In 2018, a Parliamentary Joint Committee recommended an urgent ban be implemented on the use of predictive genetic test results in life insurance underwriting in Australia. This article evaluates whether the moratorium meets the Parliamentary Committee recommendations, and finds that it falls short in key...

This report argues that Australia’s reliance on co-regulatory frameworks that are currently being developed for children’s online safety could see Australia continue to fail children online. It recommends that the reliance on co-regulation for the technology sector be replaced by the introduction of proper, regulator-drafted...

This article argues that to reduce the burden of unhealthy diets, there is a clear need for government-led action to disrupt the balance of power that currently favours commercial interests over public health.

This article details how corporate practices have evolved and changed over the past two decades and gives some definition to what this new political economy signifies for the wider behaviours of corporations producing and selling harmful commodities.

This report explores self-certification models in construction industry trades. In particular, the key features of self-certification in regulated occupations and critical factors that make it successful.

This code of practice has been developed by the Digital Industry Group Inc. (DIGI), a non-profit industry association that advocates for the interests of the digital industry in Australia. DIGI members include Google, Facebook, Twitter and eBay. It is a response to a request from...

This research recognises that changes in the energy systems to reduce climate risks cannot be achieved by government policy alone. The private sector and corporations, especially large corporate emitters, have an important role to play.

It is currently unclear how performance-based payments in network tenders can effectively encourage network members to coordinate their own operations, so a serious game was performed that simulates road maintenance planning to study changes in decision making and the emergence of network coordination. The experiments...

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has released this position paper outlining its expectations for a voluntary code or codes of practice on misinformation and news quality to be developed by digital platforms.

This interactive dashboard releases results in real time from the Survey of COVID-19 Responses to Understand Behaviour (SCRUB). The SCRUB project aims to provide current and future policy makers with actionable insights into public attitudes and behaviours relating to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has already forced many changes on our world and lives. These changes may be even more consequential when the crisis has ended. In fact, we may never return to the world we left behind before COVID, and that has huge implications for...

The COVID-19 crisis has renewed concerns about the dangers of misinformation and its persuasive effects on behaviour. The US response to the pandemic is deeply divided along partisan lines. This study measured the effects of cable news in the US on regional differences in compliance...

This paper provides a data set for public use of roughly 6,000 individuals in six countries relating to beliefs about the pandemic, behaviour change, work and living situations, income, and exposure to the virus, socio-demographic characteristics and pre-pandemic health characteristics.

Discussing a behavioural survey in the UK in early April which assessed why people were or were not complying with Covid-19 lockdown measures, this article argues that effective mitigation relies on intrinsic motivation and people’s individual decisions to comply with social distancing measures.

This report focuses on a number of key issues in the current consumer protection system. The list of key issues is not intended to be comprehensive; rather, the report provides a 'snapshot' of concerns raised in evidence about consumer protections, or the lack thereof, in...

Recognised as the first model of behaviour change specifically designed to help public administrators, BehaviourWorks’ INSPIRE framework is based on a simple mnemonic that describes seven of the most powerful techniques: implementation intentions, norms, salience, procedural justice, incentives, reputation and credibility and ease.

The AEMC has recommended changes to give regulators oversight over a wider range of pipeline services, and to allow all stakeholders, including pipeline users, to have more input into regulators’ decisions on appropriate prices, services and conditions. This would mean pipeline users are better represented...

On 11 October 2016, the Senate established the Select Committee on Red Tape (committee) to inquire into and report on the effect of restrictions and prohibitions on business (red tape) on the economy and community, by 1 December 2017, with particular reference to: (a) the...

The Press Regulation Panel has this week recognised Impress as a post-Leveson Inquiry independent regulator of the UK press under the Royal Charter. This article explains the regulatory environment and the important implications stemming from the decision.

In the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis (GFC), and the catastrophic scale of regulatory failure, much attention has been paid to the various systems of financial system regulation currently in force. Of the total of four financial regulatory systems currently in use, ‘Twin...

The corporate watchdog ASIC (Australian Securities and Investments Commission) is set for a major overhaul that could see it funded by the very companies it regulates. In a consultation paper released today, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, suggests ASIC could be bankrolled according to...

The overriding objectives of the proposed standards are to be flexible and responsive to industry, less onerous, reduce costs for RTOs and less of a regulatory burden for RTOs. Furthermore the national training system is to be industry led, using appropriately skilled trainers and assessors...

The Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA) welcomes the opportunity to provide a response to the Consultation Regulation Impact Statement Proposal for National Licensing for Property Occupations (RIS). This submission is endorsed by REIA’s member REIs, representing 80% of the Australian real estate profession.

In theory the media should diversify a nation’s democracy, serving as a channel through which many different groups can participate in national debate. Yet with the high levels of media concentration in Australia, are we hearing the voices of the many or simply the few...

This discussion paper is part of a review of the broadcaster's self regulation framework, including the setting of editorial standards. The review will examine the processes through which the ABC: Sets standards for itself in its Editorial Policies and the Code of Practice derived from...