The Australian Government has a range of programs available to assist those experiencing drought. But despite help being available, many do not reach out. The Behavioural Economics Team of the Australian Government (BETA) worked with the Joint Agency Drought Taskforce to research the barriers preventing people from seeking help.
We sought to:
• understand the most effective forms of communication about available forms of assistance, and incentives to take up assistance; and
• understand the…
Behavioural Insights Projects
Discover projects applying behavioural science to policy from around the world. Add your own projects, whether completed or still ongoing, to contribute knowledge on BI applications across different countries, policy areas, and topics of interest.
Number of BI projects:
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Legend: Projects status
- Pre-registered project
- Completed project
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Challenge
Students in low-income districts are less likely to sign up to take the Gifted and Talented (G&T) admissions test than their peers in higher-income districts. As a result, fewer students from low-income districts test into and attend G&T programs that could improve educational outcomes and provide meaningful opportunities. To the extent that the city may use sign-up rates as an indicator of demand, and thus where additional G&T programs should be located, low sign-up rates can mean…
BI Project
Using behavioural science to empower Canadians to reduce the risk of wildfire to their homes and…
In line with the Government of Canada's National Adaptation Strategy, this project seeks to further understanding of Canadians’ awareness and adoption of measures intended to mitigate wildfire risk toward the end of supporting and empowering more widespread action. The study is a survey with an embedded randomized controlled trial component.
The survey component of the study aims to address questions such as:
1. What are the barriers to more widespread adoption of wildland fire risk reduction…
BI Project
Encouraging the wearing of face masks in hospitality venues: how to ensure guests wear face masks in…
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, guests were required to wear face masks on entering and while moving inside hospitality venues. To promote this behaviour, self-persuasion and salience techniques were used in this experiment - with notable success. Following the announced relaxation of face mask requirements, there was a decrease in face mask usage, although this was significantly less in hospitality venues that saw interventions than in venues that did not experience interventions.
Why this…
The Program of Applied Research on Climate Action in Canada (PARCA Canada) combines behavioural science (BeSci) insights and methods with robust policy analysis to promote climate action. One of the main areas of focus involves the launch of a longitudinal survey that will, over time, collect data on research questions of interest to the promotion of climate action in Canada (e.g. transportation, home energy use, waste management, engagement with nature, preparedness for extreme weather,…
The problem
Missed appointments are a significant cost to the health care system, and patients who do not attend appointments miss out on valuable care.
What we did
We partnered with the Department of Health and Human Services and several health services to improve patient communications as part of a new Communications Toolkit for health services.
To understand what works, we designed a range of behaviourally-informed SMS reminders and letters to reduce the number of patients who do not attend…
To help improve the impact of cyber security advice for individuals and small businesses, BETA partnered with the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) to design and test different formats of advice. We conducted focus groups and two survey experiments (surveys with embedded randomised controlled trials) to understand whether behavioural insights concepts are effective in shifting people’s intentions to enact safer cyber security practices. We surveyed small and medium business (SMB) owners…
This project (running from 2017-2022) led to the development of a free digital tool, allowing landholders to explore options in the regulated carbon farming market. By providing landholders access to relevant methods, carbon sequestration estimates, and a listing of possible co-benefits, the LOOC-C tool helped demystify a challenging legislative environment for a farming-friendly audience. https://looc-c.farm/
A human-centred design process was championed through the entire development process,…
BETA Survey Series: Towards Net Zero – BETA will conduct a survey series to fill current information gaps and better understand barriers and enablers to making high impact household decisions that limit greenhouse gas emissions.
When firms in the UK do not follow the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Rules or Principles, and consumers incur financial losses as a result, the FCA seeks to ensure customers receive adequate compensation, or redress. In 2011/12, the FCA helped obtain over £150 million worth of redress for consumers. Instances where consumers are due redress do not often receive publicity. Instead, the firm alerts customers to a potential issue, usually in the form of a letter that gives customers…