OECD Development Co‑operation Peer Reviews: Australia 2025

Annex A. Progress against the 2018 peer review recommendations

 

2018 Peer Review Recommendations	Progress
1. DFAT should improve its transparency in relation to the timely and accessible publication of activity-level information.	Implemented Australia has introduced new transparency measures since 2018. In 2024, the government launched a new online transparency portal, AusDevPortal, with financial and performance information for all ODA investments. Partners have welcomed the portal. Australia also resumed reporting to the International Aid Transparency Initiative. Some partners have found it challenging to access information on non-grant financing and infrastructure investments, despite the growing emphasis in these areas. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) also now publishes annual Performance of Australian Development Cooperation (PADC) reports online, assessing development initiatives’ effectiveness and tracking progress against set targets, which is also contributing to greater transparency and supporting accountability.
2. In line with the 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper, DFAT should demonstrate alignment of its policy and performance frameworks with the SDGs.	Implemented The 2023 International Development Policy (IDP) reaffirmed Australia’s commitment to the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Bilateral and regional Development Partnership Plans (DPPs) include analysis of progress and constraints to achieving the SDGs; DPP performance assessment frameworks align with the SDGs by including the specific SDG targeted against each performance indicator. The Tier 2 corporate results indicators in the 2023 IDP’s Performance and Delivery Framework also align with the SDGs by including the specific SDG targeted against each results indicator. In terms of reporting internationally on Australia’s progress in implementing the SDGs, Australia has only submitted one Voluntary National Review (VNR), in 2018. No concrete plans have been shared for a second VNR.
3. DFAT should fully resource its knowledge management framework and roadmap to better capitalise on development knowledge produced in the field and to effectively pool the vast evidence generated from its performance reporting, evaluations, partners and research.	Not implemented Since the 2018 peer review, DFAT has made changes to its approach to knowledge management, however fundamental challenges remain and planned work remains in the early stages. Following through on the plans instigated since the 2023 IDP along with the capability budget measure will ensure DFAT implements this recommendation. Important changes that could support this include making assessments of investment effectiveness more widely available and ensuring they focus on learning, as well as greater emphasis on synthesising learning in formats that are accessible to staff e.g. through strategic evaluations together with increased internal and external communication of digested evaluation findings. Australia reports that cross-DFAT consultations are underway to map current and future research priorities and products to further develop an integrated framework for synthesised knowledge management. The outcome of these consultations is expected in late 2025.
4. DFAT should better tailor, brand and resource its communications and development education efforts at home to build awareness of development issues and the 2030 Agenda.	Partially implemented Particularly from 2022-2023, DFAT has taken steps to strengthen development communications, public awareness and education efforts, with new resources allocated under the 2023 IDP. A new Development Communications and Partnerships Section (DCN), established in 2022, contributes to these efforts and facilitates consistent messaging across posts and policy desks. DFAT also refreshed its Aid Communication Guidelines and formally joined the OECD DAC DevCom Network in 2022. Ensuring these efforts go beyond branding and public diplomacy will be important. Domestically, DFAT is in the process of expanding public awareness efforts, delivering campaigns through traditional and digital media including partnerships with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Domestic public opinion research conducted in 2022 and 2024 informs strategic messaging and channel selection. DFAT also reports that a “whole-of-nation” stakeholder engagement pilot engages businesses and institutions traditionally outside the development sector. DFAT is developing curriculum resources for Australian schools on global citizenship, international development and the SDGs to build awareness about international development from an early age. The curriculum content and promotion campaign are expected to be rolled out from October 2025.
5. DFAT should define and articulate tools and mechanisms that will strengthen coherence and complementarity between global, regional and bilateral programmes affecting individual countries.	Partially implemented The five-year Development Partnership Plans (DPPs) are formulated in consultation with partners and offer DFAT a means to foster coherence across the development programme by articulating how global, regional and bilateral programmes will work together and alongside each other, including whole-of-government engagement and non-ODA programmes. The September 2024 update to the DFAT International Development Programming Guide includes an Adaptive Design and Procurement pathway to enable greater flexibility in investment design, including country-specific sub-designs that can be developed under a regional programme. The Development Programming Guide also includes new guidance for ensuring greater strategic and operational coherence across bilateral, regional and global programmes. Interviews and consultations with DFAT staff and key partners, including in Canberra, Timor-Leste and Tonga, indicated the need to further strengthen coherence between regional and bilateral country programmes, noting that this continues to vary significantly across programmes and is reliant on individual staff. It remains to be seen if the 2024 updates to guidance are sufficient to address this ongoing challenge.
6. DFAT should increase its use of country systems on a case-by-case basis and continue building capacity in contexts where country systems require strengthening.	Implemented Australia has increased its use of both sector and general budget support as a proportion of its bilateral ODA since the last review, from 1.9% (2018) to 9.3% (2023). Evaluations of the Pacific Fiscal Budget Support programme (2020-2023) pointed to its effectiveness in supporting partner-led development and supporting country systems in alignment with country priorities. Evaluations also pointed to the effectiveness of Australia's technical assistance to support public financial management capacity strengthening and policy dialogue on economic reform. In the 4th GPEDC Monitoring Round (2023-2026), Australia reported that 100% of its ODA channeled to the public sector uses Tonga's PFM systems, and 92% of Australia's ODA uses Tonga's results frameworks and planning tools. However, in Indonesia and the Philippines, ODA channeled to the public sector does not use any of the country's PFM systems, implying that Australia does not consistently use country systems in its public sector financing.
