Brunetto, Yvonne, Farr-Wharton, Ben, Onnis, Leigh-Ann, Bentley, Tim, Franken, Esme, and Sharafizad, Fleur (2026) An evaluation of Nudge-Budge methodology to support the amended Work Health & Safety legislation using a Behavioural Public Administration framework. In: [Presented at the British Academy of Management Conference]. From: BBAM 2026: British Academy of Management Conference, 7-11 September 2026, London, UK.

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Abstract

This paper examines the value of a Budge digital intervention tool entitled Directing Safety using the methodological framework provided by Hauser et al.’s (2018) Beliefs - Barriers - Context (BBC) model and Behavioural Public Administration (BPA) theory and evaluation frameworks developed by Battaglio et al. (2019) and Banko-Ferran et al. (2023). The tool was introduced to support the behavioural changes required from Board members in Australia to successfully implement the Work Health and Safety Amendment Act 2023. The Act places responsibility on Board directors as “duty holders” for ensuring workers are protected from physical and psychosocial harm in the workplace, aligning to an international political agenda, including the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals SDG#3 and SDG#8. The Hauser et al.’s (2018) BBC methodology involves two processes. First, it provides a process for soliciting the existing heuristics and biases to develop new information from which a tool could be built (detailed in Brunetto et al., 2025), and second, it provides a process of using the information to develop the tool. Next, the digital tool was evaluated by 19 Board directors from mining, energy, education and not-for-profit organisations. The evaluation results exceeded the criteria set by Hauser et al. (2018) in terms of using heuristics and a particular format to change choice preferences easily and quickly to develop a useful Work Health and safety (WHS) stewardship benchmark. In terms of BPA evaluation frameworks, the tool meet ethical requirements, was transparent and consequently can be replicated – suggesting that the Budge intervention tool will support legislation to nudge behavioural change. The contribution of the study is that it provides a comprehensive BPA theoretical foundation for developing and evaluating and nudge. It also provides another example of how the BBC methodology can be used to complement legislative agendas to promote and support Board members’ WHS stewardship to facilitate prosocial behaviour change.

Item ID:	94039
Item Type:	Conference Item (Abstract / Summary)
Keywords:	safety, WHS, governance, nudge, budge, public management
Related URLs:	Organisation https://www.xcdsystem.com/bam/program/Yo...
Sensitivity Note:	Paper is being revised for a journal publication
Funders:	Centre for Work Health & Safety NSW (CWHS)
Date Deposited:	16 Sep 2026 23:15
FoR Codes:	35 COMMERCE, MANAGEMENT, TOURISM AND SERVICES > 3505 Human resources and industrial relations > 350503 Human resources management @ 30% 35 COMMERCE, MANAGEMENT, TOURISM AND SERVICES > 3505 Human resources and industrial relations > 350505 Occupational and workplace health and safety @ 70%
SEO Codes:	23 LAW, POLITICS AND COMMUNITY SERVICES > 2305 Work and labour market > 230506 Workplace safety @ 100%
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