Abby Johnston

Abigail Johnston (Abby) has an extensive history as a practitioner of research and evaluation. She has worked in management and consultancy both in New Zealand and the UK, and brings a significant depth and breadth of experience in this field. She has worked in a number of managerial research roles in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors, committed to evidence-based policy and regulation. As a research and evaluation specialist, Abby has engaged with a range of public and voluntary sectors on issues such as health and social care, wellbeing, social inclusion and criminal justice, including the UK’s Department of Health, Home Office, Care Quality Commission, and the Office for National Statistics, and in New Zealand, the Ministry of Justice, the Department of Labour, and MBIE. She led health and safety research and evaluation in WorkSafe New Zealand, where she gained valuable experience working in a newly established entity, building the R&E function for the Health and Safety regulator.

More recently, Abby set up the Research function in Oranga Tamariki. Part of the Evidence Centre’s Leadership Team for 2 years now, she feels it has been an exciting time and an honour to be a part of Oranga Tamariki’s journey, "A new way of working with new services, systems and approaches has essentially placed research at the heart of the Ministry’s reflective learning. What really matters to me is that robust, reliable evidence is used to inform decision-making. On a daily basis my role is about ensuring that decisions made to improve children’s lives are evidence based; that we are able to develop insights into child and youth wellbeing and improve outcomes for  New Zealand’s children, young people and their whānau. It’s everyone’s responsibility to provide a legacy for our tamariki, and the opportunity to make a difference is huge."