The Welcome Experience is an individualised service that aims to support essential workers to relocate to and continue to live in regional NSW areas that are experiencing workforce shortages.

Project goals

The Welcome Experience (TWE) is part of the broader NSW Government's $25.1 million Essential Worker Attraction Program being delivered by the Regional Workforce branch in the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development. The two main components of the Essential Worker Attraction Program are the Make The Move media attraction campaign and TWE.

This evaluation is limited to TWE and seeks to assess the effectiveness and social and economic benefits of TWE in attracting, supporting and retaining essential workers (e.g. health, education, police, fire and rescue, early childhood) in regional NSW communities experiencing workforce shortages. TWE is delivered by Host Agencies and Local Connectors in selected regions and locations.

The evaluation will cover the period from the initial TWE Pilot (which commenced in 2023 with 8 pilot sites spread across regional NSW) to the present expansion phase (covering 15 NSW regional areas).

The evaluation will include outcome and economic evaluation, with 2 rounds of reporting required - the first being an interim evaluation focusing on the economic analysis (due on 31st March 2025), followed by the final evaluation report which will be due in September 2025.

The findings will be used to inform future service delivery, in line with NSW Treasury requirements, and to effectively communicate that assessment with various audiences.

Scope

This outcome and economic evaluation of TWE will be used to inform future service delivery in line with NSW Treasury requirements. As such the evaluation needs to align with and meet the NSW Treasury Evaluation Policy Guidelines (TPG22-22).

The scope of the evaluation is to provide evidence on the effectiveness of TWE in delivering its intended outcomes, and on the economic value that TWE creates in reducing essential worker vacancy durations and churn rates of essential workers in regional NSW.

This evaluation includes TWE services delivered since the commencement of TWE pilot (8 sites) in 2023 to the present (15 regional areas).

The economic analysis will evaluate ex-post, the total outcomes and net social benefits and value for money achieved by TWE as a whole (i.e., using combined data from all Host Agencies), and include a clear cost-benefit analysis.

The evaluation should also include clear evidence-based estimates of the dollar value that TWE provides, in terms of an estimate of the fiscal value proposition of TWE costs compared to the money TWE both saves and generates.