Australian Government Establishes 'Nudge Unit'

In Australia, the government has set up a unit, which will focus on making subtle changes to government policies and communications in order to 'nudge' citizens into making better decisions and choices for themselves and others.

The new Behavioural Economics Team of the Australian Government (BETA) will follow the ideas set out by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein in their book 'Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness', which outlines the authors' theory that peoples' habits can be changed without government regulation, instead nudging them in the direction they 'should' go. BETA will follow the approach, which has already been used by the US and UK governments, with the latter's Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) now run as a private company.

Housed in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, BETA will be led by Professor Michael Hiscox (pictured) of Harvard University's Behavioral Insights Group, who is returning to Australia to launch the unit. Most recently, he served as the Clarence Dillon Professor of International Affairs at Harvard University, having previously been the university's John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Social Sciences, and Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of California, San Diego.

Commenting on the launch, Assistant Cabinet Secretary, Senator Scott Ryan said: 'Behavioural sciences, particularly as they are applied to economics, can provide fascinating insights into how current policy settings drive or deliver particular responses or results. However, while these tools help us to understand the world as it is, they do not on their own automatically provide the political or public justification for using these tools to change policy, or seek to alter human behaviour. The challenge of generating public and stakeholder consent for policy change remains; it cannot be assumed.'