Date and time: Friday 27 February, 12.00pm-1.00pm AEDT
Topic:  AES Systems Evaluation SIG: Social Network Analysis for Program Evaluation
Presenter: Matt Healy | First Person Consulting & Brian Keogh | Cobalt59
Venue: Via Zoom. Details will be emailed to registrants just prior to the start time.
Register online by: 26 February 2026

Event description:

The Systems Evaluation SIG invites you to another engaging event on systems thinking in evaluation. This time we're fortunate to have Matt Healey running a session on social network analysis (SNA), a powerful method for mapping and describing relationships between actors in a system. Matt has extensive experience using and training people in SNA, so you can expect practical insights that will help advance your systems practice.

Learning outcomes:

By the end of the session, participants will:

1. Understand the role of SNA in visualizing and analysing network structures to evaluate programs

2. Practice the basic processes of developing a network map and interpreting it

3. Recognize limitations and ethical considerations in network analysis

We encourage you to attend the upcoming Workshop: Practicing systems: Introduction to Social Network Analysis (Online 7 & 14 May 2026) for an in depth exploration.

Presenter(s) details:

Matt Healey

Matt is a Consultant and Co-Founder at First Person Consulting (FPC). Since 2014, Matt has worked on research, evaluation and design projects that span health, social and environmental content areas with clients of all types. Matt’s passion is the exploration of different approaches and tools used in other industries, and how they might be applied in evaluation and design contexts. His latest interest is all things ‘systems’ and what this means for addressing the sorts of needs and problems that we tackle.

Matt has used SNA and other systems methods in a range of projects. This includes partnership mapping and evaluation in public health, exploring barriers and enablers to the repair of household electrical equipment for the circular economy, and design opportunities to improve student physical activity in secondary schools.

Matt has a reputation as an enthusiastic and adaptable consultant and facilitator, known for consistently producing and providing products and services that are both engaging and useful. Matt has delivered both in- person and online training in a range of contexts, including a 50-person evaluation capability building program for the Victorian State Government.

Brian Keogh

Brian is a seasoned evaluation expert with over 20 years of experience developing monitoring and evaluation frameworks for complex environmental, water and social programs. He has led evaluations for the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, NSW Office of Water, and Sydney Catchment Authority, integrating legislative requirements with ecological, economic, and social indicators. His work emphasises strategy mapping and systems analysis, particularly in contentious contexts like water policy where political alignment, regulatory currents, and community receptivity heavily influence outcomes.

As chair of the Australasian Evaluation Society’s Systems Evaluation SIG, he advances context-sensitive approaches, currently applying these to climate adaptation initiatives. Last year he completed a 'social power' evaluation with the Paul Ramsay Foundation. This session leans on this work.

This free event has been organised by the Systems Evaluation SIG 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. 

This seminar will be recorded and available on the member portal for AES members only.

 Seminar start times:

VIC, NSW, ACT, TAS: 12.00pm

QLD: 11.00am

SA: 11.30 am

NT: 10.30am

WA: 9.00am

New Zealand: 2.00pm

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.