The Australian Government honours all those impacted by the Bondi Beach attack on 14 December 2025, including the families and friends of those who lost their lives and those injured.
A National Day of Reflection will be held on Sunday 21 December, the final full day of Chanukah.
On this day, we stand united with Jewish Australians and remember those who lost their lives and who were impacted by this event.
A common theme across BETA’s work this year has been empowering Australians.
Good policy starts with understanding people… Policy decisions informed by high quality evidence and an understanding of people are more likely to work and improve the lives of Australians.
— Secretary, Dr Steven Kennedy PSM – BI Connect 2025
Public Service (Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Appointment 2025
I, the Honourable Sam Mostyn AC, Govemor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council and under subsection 58(1) of the Public Service Act 1999, appoint Ms Victoria Anderson as the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry for a period of five years commencing on 8 December 2025.
Dated 27 November 2025
[Signature of Sam Mostyn AC]
Sam Mostyn AC
Governor-General
While the gender pay gap is reducing in Australia’s private sector, the average pay for women is currently 21% less than for men. BETA worked with the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) to create an Action Planning Tool that supports organisations to reduce their gender pay gap. Our report, A Tool for Action, assesses the effectiveness of the Tool in building confidence, lifting knowledge and supporting organisations to take action. The findings are based on a survey of organisations using the tool and interviews with both organisations and WGEA staff.
In 2020, the Australian Government's Minister for Energy requested an amendment to the National Energy Retail Rules. New rules aimed to simplify power and gas bills for households and small business owners and support consumers to engage with the market to find better energy deals.
But what actually makes a bill better?
How easy can it be to switch to a better plan?
This presentation will take you on a policy development tour, covering 4 BETA projects and showcasing how behavioural insights are saving Australians money.
The NSW Government is using sludge audits to improve the efficiency, inclusiveness, and fairness of public services. There is also opportunity for a whole-of-organisation approach to build on the existing work on specific, targeted processes. In 2025, Heritage NSW and the Behavioural Insights Unit launched the first agency-wide sludge reduction program as part of a broader transformation of heritage services.
Behavioural science has long been at the forefront of the evidence-informed policy movement. The Australian Public Service (APS) has developed a cluster of entities in central departments tasked with ensuring the Australian Government’s policy decisions are made with access to high-quality, relevant evidence. Together these entities maintain strategic oversight of the structures, systems and processes for evidence generation and consideration within the APS.
Behavioural science has already used evidence to make policies more effective. Now the challenge is to bring rigorous, empirical evidence to the routines and rules that shape how public administration itself works. This presentation will cover what practices have been tried, what worked, what did not, and why. In will help leaders decide where to invest in Behavioural Public Administration capability, and equip policymakers with the practices they should adopt, adapt and translate to their administration’s context.