Improving compliance outcomes: an examination of the experiences and practices of EPA Victoria's environment protection officers

In 2012, the Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) developed an education and behaviour change strategy that segmented business compliance behaviour across four quadrants-formed from the intersection of willingness to comply and ability to comply. The assumption was that knowing which quadrant a business falls into would assist EPA and the practices of its environment protection officers (EPOs), to tailor and implement compliance strategies more effectively. But the use of such a framework raises a number of questions. How do we determine which quadrant to place any given business in? Which organisational, contextual, and industry-sector variables most effectively mark willingness and ability to comply? Can behaviours observed in the field serve as predictors of future compliance or non-compliance? And what professional practices do EPOs engage in, and how might these be modified to increase compliance across the quadrants?