Strategic Planning and Cost-Benefit Analysis

The firm at a glance

Legal entity

Cobalt59 Pty Ltd

ABN

53 613 360 348

Structure

Proprietary limited company

Established

2016

Team size

6 practitioners

Location

Earlwood NSW

Relevant experience

1. Arts House - City of Melbourne

   Strategy and business planning

   Arts House runs multiple venues in the heritage listed building complexes of the North Melbourne Town Hall and Metropolitan Meat Markets. Arts House presents a curated program of contemporary art featuring performances, exhibitions, live art, installations,and cultural events. They program three 440-850 seat plus venues, provide office and rehearsal space for a wide variety of artists, and run a box office and various food venues. Arts House also commissions new works.

   Arts & culture

2. Catchment‑to‑Tap Risk Assessment

   Clarence Valley Coffs Harbour Water Grid

   The Clarence Valley and Coffs Harbour Regional Water Supply Scheme is a major shared water infrastructure system linking the Nymboida River, Shannon Creek Dam and the bulk supply networks serving both council areas. As a long-life regional asset designed to secure water supply for a growing population, it required a structured risk assessment to identify operational, governance and system risks and support better joint decision-making across the scheme.

   Water

3. City Recital Hall

   Benchmarking & Business Development

   The City Recital Hall (Angel Place, Sydney) has a capacity of 1,238 seats and was designed for sound quality. The quality of sound enhances enjoyment by audiences of soloists, chamber musicians, popular musicians and spoken word. While the primary income of the City Recital Hall is providing a venue for concerts, it has important additional income streams through corporate hire, community events, box office and catering.

   Arts & culture

4. Eurobodalla Shire Water Storage

   Cost benefit analysis for new water storage

   Cobalt59, with Clearwater and economist Rod McInnes, was commissioned by Eurobodalla Shire Council to do a cost benefit analysis for the new off stream southern water storage, drawing on storm flows from the Tuross River.

   Water

5. Fish for the Future

   Northern Basin Toolkit Feasibility (NSW Fisheries)

   The Murray–Darling Basin Plan created a Northern Basin “toolkit” of non‑flow measures to complement water recovery and improve ecological outcomes, particularly for native fish. NSW Fisheries needed a feasibility proposal fora Fish for the Future Integrated Works Program that could secure Commonwealth investment by clearly demonstrating how a coordinated package of works would meet the Basin Plan’s environmental objectives and Northern Basin Review criteria.

   Water · Environment

6. National Music Festival Western Sydney

   Business case through to production company tender

   A new music festival and conference was imagined for Western Sydney (WS).

   Arts & culture

7. Parramasala

   Strategic Business Case Development

   Parramasala is an arts and cultural festival in Parramatta that aspires to be the first nationally significant arts and cultural festival based in Western Sydney.

   Arts & culture

8. Productive Use of Industrial Wastewater

   Turning mill effluent into farm profit

   An industrial paper mill near Albury needed a lessee for its Maryvale and Rosevale farms who could safely and productively use treated wastewater for irrigation. After treatment, this wastewater is high in nitrogen and phosphorous. It cannot be disposed in the Murray River because it accelerates algal growth, leading to oxygen crashes and fish kills. Irrigation use with a strict and supervised program of growth and crash feeding is very successful in the right hands.

   Waste & circular economy · Water

Services applied

• Strategic Planning and Cost-Benefit Analysis
• Stakeholder Engagement and Co-Design
• Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting (MER)
• Program and Policy Evaluation

Practitioners

• Brian Keogh — Director | Evaluation & Strategy · MEval, BSc; 20+ years evaluation practice
• Dr Kara Scally-Irvine — Evaluation Specialist | Systems & Impact · PhD; 20+ years research, monitoring and evaluation
• Rod McInnes — Senior Economist · MEc; 25+ years water and resource economics
• Sue Donnelly — Senior Consultant | Arts Leadership, Governance & Social Policy · BSW; 30+ years arts leadership and social policy
• Beth Medway — Principal Consultant | Environment · MEnvPlan; 25+ years environmental assessment and planning
• Julieanne Campbell — Director | Strategy, Leadership & Stakeholder Engagement · MBA; 25+ years not-for-profit leadership

Insurances

Certificates of currency available on request.

Memberships and panels

• Australian Evaluation Society — organisational member
• Australian Water Association — corporate member
• NSW Government Performance and Management Services Scheme (SCM0005) — panel supplier

Capacity

Able to mobilise a three-person evaluation team within four weeks, with surge capacity through established associate arrangements.

Referees

• Sample Referee One — Director, Evaluation, Sample Government Agency · Available on request
• Sample Referee Two — Manager, Water Planning, Sample Water Utility · Available on request

Selected publications

• Scally-Irvine, K., Elliott, J., Hawkins, A. and Keogh, B. (2025), AES Systems Special Interest Group, June 2025.
• Keogh, B. and Maloney, J. (2025), Australian Evaluation Society International Conference, Canberra, September 2025.
• Elliott, J., Hawkins, A., Keogh, B. and Scally-Irvine, K. (2024), AES Systems Special Interest Group, February 2024.
• Renger, R., Keogh, B. and Atkinson, L. (2024), online workshop, Australian Evaluation Society.