Exploring the Effectiveness of an Energy Efficiency Behaviour Change Project on Well-Being Outcomes for Indigenous Households in Australia

Áron Perényi, Rowan E. Bedggood, Denny Meyer, Phillip Bedggood, Karen Farquharson, Clare Johansson and Gina Milgate
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Áron Perényi: Swinburne Business School, Faculty of Business and Law, Swinburne University of Technology & Group of Energy Efficiency Researchers Australia (GEER), Hawthorn 3122, Victoria, Australia
Rowan E. Bedggood: Swinburne Business School, Faculty of Business and Law, Swinburne University of Technology & Group of Energy Efficiency Researchers Australia (GEER), Hawthorn 3122, Victoria, Australia
Denny Meyer: School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health, Arts & Design, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn 3122, Victoria, Australia
Phillip Bedggood: Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville 3010, Victoria, Australia
Karen Farquharson: School of Social and Political Sciences, Faculty of Arts, The University of Melbourne, Parkville 3010, Victoria, Australia
Clare Johansson: Swinburne Business School, Faculty of Business and Law, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn 3122, Victoria, Australia
Gina Milgate: Australian Council for Educational Research, Camberwell 3124, Victoria, Australia

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 8, 1-18

Abstract: The Koorie Energy Efficiency Project (KEEP) was a Victoria-based, Australian social marketing initiative designed to provide support to Indigenous households so they could better manage their energy bills by reducing or controlling their energy use. The program was delivered by trained, Indigenous project employees who visited Indigenous households in metropolitan and regional parts of the state. During the home visit, they provided an energy efficiency audit, as well as specific energy efficiency tips and advocacy support. Minor draft-proofing products were also supplied to each household. As part of this project, dwelling and householder information was gathered during each home visit, as well as measures of energy efficiency knowledge, behaviours, and well-being of the main householder before and after a home visit. The results indicate that home visits to support the energy efficiency of indigenous households are effective in terms of encouraging new energy efficiency knowledge, behaviours, and broader elements of well-being. Furthermore, the home visit was found to be effective across all home types, but was significantly more effective in reducing energy related stress and discomfort in traditional houses and traditional apartments. These households were also often small and densely occupied. This suggests that when social marketing programs use methods that are culturally suitable and respectful, such as those used in KEEP, they become a powerful tool to help drive social change in Indigenous communities. The authors conclude that such programs in future will be hindered in their effectiveness unless property owners, such as those of social housing, do not urgently address the maintenance of their properties and ensure they provide fit living conditions for the tenants.

Keywords: household energy efficiency; Indigenous households; behaviour change; well-being; social marketing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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