Dropping out of university is associated with a heightened risk of unemployment or long-term welfare dependence. BETA designed a new behaviourally-informed app called ‘Grok’. Grok aimed to improve university completion rates by growing student resilience through reminding students to connect with social groups and delivering practical wellbeing and study tips. We evaluated the impact of Grok on academic performance, completion, wellbeing and belonging. Despite high rates of downloads and largely positive feedback, overall app usage was low.

Despite email alert systems having a large reach, email can be a difficult platform to spread awareness. BETA partnered with the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) to find ways of boosting the impact of an email alert system. We applied behavioural insights to the email design to bolster its effects, and tested these different design aspects using a randomised controlled trial. Subscribers were randomly assigned to receive an alert with one or more of our new design features (or a business-as-usual alert with the standard branding).

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 and operators and tested the effect of different formats of advice.

Since the launch of ReportCyber, there has been approximately one report made every ten minutes. Many more incidents are likely to go unreported. To better understand how and why people become the victim of cyber incidents, BETA dedicated a section of our research on cyber security (including focus groups, two surveys, and analysis of feedback on the ReportCyber tool) to the topic of experiencing a cyber incident. We found more than half of our survey participants had experienced some kind of cyber incident in the previous twelve months.

Economists play a central role in the analysis and decisions affecting the wellbeing of the community. Yet in Australia, and overseas, women are under‑represented in these influential roles. The aim of this mentoring program was to encourage and motivate more women to continue their university studies in economics and be inspired to seek careers as economists. It sought to achieve this objective by providing students with: a role model, a broader perspective on career options in economics, and insights into the practical applications of economics.

BETA and the Department of Health ran a trial to test the impact of personalised letters from Australia's Chief Medical Officer to high-prescribing GPs prompting them to consider reducing antibiotic prescribing where appropriate and safe. The most effective letter, with a graph comparing GP's prescribing behaviour to their peers, reduced antibiotic prescription by 12 per cent over six months.