Prompting for a better deal

Many consumers are missing out on better deals on their financial products. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) found low engagement in the retail deposit (e.g. savings accounts) and home loan market (ACCC 2019; 2023).

The Behavioural Economics Team of the Australian Government (BETA) partnered with the Department of the Treasury to:

Freebairn Public Lecture

Acknowledgements1

I would like to thank the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Business and Economics for inviting me to speak today. 

I would like to acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we are meeting, the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung and Bunurong peoples. 

I pay my respects to their Elders – past and present – and extend my respect to any First Nations people who are with us today.

G20 empowering women globally

In October 2025, Australia attended the G20 Empowerment of Women Working Group’s (EWWG) final meeting for the year in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The Working Group aims to promote gender equality, women's empowerment and inclusive economic growth. This year, the group discussed three key priority issues:

Using behavioural insights to tackle youth vaping: A student competition with the University of Melbourne

Vaping is an emerging public health issue for young Australians, with the numbers of young people (aged 14-24) vaping more than doubling from 2019 to 2022-23.

In a two-day competition, BETA and the University of Melbourne’s Centre for Behaviour Change, challenged 30 Master of Applied Psychology students to come up with an innovative and behaviourally informed solution to help young people quit vaping.

Annual Child Safety Statement of Compliance 2025

Our commitment to child safety

The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C) is committed to the safety and wellbeing of children. We remain compliant with the Commonwealth Child Safe Framework and have zero tolerance for child harm or abuse.

We are committed to continuous improvement in safeguarding children, and to regularly reviewing our policies, procedures and practices to strengthen child safety and wellbeing across all areas of our work.