Authenticated Policy Knowledge: An Ethnographic Account of Evidence Use in Indigenous Policy

Expectations for research-based knowledge to contribute to effective and acceptable policy solutions have long been influenced by normative visions of a direct, instrumental contribution of evidence to decision-making. Accordingly, bureaucracies are judged as failing to adhere to evidence-based policy practices or take heed of ‘what works’ in redressing complex policy problems. This chapter contributes to debate through taking a grounded look at the information needs of policy making. Featuring an ethnographic case study of a team of policy staff in the Australian Public Service managing a commissioned evaluation of a government intervention that targeted First Nations Australians, this close-range view details how research and evidence must be made intelligible against the surrounding policy context and to adhere to organisational norms. What policy staff do to contextualise evidence within their policy remit through debating, condensing and distilling information from drafts of the evaluation report—in combination with knowledge gained from across their various policy involvements—shows that what may otherwise appear as an under-utilisation of evidence derives from the need for staff to build confidence in information utilised, and to identify and minimise policy risk in formulating persuasive and credible advice to senior government officials and elected decision-makers.