Professor Liam Smith
Monash University
Professor Liam Smith is director and co-founder of BehaviourWorks Australia - an initiative of Monash University and Australia's leading authority on behaviour change.
Liam's work aims to understand human behaviour and how to influence it in order to shape policies and programs that achieve results on the ground. BehaviourWorks has a portfolio of over 700 projects and Liam has personally been involved in more than 300 behaviour of these. As part of his role, he has led the development of a unique research methodology (The Method), which is used to inform, develop and design behaviour change interventions and improve their efficacy.
Liam's specific research interests include spillover (how engaging in one positive behaviour affects the probability of engagement - or disengagement - in a second behaviour), breaking and forming habits and the nexus between behaviour and systemic change. He has applied these interests across a range of environmental, social and health public policy areas.
“I was trained as an ecologist but switched to the social sciences about 20 years ago because of frustration about the influence of the natural sciences on decision making. I wanted to be part of the Biodiversity Council because of its commitment to drawing on the social sciences, in collaboration with traditional natural sciences, to try to make a difference." - Professor Liam Smith
