This project will review existing measures for the evaluation of residential rehabilitation programs, and their relevance for Indigenous programs and identify additional measures, including those which may be generic across Australia and elsewhere, and those specific to particular cultural groups and/or organisations. It will operationalise these measures by identifying appropriate methods for the collection and analysis of evaluation data and conduct trial evaluations using those measures in the four collaborating organisations in order to make recommendations for culturally appropriate evaluation of Indigenous residential rehabilitation services.

This study will lead to a better understanding and evidence for treatment outcomes and processes associated with residential rehabilitation treatment, better practice guidelines for the evaluation of Indigenous residential rehabilitation and improve the capacity of participating organisations to understand evaluation processes and conduct their own monitoring and evaluation.