Abstract

The aim of this paper is to describe the experience of COVID-19 in Australia, examine the factors associated with whether or not someone had COVID-19, including long-COVID, and relate this experience to broader measures of wellbeing. Data for the paper comes from the 12th wave of the COVID-19 Impact Monitoring series, with a total of 3,510 responses collected between the 8th and 22nd of August using the Life in AustraliaTM, online probability-based panel. The paper shows that females, young adults, and those who live in a household in the middle part of the income distribution have had the highest probability of contracting COVID-19 as well as the greatest number of infections. The paper presents the types of symptoms people with COVID-19 have experienced, the number and distribution of symptoms experienced per person (10.2 symptoms, on average), and experiences of long-COVID in Australia. We also present what would appear to be the first estimate in Australia of the relationship between experiences of COVID-19 and changes in wellbeing from prior to the pandemic showing a complex relationship.

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