About us

The Centre for Economic Evidence (CEE) leads the development and application of economic frameworks to support evidence-based decision making and improve the wellbeing of the NSW community. We promote and advise on the practice of public economics to advance the effectiveness, efficiency, and equity of government resource allocation.

What we do

CEE’s main functions are to: 

  • Develop and maintain a Performance and Wellbeing Framework to improve accountability, advance outcomes, and elevate consideration of wellbeing in policy advice.
  • Develop, maintain, and build capability in policies, frameworks and tools that support evidence-based  decision making, including business cases, cost-benefit analysis, evaluation, employment and benefits management.
  • Develop, maintain and advise on the use of the First Nations Investment Framework, and provide leadership for Priority Reform 5 of Closing the Gap, focusing on First Nations employment and economic prosperity. For more information go to First Nations Economic Wellbeing.
  • Advise government on the economic merit of strategic initiatives, with a focus on cost-benefit analysis, to ensure decisions are evidence-based and allocate resources to the most welfare enhancing initiatives.
  • Produce high quality public resources on key issues, e.g. First Nations business sector, First Nations women's economic participation and the shadow price of carbon. 

The NSW Government Investment Framework

The Investment Framework provides requirements, recommendations, and guidance for all stages of an initiative’s lifecycle, including development, appraisal, monitoring, and evaluation. It applies to various projects, programs, regulations, and policies, and includes primary guidance documents, technical notes, and supplementary materials.

Read more about the government's investment framework here.

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Evidence Bank Insights

The Evidence Bank is a NSW Treasury led whole-of-government initiative that promotes evidence-based decision making. It supports the collection and sharing of information on evidence practices and policy in New South Wales with the aim of improving quality, consistency, and collaboration within the sector. A report is prepared annually sharing Evidence Bank insights.

Tools and resources


The Evidence Community of Practice (CoP) is a platform to discuss, share knowledge and build capability in the use of business cases, cost-benefit analysis and evaluation. Meetings are held quarterly and open to everyone in the NSW Government involved in evidence-based policy making.

To join the Evidence CoP, or to contribute to a session, contact [email protected].

The Outcome Values Database (OVD) is a library of quality assured parameters that may be used to estimate economic and social outcomes, benefits, disbenefits in CBA and evaluations. The database is intended to supplement TPG23-08 NSW Government Guide to Cost-Benefit Analysis   . 

To access the OVD, please reach out to [email protected]

The Rapid CBA Tool can be used complete CBAs and produce net present values, benefit-cost ratios, sensitivity analysis and distributional analysis. The Tool and accompanying user guide are available here.

Quality Assessment tools have been developed to help practitioners understand and meet Treasury’s business case, CBA and evaluation requirements. They are not mandatory but can be useful to practitioners when designing an approach or reviewing a draft.

Find out more about the quality assessment tools here.

The NSW Treasury Employment Calculator is a tool to help agencies estimate the number of jobs supported by Government initiatives.

Find out more about the NSW Treasury Employment Calculator here.

How CEE can help

To request training on CEE’s policies, or for other general enquiries, please reach out to [email protected].

If you are seeking advice or review on a business case, cost-benefit analysis or evaluation please reach out to your agency economic and evaluation team or program management office, or consult with your Treasury Policy and Budget analyst.

Please see the section on What Quality Assessment Tools are available? for supplementary resources.

For consultation on business case development and evaluation planning for initiatives that impact on First Nations people and communities, contact [email protected]. We encourage early engagement on First Nations initiatives.

For queries on the Performance and Wellbeing Framework please reach out to [email protected].

Last updated: 15/11/2024