Date and time: Thursday 25 June 2026, 4.00pm - 5.30pm AEST 
Topic: Does the UK look good in magenta?
Location: online, via Zoom. Details will be emailed to registrants just prior to the start time
Presenter: Ben Barnes | Transport for NSW
Register online by: 24 June 2026

Event description:

His Majesty’s Treasury has a Magenta Book, which is the UK government’s central guidance on evaluation. It was first published in 2011, but has been fully revised in 2026. And it’s good. This session will lead a discussion of what the Magenta Book sets out in its 7 chapters, one Annex, and seven Supplementary Guides. It will discuss what we can all learn as members of the Australian and NSW evaluation community from the core document of our UK colleagues. While the session will not presume any prior reading, participants are more than welcome to read or re-acquaint themselves with some (or all!) of the revised version of the Magenta Book.

Presenter details:

Ben Barnes is the Senior Manager, Safer People at Transport for NSW, leading a team that provides expert advice and governs evidence-based programs to encourage safer road user behaviour and reduce trauma on NSW roads, drawing heavily on process and outcome evaluations for guidance. Ben’s career has been in social research and evaluation, as a private sector consultant, and with the NSW government in the Department of Education and Transport for NSW.

If this seminar is recorded, it will be available on the member portal only.

This event is organised & hosted by the New South Wales Regional Network of the AES. Our seminar series provides an opportunity for you to meet with AES members and others in the evaluation community and to share and learn from the experiences of fellow evaluators.

Seminar start times:

NSW, VIC, ACT, TAS, QLD: 4.00pm

SA, NT: 3.30pm

WA: 2.00pm

New Zealand: 6.00pm

For other time zones please go to https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html

Please ensure you have access to your email address just prior to the start time to access Zoom details. Please also check your email address is correct on your registration form before submitting. Thanks.