The Public Relations Institute of Australia (PRIA) has unveiled a new framework which aims to fill an industry gap where Australia’s PR and communication professionals need to better address measurement and evaluation standards

The Measurement and Evaluation Framework was revealed at an industry MasterClass in Sydney yesterday following its official launch in Melbourne.

The framework has been endorsed by the International Association of Measurement and Evaluation of Communication.

In launching the framework, PRIA’s Victorian president, Alex Messina, reinforced the industry’s commitment to ensuring that the ability to measure, evaluate and report outcomes and impacts to be core business for all Australian PR and communication professionals.

“The new framework delivers a new world-leading framework thanks to global expertise of Professor Jim Macnamara from University of Technology,” he said.

PRIA’s national president, Jenny Muir, said the framework includes a new model, as well as a new matrix and guidelines that take an ‘eco-system approach’ to analysing communication within the organisation and the community it seeks to influence.

“In today’s world, PR and communication professionals must be able to speak confidently of the value of their work in clear and measurable terms to all stakeholders,” she said.

“As our eco-system embeds the need for live tracking and the use of comprehensive data sources, it is necessary for us to be able to make the business case for investment in tracking and reporting, and to include this in the cost of doing business.”

PRIA has coupled the launch of the Guide with an initial series of professional development MasterClasses across the country, which will continue as an ongoing education and training program year on year.

Muir added: “It is through professional learning and day-to-day application of the models and tools included in the framework that measurement and evaluation will float all boats across the profession.”

You can download a copy of the new framework here.