This paper reports on the analysis of a set of representative surveys of the Australian population (the ANUpoll series of surveys) to examine the changes policy attitudes and trust and confidence in institutions over three Januarys – January 2020 at the height of the Black Summer bushfire crisis, January 2021 as Australia was still pursuing a COVID-zero policy and January 2022, towards the peak of the Omicron-wave of the pandemic and as borders had just begun to be opened and restrictions eased.

We find a somewhat surprising level of stability over the period in terms of views on key policy issues. Despite a very large increase in the government’s role in the lives of Australians during the pandemic period, we don’t find any changes in the per cent of Australians who think governments should have a strong role. Furthermore, although there were some declines during 2020 as the pandemic became front of mind, there were no large changes between January 2020 and January 2022 in the per cent of Australians who thought environmental issues were serious, with a high degree of stability on views related to global warming. Views on key policy issues were, however, important in explaining changes in voting patterns.

We also find that between October 2021 and January 2022 there was a large decline in satisfaction with the direction of the country. There has also been a significant decline in confidence in hospitals and the health system, though in absolute terms, confidence still remains high.

This is joint work with Nicholas Biddle and Kate Sollis.

Professor Matthew Gray

Matthew Gray is the Director of the ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods. He has published research on a wide range of social and economic policy issues and has extensive experience in evaluating major government policies and programs.

For zoom details please email naomi.snowball@anu.edu.au