Published on 6 Oct 2025

Evaluation of the Child Link Pilot Implementation

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11 LINDA 1x1 PORTRAIT 1
Linda Gyorki Director Consulting (AU) Contact me
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Paul Houliston Senior Partner Contact me

The Victorian Department of Education engaged Allen + Clarke to evaluate Victoria's Child Link pilot, a digital tool providing key information about children to authorised professionals. Using a developmental evaluation approach, we delivered real-time feedback on user experiences and implementation quality, enabling immediate improvements to onboarding processes and functionality. Our evaluation provided a foundation for evidence-based decisions that enhanced child safety outcomes while supporting the Department in refining this critical safeguarding resource.

Key Takeaways:

  • Our developmental evaluation approach delivered immediate, actionable insights that allowed the Department to make real-time improvements to Child Link's implementation.

  • The test, learn, iterate, and improve philosophy enabled responsive adjustments that directly enhanced user experiences and system functionality.

  • Analysis of over 1,150 survey responses provided robust evidence for targeted recommendations that will support the next phase of Child Link's scale-up.
Allen + Clarke prepared a comprehensive final report summarising key learnings and setting out practical recommendations to enhance the next phase of implementation. This evaluation supported the Department in refining Child Link into a more effective tool for protecting vulnerable children through improved information sharing and decision-making.

A Transformative Digital Tool

The Victorian Department of Education developed Child Link as a transformative digital tool to display key factual information about children in Victoria. This resource was designed to help legally authorised professionals make more informed decisions about children's wellbeing, safety and support needs. With the pilot implementation underway, the Department needed an evaluation to ensure the system was meeting its objectives and identify opportunities for improvement before full-scale rollout.

Child Link represented a significant innovation in child safeguarding but implementing a sensitive and complex system presented some challenges. The Department needed to ensure authorised users could effectively access and utilise the system while maintaining appropriate privacy safeguards. They required evidence-based insights to guide the progressive onboarding of Child Link users and address any barriers to adoption quickly.

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Our Approach

Allen + Clarke brought specialised expertise in developmental evaluation to this project. Our team understood both the technical requirements of digital tool evaluation and the sensitive nature of child safeguarding systems. We recognised that traditional evaluation approaches would not provide the agility needed for a pilot implementation requiring rapid adjustments.

We designed a formative approach grounded in a developmental evaluation that aligned with the Department's needs. This methodology was underpinned by a test, learn, iterate, and improve philosophy that enabled continuous enhancement throughout the implementation process. Our approach included:

  • Real-time feedback mechanisms - gathering immediate user experiences and opinions to identify issues as they emerged. 

  • Adaptive evaluation tools - employing various survey instruments that evolved based on emerging findings. 

  • Progressive reporting - providing insights to the Department when they need them, rather than waiting for a final report. 

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Insights from over 1,150 survey responses

The developmental evaluation succeeded in providing the Department with insights throughout the pilot implementation. We analysed over 1,150 survey responses, capturing a comprehensive picture of user experiences across different professional groups and contexts. This rich dataset allowed us to identify both challenges and opportunities that might otherwise have remained hidden until full implementation.

Our evaluation revealed specific barriers to user adoption that the Department could address immediately, as well as highlighting features that were particularly valued by frontline professionals. By identifying these patterns early, the Department could make targeted adjustments to enhance user experience and functionality before wider rollout.

The impact of our work extended beyond system improvements to deliver tangible benefits for children and families in Victoria:

  • Enhanced safeguarding capacity - professionals gained better access to critical information needed for child protection decisions. 

  • Streamlined service coordination - improved system functionality enabled better coordination between different agencies and service providers. 

  • Evidence-based implementation - our recommendations provided a clear roadmap for successful scale-up across Victoria. 

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