A common theme across BETA's work this year has been to change the world to suit people, rather than expect people to change to suit the world.
As PM&C Secretary, Professor Glyn Davis AC, said when he opened our BI Connect conference this year:
"It is hard to think of many policy areas where a better understanding of human behaviour is not a good thing. The ability to understand how people interact with policies and programs is important to ensure we deliver sound advice to the government and that we best serve the Australian people."
In 2024, BETA worked with partners from across the APS, academia and industry to tackle cost of living pressures, move towards Australia's net zero targets and improve services for people that need them most. We undertook 10 randomised controlled trials, completed more than 20 research projects and upskilled more than 2,000 public servants. Not everything we trialled was a success, but we learnt from what didn't work as well as what did.
Tackling cost of living pressures
Every year, Australians use international money transfer services (IMT) to send an estimated $21 billion to family and friends overseas. However, it is difficult for customers to compare the costs associated with IMTs to find the best deal. BETA partnered with the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) to design and test changes to online IMT calculators that could help consumers choose better value offers. We found that consistently subtracting fees made it easier to compare offers and choose the best deal. When fees are consistently subtracted, the cost to the customer remains the same across providers and people can therefore rely on the amount received by the recipient – a common heuristic – to accurately guide them to the highest value offer. ACCC has estimated that these improvements to IMT calculators could save consumers $200 million per annum.
BETA is also partnering with The Treasury to support their advice on the government' response to the ACCC's Retail Deposits Inquiry and Home Loan Price Inquiry. For both retail deposits and home loans, the ACCC recommended that prompts be considered as a tool to encourage consumers to explore whether they would benefit from switching to alternative products. BETA is working with Treasury to:
- Identify the relevant behavioural factors in the decision-making related to switching products
- Understand the utility of prompts to encourage consumer engagement with the market and determine what prompt designs may be effective in this context
- Understand the barriers and enablers consumers experience when switching products and identify additional interventions which may also improve consumer outcomes
We look forward to sharing our findings later in 2025 and helping to achieve better outcomes for Australian consumers.
Moving towards net zero and supporting engagement in the energy market
Home energy upgrades can reduce the running cost and greenhouse gas emissions of a home, while increasing the comfort for occupants. However, the journey to making upgrades can be complex and difficult to navigate. BETA partnered with DCCEEW to run 5 randomised controlled trials embedded in survey experiments, to test which interventions can empower homeowners to upgrade their home's energy performance. This work is referenced in the newly released Home Energy Ratings Disclosure Framework.
BETA also partnered with the Australian Energy Regulator to understand the impact of the Better Bills Guideline on consumers' comprehension of bill content and their confidence to engage in the energy market. We undertook a mix of three research activities:
- Monitored Energy Made Easy usage: We embedded a pop-up survey on the results page of the Energy Made Easy (EME) comparison tool. The survey asked what brought visitors to the EME website, including whether they saw it referenced on their bill.
- Interviewed consumers and collected eye tracking data: We worked with a provider to conduct interviews and collect eye tracking data from participants looking at their energy bills before and after implementation of the Guideline. Participants also responded to questions about how easy they found the bill to navigate, use and make decisions with.
- Ran an expert review activity: We invited energy consumer experts to review and rate retailers' pre- and post-implementation bills on a range of metrics relevant to the goals of the Better Bills Guideline.
Keep an eye on the BETA website in early 2025 or subscribe to our newsletter to see how effective the Better Bills Guideline has been in simplifying and clarifying bills to support consumer comprehension, and consumer engagement in the energy market.
Improving services
BETA worked with the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations to understand the impact of the new entitlement for 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave. We found that the leave entitlement not only provides meaningful support for victim-survivors in crisis but also has the potential to reduce workplace stigma and discrimination. BETA's research informed the Independent Review of family and domestic violence leave and will inform further work to increase awareness and support take-up of the leave entitlement.
All government agencies collect employee data, including disability information, in HR systems. The decision to share disability information is a personal one and there are organisational, systemic and personal barriers to doing so. BETA worked with the Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) to improve communications to APS employees about disability information collection. We tested four communications and found that clear and complete information about data collection and data use reduced employees' uncertainty about sharing their information, while preserving autonomy to decide what is right for themselves.
Sharing knowledge and building capability
Building capability of the APS is a key pillar of BETA's mission and this year we continued to add to our service offering. With support from the APSC's Capability Reinvestment Fund, BETA partnered with the Australian Centre of Evaluation, the Department of Workplace Relations, and Services Australia to deliver a suite of e-learning courses to upskill APS officers in evaluation. Launching in August this year, four courses are now available on the APS Academy: Evaluation, Program logic, Benefits management and Randomisation.
Lastly, thank you for joining us at BI Connect 2024, our conference showcasing the latest behavioural insights research and its application. More than 1,000 participants heard from presenters about the latest innovations in behavioural science methodologies, how behavioural science is helping tackle the cost of living pressures, and about best practice in working with traditionally under-served cohorts. Our big thanks to all the presenters who shared their learnings and innovative methodologies and made BI Connect 2024 possible. Recordings of the sessions can be found on our website.
Thank you
We thank our incredible project partners, our expert Academic Advisory Panel and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet for all their support. Together, we can be proud of the work we have done to generate evidence for what works and the contribution we have made to improving the lives of Australians.
We wish you an enjoyable break and look forward to working with you in 2025.