In addition to measuring and reporting on the effectiveness of the Australian aid program, ODE also provides support to strengthen DFAT's internal evaluation capacity.

ODE develops and maintains the department's internal guidelines on how to manage operational evaluations. It outlines the roles of stakeholders involved and it steps users through the process of planning and commissioning an evaluation, preparing a management response and publishing.

ODE also connects program areas to resources that assist evaluation management. This includes:

• The DFAT monitoring and evaluation standards, which outline how to articulate consistent requirements to evaluation practitioners and how to assess whether evaluation products meet a reasonable standard of quality.
• Examples of good practice evaluation products (terms of reference, evaluation plans, and evaluation reports) that provide learning material for use by aid initiative managers and evaluators.
• The Australasian Evaluation Society's guidelines for the ethical conduct of evaluations and the OECD Development Assistance Committee's quality standards for development evaluation, which are the professional standards that guide ODE's strategic evaluations.
• Periodic reviews of Australian aid operational evaluations that consider factors influencing the quality of operational evaluations and lessons for the program areas that commission them.
• A partnership with BetterEvaluation, an international collaboration to improve evaluation practice and theory by sharing and generating information about approaches, methods and tools.

ODE also offers support to evaluation managers conducting operational evaluations. It does this by providing advice; reviewing evaluation terms of reference, plans and reports; participating in reference groups; and on occasion conducting individual operational evaluations. This engagement allows ODE to improve understanding of good evaluation practice. On the occasions when ODE takes the lead on an operational evaluation, it works with the staff most closely involved in managing the activity. This process supports a strong 'learning by doing' culture within the department.

Finally, in collaboration with professional evaluators and organisations like BetterEvaluation, ODE provides ad hoc courses, seminars and workshops on evaluation for DFAT staff.