Our people

Joyce Cleary

Principal

Joyce brings two decades of experience across government, academia and consulting in the design and translation of evidence for planning and policy decisions.  

About Joyce

Joyce specialises in program evaluation, monitoring and performance assessments, design of measurement frameworks and stakeholder engagement. She is particularly passionate about maximising the use of existing public sector data for effective decision making.

Prior to joining ACIL Allen, Joyce was Director of Insights and Evidence in the Victorian Department of Education where she led the department’s research and evaluation functions as well as a range of public, cross-government and cabinet reporting. Joyce also held a range of public sector roles leading evaluation, data collection, analysis and reporting across social policy fields including early childhood, education, child protection, youth justice and health and wellbeing.

Expertise:

  • Program evaluation
  • Public policy
  • Research and development
  • Stakeholder engagement
  • Government funded services

Recent projects include:

  • Evaluation of state government investments in early childhood
  • Evaluation of a state government information sharing platform
  • Review of service mix, operating model, and future directions for a state education branch
  • Evaluation of an Australian government funded STEM program
  • Quantifying costs to consumers, businesses, and government in complying with Commonwealth and State Regulations
  • Evaluation of new mental health workforce
  • Governance and implementation advice for research and development partnership


Joyce holds a PhD in mental health epidemiology from Deakin University, a Master of Science in Applied Social Research from Trinity College Dublin, and a Bachelor of Science (First Class Hons) in Psychology from University College Dublin. Joyce is also a Board Director of Pathways to Resilience.