If you are reading this, chances are you already know about the “Reaching Australian Readers: Testing behavioural strategies to increase recreational reading” report recently released by Creative Australia, Australian Reads and Monash University’s BehaviourWorks Australia.
But, for those wondering how behavioural science can con tribute to reading advocacy, this report features valuable insights on those messages and mechanisms that are most likely to get Australians reading more.
These insights are not only useful for publishers, booksellers, librarians and broader literary industry, but they can also help families and school teachers encourage our children and teenagers to read more for pleasure.
Built upon the findings from the 2025 “Understanding Australian Readers” project, the report targets four priority segments. The first is “Engaged” readers (30.6%), who read regularly but want to read more. There are also “Aspirational” readers (14.7%), who read infrequently but are eager to read more.
Then there are “Lapsed” readers (7.1%), who remember the joy of reading but have lapsed into non-reading. Finally, “Ambivalent” readers (14.8%) not only read inconsistently but further feel uncertain about enjoyment or motivation.
(It should be noted here that “Avid” readers [22.4%] are neither forgotten nor taken for granted by researchers. However, the report seems to have completely given up those “Uninterested Non-Readers” [10.4%].)
The report identifies reading as a Behaviour that can be enhanced by targeting one’s Capability, Opportunity and Motivation. Based on this COM-B model, a list of intervention strategies is drawn from the so-called “Behaviour Change Wheel”, ranging from education, training and persuasion to incentivisation, modelling, enablement and environmental restructuring.
(The last two intervention strategies on the list are restriction [using “rules, guidelines or laws to enforce behaviour change”] and coercion [creating “an expectation of punishment or cost to encourage people to change their behaviour”]. If these sound extreme, just think of traditional schooling!)
To make a very long story short, the report recognises that different strategies work for different people. While some strategies can easily influence those already wanting to read more, other, and more complex and targeted, strategies are required to encourage those feeling uncertain about reading to find more time and incentive to read.
More importantly, the better a strategy can capture someone’s attention and help them see how reading can fit into their busy schedule and remain relevant to their life, the bigger the impact that strategy has.
The conclusion? The most effective strategies are those that can capture people’s attention and help them see reading as a relevant, achievable and sharable behaviour. The corresponding tactics include but are not limited to:
- positive, clear and actionable messaging
- sharing authentic, realistic and relatable experiences and emotions
- focusing on reading as a low-effort, immediately do-able and low-pressure activity
- providing inspirations on finding time to read in our busy life
- providing recommendations on diverse reading formats (e.g. print, digital, audio)
Note: This article was published under the title “Reading: Different strategies work for different people” by Ranges Trader Star Mail on April 7, 2026, P.16.
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