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Last updated: 25 October 2007
Changing behaviour: A public policy perspective
Commissioner’s foreword
This publication is one in a series designed to stimulate debate about contemporary government challenges. It deals with the challenge of how democratic governments can most effectively influence the behaviour of their citizens. The role of regulating or influencing behaviour is, of course, not a new one for governments—they have long used a range of traditional policy tools, including legislation, sanctions, regulations, taxes and subsidies, the provision of public services and information to modify behaviour in the public interest. What makes the current environment more challenging is the growing number of policy problems where influencing human behaviour is very complex and the effectiveness of traditional approaches may be limited without some additional tools and understanding of how to engage citizens in cooperative behavioural change.
It has become increasingly clear that a major barrier to governments ‘delivering’ key policy outcomes is a disengaged and passive public. In the areas of welfare, health, crime, employment, education and the environment, achieving significant progress requires the active involvement and cooperation of citizens. The rapid rate of growth in obesity, for example, is a complex and serious social health problem. Successfully addressing obesity depends significantly on the motivation and behaviour of individuals and only modestly on the quality of secondary health care.
As a result of the growth in policy problems where influencing human behaviour is very complex, policy makers and programme and service model designers need a more sophisticated understanding of the factors influencing human behaviour. They require a better understanding of how the traditional policy tools can be supplemented by insights from behavioural change theory and evidence at the individual, interpersonal and community levels. The potential payoffs are more effective outcomes, often delivered for less cost, particularly if a longer-term time frame is taken to evaluate the costs and benefits.
Achieving sustained behavioural change can be difficult. The Australian Public Service (APS) is learning from the different theories and empirical evidence on behavioural change and, on a case-by-case basis, from trialling different models for different situations. Learning from other agencies’ experience, including from agencies in other democratic countries, is a good way of developing successful approaches to behavioural change. This publication is designed to help government and public servants make the best choices.
Lynelle Briggs
Australian Public Service Commissioner
Contents
- Government cannot solve complex problems alone
- Improving cost-effectiveness
- Other benefits from enhancing personal responsibility
2. Theories and empirical evidence about behavioural change
4. Behavioural change at the individual level
5. Behavioural change at the interpersonal level
6. Behavioural change at the community level
The need to tailor messages and information
7. A ‘social marketing’ approach
- Take advantage of prior and existing successful campaigns
- Target people most ready for action
- Promote single, doable behaviours—one at a time
- Identify and remove barriers to behavioural change
- Bring real benefits into the present
- Highlight costs of competing behaviours
- Promote a tangible object or service to help target audiences perform the behaviour
- Consider nonmonetary incentives in the form of recognition and appreciation
- Have a little fun with messages
- Use media channels at the point of decision-making
- Get commitments and pledges
- Use prompts for sustainability
Behavioural change techniques used by the National Landcare Programme
