The Australian government Productivity Commission's 2009 roundtable was organized around the topic Strengthening Evidence-Based Policy in the Australian Federation, and held at Old Parliament House in Canberra on August 17 and 18, 2009. Participants included government officials, academics, consultants and representatives of non-government organizations. Keynote addresses were presented by Dr Ron Haskins, Senior Fellow of the Brookings Institution, and Professor Jeffrey Smith of the University of Michigan.
The roundtable discussed the principles of the evidence-based policy movement and reviewed how well Australian use of evidence conformed to best practice. It then considered how to improve the availability of quality evidence, and reviewed possible institutional developments to embed good use of evidence more firmly into policy-making. The roundtable proceedings were published to enable a wider audience access to the information and insights that emerged. This volume includes papers by the speakers and a summary of the key points covered in the discussion sessions. The second volume is a background paper prepared by Commission staff and provided to roundtable participants.
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were published to enable a wider audience access to the information and insights that emerged. This volume includes papers by the speakers and a summary of the key points covered in the discussion sessions. The 
