CANBERRA, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- Australia's opposition Australian Labor Party (ALP) said it will create a new position in the nation's Treasury to comprehensively evaluate government programs.
The ALP's Treasury spokesperson Andrew Leigh on Tuesday said in a speech at the Australian National University that it would establish the "Office of the Evaluator General" to ensure taxpayer-funded initiatives were working if victorious at the 2019 general election.
"The Auditor General, the Productivity Commission, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, the former Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Reform Council and the Grattan Institute have all called for better evaluation of Australian government programs," he said.
"The test-learn-adapt approach is vital to making progress on major challenges such as wage inequality, social mobility and Closing the Gap."
Under the plan, the ALP would spend 5 million Australian dollars (3.5 million U.S. dollars) on the office annually.
The Evaluator General would conduct rigorous evaluations of government programs and if they were achieving their goals.
"As Australia faces challenges such as inequality, climate change and indigenous disadvantage, it's time we raised the evidence bar," Leigh said.
"At a time when government budgets are under pressure, there's no excuse for continuing to fund programs that don't work."