7. DFAT should clearly communicate how performance assessments of its various partners are consistently used to inform funding decisions including for humanitarian and multilateral partners.	Partially implemented Using Multilateral Performance Assessments, DFAT periodically assesses overall performance of humanitarian and multilateral organisations against the objectives set out in strategic partnership frameworks/instruments between Australia and each organisation, drawing on sources such as the Multilateral Organisation Performance Assessment Network (MOPAN). Investment Performance Reporting (IPR) monitors the performance of development programme investments and implementing partners. IPR comprises annual Investment Monitoring Reports, Humanitarian Investment Monitoring Reports and Partner Performance Assessments of delivery partners, such as private contractors, NGOs or multilateral agencies. On humanitarian assistance, Australia relies on framework agreements such as the Australian Humanitarian Partnership that entail annual assessments of effectiveness, compliance and alignment with Australia’s goals. Australia does not publish the disaggregated assessments of its multilateral partners. Snapshots and aggregate reporting are, however, published in DFAT’s annual Performance of Australian Development Cooperation report. However, it remains unclear how Australia uses these assessments to inform allocation and partnership decisions, which could be communicated more clearly.
8. Australia should re-introduce an ambitious target for increasing ODA against gross national income and set out a path to meet the target.	Not implemented Beyond the Labor Party platform, the Australian government has not re‑introduced a target for increasing ODA against GNI. Based on Australia’s statistical reporting to the OECD, the ODA/GNI ratio has fallen from 0.23% in 2018 to 0.19% in 2024. The government notes that Australia’s ODA/GNI ratio for financial year 2024/25 has been revised down to 0.18% since the initial estimate of the 2024/25 Budget. The government is following through on its commitment in 2023/24 to index ODA at 2.5% annually. This essentially indexes ODA to inflation.
9. DFAT should identify priority policy coherence for development issues in line with DFAT’s corporate plan, in collaboration with other departments and through inter-governmental structures.	Partially implemented Australia continues to advance policy coherence for sustainable development in the Pacific, making effective use of interdepartmental structures to respond to key regional priorities, notably in the areas of labour mobility and remittances. Its progress on transboundary policy coherence issues beyond the Pacific are less clear. Beyond its long-term regional priorities, policy coherence for sustainable development priority issues have not been clearly identified by DFAT, nor have plans been put in place to address them.
10. Australia should continue to make progress in reducing the cost of sending remittances from Australia to the Pacific region.	Implemented In line with its long-term priority to lower remittance costs, Australia has made progress in reducing the cost of sending remittances from Australia to the Pacific. The Australian government has addressed domestic policy settings, for example, by developing guidelines to support greater price transparency among providers. The government has also supported initiatives to facilitate remittance flows in the Pacific and has leveraged interdepartmental structures to secure correspondent banking relationships in Pacific SIDS. Whilst attribution to specific initiatives is challenging, since the last review, the cost of international money transfers has gone down in Australia, and the decline has been faster in Australia than the global average. In 2024, in total average cost, Australia was the least expensive country to send remittances from in the G20, falling from 7.31% in 2020 to 5.35% in 2024.
11. DFAT should ensure it has the capability in place to match the ambition of its development policy, including: • specialist skills in line with thematic, partnership and cross-cutting priorities • development expertise across the matrix structure • using and building up of the skills of locally engaged staff.	Partially implemented The government and DFAT have made concrete investments to address development capability challenges, including additional financial resources. This includes a dedicated budget measure in the 2023/24 Budget, through which DFAT received an additional AUD 36.8 million over four years to enhance the department’s development capability. Training through the Diplomatic Academy has been a particular area of focus, with mandatory training targeting staff at all levels. Relevant training is also accessible to staff from across the Australia Public Service. Efforts to use and build up the skills of locally engaged staff (LES) include a focus on access to training for local staff. However, further maximising the use of LES expertise and skills is warranted to support development partnerships, effectiveness and in line with Australia’s commitments to locally led development.
12. DFAT should strengthen current approaches to how it is seeking to reduce poverty – and leave no one behind – across the range of its development interventions through aid investment plans, guidance, monitoring and evaluating.	Partially implemented The 2023 IDP describes poverty as an important overarching and cross-cutting priority. The policy acknowledges exclusion, marginalisation and poverty as interconnected issues and that marginalised groups are often the ones left behind and vulnerable to poverty. Australia reports that it contributes to poverty reduction through its support for human capital investments and essential services, including education, health, social protection and nutrition, as well as through its infrastructure investments that provide poor people access to essential services, such as water and sanitation, and facilitate economic growth. Some Development Partnership Plans appear to have been based on solid analysis that includes poverty and inequality; however, this is not always systematic. Beyond poverty at a regional level, Australia does not track, through its performance monitoring, the extent to which interventions contribute to poverty reduction and leaving no one behind. This also does not appear to be a central focus of any recent evaluations, including programme evaluations and planned and recently undertaken thematic level evaluations.
13. Australia should increase the focus and level of ODA allocated to the environment and climate as part of a broad mainstreaming strategy and in line with its 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper. Such a strategy should draw inspiration from Australia’s achievements with mainstreaming gender equality.	Partially implemented While Australia has made progress in mainstreaming climate change and environment-related considerations into its programming, based on its reporting to the OECD and use of policy and Rio Markers, its reporting against biodiversity considerations has significantly declined over the review period, according to available data (up to 2023). In addition, while the number of projects marked with climate and environment as a significant objective have increased, the share marked with a principal objective has remained relatively steady. In overall volume, Australia has increased its climate finance, pledging AUD 3 billion in climate finance from 2020 to 2025.