During the Covid pandemic, the New South Wales (NSW) government enlisted the aid of behavioral specialists to assist in directing the behavior of the populace.
The ‘Behavioural Insights Unit’ functioned as a division of the Department of Customer Service and consisted of fourteen individuals who advised the state administration.
The Daily Telegraph received documents under the Freedom of Information Act that revealed the unit had input on a variety of items, ranging from vaccines to face masks.
During the Covid pandemic, the New South Wales (NSW) government enlisted the assistance of behavioral specialists to assist in directing people’s behavior (pictured, a masked Sydney resident)
Documents obtained by The Daily Telegraph under the Freedom of Information Act revealed the unit’s involvement in a range of issues, from vaccinations to face masks (pictured, a woman gets a Covid vaccine in Sydney)
The unit recommended that the government lessen the public’s negative opinion of the Covid vaccination and its side effects.
It proposed utilizing decimal numbers, as opposed to round numbers, to make the likelihood of encountering a side effect appear lower.
According to records, the unit urged the government, “When describing dangers, use the absolute proportion (i.e. 0.000004%) rather than 1 in 250,000.”
The unit also suggested applying to their egos as a feasible method for encouraging mask usage among young people.
It was claimed that public transportation utilization would increase by 10% if the state administration adopted the message: “Appealing to ego: Real heroes wear masks.”
There were also ideas that QR code check-in rates may be raised by capitalizing on the’surveillance effect’ in retail locations.
The unit suggested that informing store owners that their check-in rates are lower than those of other retailers would encourage them to ensure that every visitor signs in.
There were also ideas that QR code check-in rates could be raised by utilizing the’surveillance effect’ in retail establishments (pictured, a woman checks in with a QR code in Sydney)
The unit predicted a 10% increase in mask use on public transportation if the government used slogans and messages to appeal to people’s egos (pictured, masked commuters on public transport in Melbourne)
Morgan Begg from the Institute of Public Affairs has accused the state administration of deception.
“These documents are further evidence that governments employed extraordinary techniques, including the weaponization of psychological trickery by authorities, to convince the public to accept the inadmissible,” he said.
Professor Gigi Foster, a lecturer in economics at the University of New South Wales and the author of The Great Covid Panic, criticized the government for the’manipulative’ tactics employed by the unit.
“What is shown in the records… is the manipulation of a population by its government, employing strategies that have been found to be very effective in the behavioural economics and psychology literatures,” she added.
Professor Gigi Foster, an economics lecturer at the University of New South Wales and the author of The Great Covid Panic, stated that the unit had assisted the government in “manipulating” people into complying with Covid regulations (pictured, people queue for a Covid test in Melbourne)
She said that it has assisted the government in “manipulating individuals into complying with them” and that the methods used to persuade people to get vaccinated resembled “shoves rather than nudges.”
The ‘Behavioural Insights Unit’ has been compared to the ‘nudge unit’ in the United Kingdom, which is likewise a behavioural insights team that provides the government with reports and analyses to influence policy and enhance public services.
During the Covid epidemic, the ‘nudge unit’ was also controversially utilized in the United Kingdom to influence people’s behavior.