BETA partnered with AFSA on two projects to determine how to best communicate about the consequences of bankruptcy.

In the first project, over 6,500 Australians completed one of six educational tools online that explain the consequences of bankruptcy and then assessed their levels of understanding. A pop-quiz and video were most effective, improving people’s understanding by 27 percentage points above the group that saw no educational tool.

In the second project, we introduced five additional prompts into the online bankruptcy application form. For the most part, including the prompts did not influence applicants’ reporting. We also found the best time to inform people about the consequences of bankruptcy is likely to be before they attempt the application form.