Revealed: the secret ‘nudge’ tactic the government used to get you to agree to a lockdown
The NSW Government used the ‘Behavioural Insights Unit’ to guide people’s behaviour
The unit was part of the customer service department during the Covid pandemic
Team advised the government on how to approach issues such as vaccines and face masks
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The NSW Government used behavioral experts to help them guide people’s behavior during the Covid pandemic.
The ‘Behavioural Insights Unit’ operated as part of the Department of Customer Service and consisted of 14 people who provided advice to the State Government.
Documents obtained by Daily Telegraph under Freedom of Information showed that the unit had input on several topics ranging from vaccines to face masks.
The NSW Government used behavioral experts to help them guide people’s behavior during the Covid pandemic (pictured, a masked Sydney resident)
Documents obtained by The Daily Telegraph under Freedom of Information showed the unit had input on several topics ranging from vaccines to face masks (pictured, a woman receiving a Covid vaccine in Sydney)
The unit suggested the government reduce the negative public perception of the Covid vaccine and its side effects.
It suggested using decimal numbers rather than round numbers to make the risk of experiencing an adverse effect seem less likely.
‘When discussing risks, use the absolute percentage (ie 0.000004 per cent) rather than 1 in 250,000,’ the unit advised, according to documents to the government.
The unit also advised a possible way to increase mask use among young people was by using their egos.
It suggested that use would increase by 10 per cent on public transport if the state government followed the message: ‘Appeals to ego: Real heroes wear masks’.
There were also suggestions that check-in prices for QR codes could be increased by exploiting the ‘surveillance effect’ in stores.
The unit advised telling shop owners that their check-in prices were lower than other shops would motivate them to ensure that all visitors checked in.
There were also suggestions that QR code check-in speeds could be increased by exploiting the ‘surveillance effect’ in stores (pictured, a woman checking in with a QR code in Sydney)
The unit suggested that mask use would increase by 10 per cent on public transport if the government appealed to people’s egos via slogans and messages (pictured, masked commuters on public transport in Melbourne)
Institute of Public Affairs Morgan Begg has accused the state government of manipulation.
“These documents are further evidence of how governments used unprecedented tactics, including the weaponization of psychological tricks by officials, to get people to accept the unacceptable,” he said.
Professor Gigi Foster, who is a lecturer in economics at the University of NSW and author of The Great Covid Panic, also criticized the government for the ‘manipulative’ tactics used by the unit.
“What is revealed in the documents … is the manipulation of a population by its government, using tactics that have been found in the behavioral economics and psychology literature to be particularly effective in changing behavior,” she said.
University of NSW economics lecturer and author of The Great Covid Panic, Professor Gigi Foster, said the device had helped the government ‘manipulate’ people into complying with Covid rules (pictured, people queuing for a Covid test in Melbourne)
She added that it had helped the government “manipulate people into compliance” and the measures used to convince people to get vaccinated were more akin to “push rather than push”.
The ‘Behavioural Insights Unit’ has been compared to the UK’s ‘nudge unit’, which is also a behavioral insights team that provides reports and analysis to government to influence policy and improve public services.
The ‘Nudge device’ was also controversially used in the UK to guide people’s behavior during the Covid pandemic.