Our Impact

Since 2009, KJ has grown substantially – in the breadth of its programs, in the extent of Martu participation, in the revenue that it has delivered through wages and community support to Martu communities and in its delivery on Martu aspirations.

In 2020, KJ commissioned Social Ventures Australia to consult with Martu and to produce two reports. The first would identify a distinctively Martu set of criteria or outcomes that they believed were the most significant for them and then evaluate KJ’s 10-year performance against those outcomes. 

The second would identify a set of Martu values specifying the manner in which they wanted organisations working with them to operate and, again, assess KJ’s performance against those values.

The first study therefore examines what KJ does – the impact of its work in areas of concern that Martu regard as having priority. The second study examines how KJ operates – whether it works with Martu in accordance with the values that they espouse.

We believe that these reports represent a significant step in Indigenous program and organisational evaluation.  Martu determined the evaluative criteria. Martu led most of the consultations. Martu assessed KJ’s performance. 

This evaluation is presented in the attached reports:

• A Summary Report – key information from the major report on outcomes;

• An Outcomes Report – the major study into outcomes that Martu give priority;

• A Values Report – the study into KJ’s performance against key values.

KJ has employed SVA on several occasion to assist KJ with its evaluation. A Social Return on Investment (SROI) study to assess KJ’s impact was undertaken in 2014. This study serves as a broad evaluation of KJ’s on-country programs. The most significant outcomes for Martu were:

• the reinforcement of traditional authority structures

• the maintenance of connection to country; and

• less time in prison.

KJ’s on-country programs were found to have generated transformative change across the Martu communities, with a wide range of social, economic and cultural outcomes. The achievement of these outcomes are primarily dependent on the engagement of Martu being on-country. The study found that the more time Martu spend on-country, the greater the value created by KJ’s on-country programs.

More information on the social value and other outcomes (which was estimated in investment of 3:1) is available below.