory of Change and guide all projects, impacting health, youth services, education, and government engagement across the region.

  • Authentic engagement – Aboriginal voices and community perspectives are embedded, not tokenistic.
  • Transparent governance – Locally-led and fit for purpose governance structures that build trust and accountability.
  • Multi-sector collaboration – Services, government, and community working are working in partnership
  • Informed co-design – Decisions shaped by data, stories and research
  • High Impact activities - that lead to systemic change
  • Continuous learning – Sharing openly and adapting as we go, both locally and nationally.

Our mid-term evaluation shows that for the ‘enablers of change’ to work, the right conditions must exist for community-led, place-based efforts. These catalysts and barriers directly influence systems change.

Catalysts and Barriers of Change

Our mid-term evaluation shows that for the ‘enablers of change’ to work, the right conditions must exist for community-led, place-based efforts. These catalysts and barriers directly influence systems change.

Barriers and Catalysts

Powerful Stories of Change

These case studies offer a closer look at how community-led approaches are creating real, tangible change— from improving access to health services, to creating safe spaces for young people, to shaping early years support that reflects what families truly need. Each case study highlights the strength of local voice, the importance of trusted relationships, and the potential for systems to shift when change begins in place.

  • Case Study

Red Cliffs Project

Helping young children to thrive in Red Cliffs.
The Red Cliffs Project shows how families co-designed solutions to improve early childhood outcomes, leading to strengthened community connections and a successful $6 million funding bid for an Integrated Early Years Hub.
Learn more
  • Case Study

HomeBase Hoops

More than just a basketball tournament.
This free, after-hours basketball program for young people aged 10–17 emerged directly from youth telling us in 2018 they needed safe spaces to hang out on Friday nights. Hands Up Mallee partnered with them to turn their vision into HomeBase Hoops, a program that’s changing lives and reshaping how youth services operate.
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  • Case Study

Active Outreach Covid19 Testing

Making vaccines easier and fairer for everyone in Mildura (Mallee).
The Active Outreach COVID-19 Testing and Vaccination Response (AOCTVR) case study demonstrates how our place-based approach during the pandemic delivered vaccination opportunities to people who would otherwise have been unlikely to be vaccinated, creating lasting changes in how health services engage with the community.
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See all our work

From Data to Influence

The learnings and insights form the Mid-Term Evaluation experience has had a strong influence on the development of the Hands Up Mallee Strategic Plan 2025-2029.

We also translated 230+ pages of the mid-term evaluation findings into 50+ social media narratives to make complex data accessible and influence decision-makers ahead of federal funding periods targeting government, philanthropic, service provider and community audiences.

This campaign ensured stakeholders understood HUM’s impact, strengthening advocacy and commitment towards long-term, community-led change.