Brunetto, Yvonne, Farr-Wharton, Ben, Hernandez Grande, Aglae, and Onnis, Leigh-Ann (2026) An evaluation of Budge intervention tool entitled Directing Safety. In: [Presented at the International Research Society for Public Management Conference]. From: IRSPM 2026: International Research Society for Public Management Conference, 8-10 April 2026, Perth, WA, Australia.

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Abstract

This paper examines the value of a Budge intervention tool entitled Directing Safety. The tool was introduced to support the behavioural changes required to successfully implement Work, Health and Safety (WHS) and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2024 (WHSOLA Act). The WHSOLA Act places responsibility on Board directors as “duty holders” for ensuring workers are protected from physical and psychosocial harm in the workplace, aligning to SDG#3 and SDG#8. The intervention was developed using the Beliefs - Barriers - Context (BBC) methodology to design “…budges … which target the underlying causes of (a lack of) behaviour change: inaccurate beliefs about the behaviour (change) and structural barriers in the way of behaviour change” (Hauser et al., 2018, p. 20).

The aim of this study was to explore whether a budge intervention tool could educate and guide Board directors towards behaviour consistent with the recent Australian WHS legislation. However there has been mounting criticism about the nudging-budging process because of the inability to demonstrate its effectiveness (Kuyer & Gordijn, 2023; Loewenstein & Chater, 2017), especially when it is used as a single tool of social change (Ewert, 2020) despite the OECD (2018) claiming its growing popularity. In response to this growing criticism Mills and Whittle (2024) have developed an evaluation framework entitled the 4S evaluation framework that addresses previous criticisms related to previous budges lacking scalability, scope, salience and sustainability.

This study uses the Mills and Whittle (2024) 4S evaluation framework (Scalability, Cost-effectiveness, Salience and Sustainability) to evaluate the potential effectiveness of a budge intervention using the following research question.

RQ1: How effective is the ‘Directing Safety’ budge intervention tool in educating and guiding Board directors towards behaviour consistent with the recent Australian WHS legislation?

The methods involving trialling the digital tool on 19 Board directors from mining, energy, education and not-for-profit organisations in Australia using the 4S evaluation framework. Interviews ranged from 22-59 minutes (most were between 22-41 minutes). Each interview except two, began with the participants trialling the tool on a digital platform whilst the interviewers muted and made their screens opaque. Then the 4S evaluation framework (Mills & Whittle, 2024) was used to direct questions.

The findings found high scalability, cost-effectiveness and salience and some evidence of sustainability based on Ewert (2020) and Tummers (2019, 2023) argument that intervention must be contextualized within a broader structural framework to effect systemic change. The implications for behavioural public administration are that when interventions are used as part of a broad policy framework and evaluated rigorously, it provides a cost effective change mechanism to promote prosocial behavioural change.

The limitation of the study is the low number of participants used to evaluate the pilot tool. The recommendation is that the digital tool sits on a government platform that can provide easy access for all Board Directors.

Item ID:	91210
Item Type:	Conference Item (Abstract / Summary)
Keywords:	WHS, safety, governance, work health & safety, budge theory
Funders:	NSW Government Centre for Work Health & Safety
Projects and Grants:	CWHS Strengthening the prioritisation of WHS for Business Leaders (RP_093)
Date Deposited:	06 May 2026 22:57
FoR Codes:	35 COMMERCE, MANAGEMENT, TOURISM AND SERVICES > 3505 Human resources and industrial relations > 350505 Occupational and workplace health and safety @ 80% 35 COMMERCE, MANAGEMENT, TOURISM AND SERVICES > 3507 Strategy, management and organisational behaviour > 350701 Corporate governance @ 20%
SEO Codes:	11 COMMERCIAL SERVICES AND TOURISM > 1103 Property, business support services and trade > 110301 Administration and business support services @ 100%
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