WEN x DAE - Better Budgets, Better Outcomes: Embedding Early Intervention and Prevention in Government Decision-Making

Join economists and policy leaders from the Productivity Commission and the Victorian Department of Treasury and Finance for a discussion on the economics of prevention and early intervention, hosted at Deloitte Access Economics.

Event Details

Date: Monday 28 September 2026
Time: 11.30am-1.30pm
Cost: Free for members and non-members, but registration is essential for building access (click here to join)
Location: Level 30, Deloitte, 477 Collins Street, Melbourne  

Registration will close at 5pm on Wednesday 23 September, unless booked out earlier. Tickets are limited, so early registration is essential.

Better Budgets, Better Outcomes: Embedding Early Intervention and Prevention in Government Decision-Making

The event will draw on the Victorian Government's Early Intervention Investment Framework (EIIF) and the Productivity Commission's recommendation for a national prevention and early intervention investment framework. Deloitte Access Economics will join the panel to share key insights from their own work with government and industry in this space.  Together, these will frame a discussion on how governments can identify, evaluate and support investment in prevention and early intervention.

The session will feature presentations from the Productivity Commission and DTF, followed by a panel discussion featuring representatives from all three organisations. The panellists will draw on their expertise and experience to explore opportunities to strengthen evidence-based investment in prevention and early intervention across Victoria and Australia.

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Our speakers

Our speakers bring together perspectives from national and state policy and industry practice.

Dr Alison Roberts: Dr Alison Roberts has been a Commissioner at the Productivity Commission since 2024, working on inquiries into Circular Economy, Care, Business Dynamism and Housing. She co-leads the Commission’s research stream on Health and Social Care, and was one of the lead commissioners on the recent inquiry into Delivering Quality Care More Efficiently.

Matt Donoghue: Matt Donoghue is Director of the Early Intervention and Reform Team at the Department of Treasury and Finance in Victoria, Australia. Over the past 6 years, he led the establishment and embedding of wellbeing impact analysis in budgets through the Victorian Government's Early Intervention and Investment Framework. The Framework tracks outcomes from funded initiatives, with an outcomes report provided to Government in the lead up to the budget deliberations process each year. The Victorian Government has announced funding of almost $5 billion for around 150 interventions through the Framework to date, with these initiatives expected to generate longer-term benefits greater than this funding. Prior to this role, he served as Director in the Office of the Secretary coordinating elements of the department’s COVID response(s) and completed a Master of Economics at the University of Melbourne.

Niamh Keighran: Niamh Keighran is a Senior Economist at the Victorian Department of Treasury and Finance where she works on implementing the Early Intervention Investment Framework (EIIF), including the EIIF annual outcomes reporting process. Niamh leads the Child Protection and Family Services portfolio and the implementation of the EIIF Cultural Safety Framework.

Dr Mike Pottenger:  Dr Mike Pottenger is a Partner at Deloitte Access Economics who advises governments on how to make better long-term investment decisions. His expertise spans cost-benefit analysis, regulatory economics, and the economics of prevention and early intervention. Across his career both in the public service and here at Deloitte, Mike has supported governments in developing social impact bonds, modelling avoided cost models, integrating linked datasets, and preparing best practice guidance materials regarding all of these for public policy practitioners and service delivery partners.

Mietta Richardson: Mietta Richardson is the Treasurer of the Women in Economics Network’s Victorian branch and a Manager at Deloitte Access Economics. She specialises in measuring the impacts of government service delivery initiatives, particularly in social policy, and previously worked at the Victorian Department of Treasury and Finance implementing the Early Intervention Investment Framework (EIIF).

Proudly sponsored by Deloitte Access Economics