Membership of Organisations
Q. Which of the following types of organisations have you ever been a member of?
Q. Which of the following types of organisations are you currently a member of?
Q. And which of the following types of organisations have you joined in the last 12 months?
| Ever been a member | Currently a member | Joined in last 12 months | |
| Trade union | 34% | 9% | 2% |
| Professional organization | 28% | 13% | 3% |
| Environment group | 9% | 4% | 2% |
| Religion/church | 31% | 13% | 2% |
| Book club | 14% | 4% | 1% |
| Service organisation like Rotary, Lions, Apex, etc | 9% | 4% | 1% |
| School organisation e.g. parents club, school council | 22% | 4% | 2% |
| Sports club | 38% | 17% | 6% |
| Political party | 6% | 1% | * |
| Local community group | 21% | 11% | 3% |
| Special interest or hobby group e.g. gardening, birdwatching, chess, etc | 20% | 10% | 3% |
| Other organisation | 9% | 6% | 1% |
| Total members | 81% | 56% | 20% |
56% say they are currently members of an organisation and 20% say they have joined an organisation in the last 12 months. The most popular types of organisations are sports clubs (17% members) religions/churches (13%) and professional organisations (13%). Membership of organisations is slightly lower for those aged under 35 (53%) and a little higher for those aged 55+ (58%). 59% of men and 53% of women say they are members of an organisation.
Trust in various Australian institutions
Q. How much trust do you have in the following institutions?
| Total Trust | Total No Trust | A lot of trust | Some trust | A little trust | No trust | Don’t know | ||
| The High Court | 72% | 19% | 33% | 39% | 13% | 6% | 10% | |
| The Reserve Bank | 67% | 24% | 23% | 44% | 17% | 7% | 10% | |
| Courts in general | 65% | 26% | 19% | 46% | 18% | 8% | 9% | |
| Charitable organisations | 61% | 30% | 18% | 43% | 22% | 8% | 9% | |
| Federal Parliament | 55% | 36% | 15% | 40% | 21% | 15% | 10% | |
| The ABC | 46% | 44% | 12% | 34% | 31% | 13% | 10% | |
| Environment groups | 45% | 46% | 11% | 34% | 28% | 18% | 9% | |
| Trade unions | 39% | 52% | 10% | 29% | 30% | 22% | 10% | |
| Business groups | 38% | 51% | 6% | 32% | 34% | 17% | 10% | |
| Religious organisations | 29% | 62% | 9% | 20% | 27% | 35% | 9% | |
| Please note: ‘Total Trust’ is an aggregate figure achieved by adding ‘A lot of trust’ and ‘Some trust’ together. ‘Total No Trust’ is an aggregate figure achieved by combining ‘A little trust’ and ‘No trust’. | ||||||||
The institution in which respondents place the most trust is the High Court with 72% of respondents stating that they either have ‘a lot of trust’ or ‘some trust’ in the High Court. The High Court is followed by the Reserve Bank (67%), Courts in general (65%) and Charitable organisations (61%).
Federal parliament features below these top four, ranking 5th with 55% of respondents having either ‘a lot of trust’ or ‘some trust’, followed by the ABC which ranked in sixth place (46% total trust).
The institutions for which respondents had the most distrust were trade unions (52% no trust), business groups (51% no trust) and Religious organisations, which attracted the highest proportion of distrust (62% no trust).
Involvement in Religious Activities
Q. Thinking about your involvement (if any) in religious activities – over the last five years have you -
(This question was commissioned by Network Ten)
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Men | Women | Age
18-34 |
Aged
35-54 |
Aged 55+ | |
| Participated more in religious activities | 10% | 10% | 11% | 3% | 7% | 12% | 10% | 10% | 8% |
| Participated less in religious activities | 7% | 8% | 7% | 4% | 7% | 7% | 14% | 4% | 3% |
| Participated about the same | 25% | 22% | 27% | 24% | 24% | 26% | 22% | 29% | 24% |
| Not participated at all in religious activities | 55% | 59% | 52% | 67% | 58% | 52% | 49% | 54% | 64% |
| Don’t know | 3% | 1% | 2% | 2% | 3% | 3% | 5% | 3% | 1% |
10% say they have participated more in religious activities over the last 5 years and 7% have participated less. 25% say their participation has not changed and 55 have not participated in religious activities at all.
Women (12%) were more likely to have participated more and those aged under 35 more likely to have participated less (14%).
Older respondents were most likely not to have participated at all (64%).
The polling that drives dog whistle politics … and may cure them
First published on The Drum: 01/03/2011
Here is the polling that is driving Scott Morrison’s subterranean attack on Muslims, confirmation that a majority of Australians are concerned about their numbers.
For too long conservative blowhards like Morrison have been running agendas that directly reference these findings but because they have remained hidden in a desk drawer they are merely debating an issue.
After much soul-searching, Essential has decided to commit an act of political interruption. We debated whether it was worth giving voice to these attitudes long and hard, but we believe getting this stuff out in the open is the only way to silence the dog whistle.
Q. Are you concerned about the number of Muslim people in Australia?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | ||
| Total concerned | 57% | 50% | 69% | 32% | |
| Total not concerned | 38% | 46% | 28% | 68% | |
| Very Concerned | 28% | 21% | 37% | 12% | |
| Somewhat concerned | 29% | 29% | 32% | 20% | |
| Not very concerned | 21% | 23% | 19% | 27% | |
| Not at all concerned | 17% | 23% | 9% | 41% | |
| Don’t know/Refused | 5% | 4% | 2% | — |
Muslim Migrants
Q. In your view, should the Australian government exclude Muslims from our migrant intake?
(Question commissioned by Network Ten)
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Men | Women | Aged 18-34 | Aged 35-44 | Aged 55+ | |
| Yes | 25% | 21% | 33% | 8% | 26% | 25% | 19% | 26% | 31% |
| No | 55% | 62% | 49% | 83% | 55% | 54% | 56% | 57% | 49% |
| Don’t know/Refused | 20% | 17% | 18% | 8% | 19% | 21% | 25% | 17% | 20% |
25% of respondents believed that the Australian government should exclude Muslims from our migrant intake and 55% disagreed. Those most likely to think Muslims should be excluded from our migration intake were Liberal/National voters (33%) and people aged 55+ (31%).
Download the Network Ten Essential Question of the Week (1.1 MB pdf)
Immigration and Religion
Q. When a family applies to migrate to Australia, should it be possible for them to be rejected purely on the basis of their religion?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Should be rejected on basis of religion | 19% | 17% | 24% | 10% |
| Should not be rejected on basis of religion | 65% | 67% | 63% | 85% |
| Don’t know | 15% | 16% | 13% | 5% |
65% believed that when a family applies to migrate to Australia, they should not be rejected purely on the basis of their religion and 19% think it should be possible to reject purely based on religion. There were no substantial differences across age and gender groups.
Liberal voters were a little more supportive of being able to reject based on religion (24%) and Greens voters were strongly opposed (85%).
Concern about Muslims (pre information)
Q. Are you concerned about the number of Muslim people in Australia?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Total concerned | 57% | 50% | 69% | 32% |
| Total not concerned | 38% | 46% | 28% | 68% |
| Very Concerned | 28% | 21% | 37% | 12% |
| Somewhat concerned | 29% | 29% | 32% | 20% |
| Not very concerned | 21% | 23% | 19% | 27% |
| Not at all concerned | 17% | 23% | 9% | 41% |
| Don’t know/Refused | 5% | 4% | 2% | - |
57% were very or somewhat concerned about the number of Muslim people in Australia while 38% were not very or not at all concerned. Concern is higher among Liberal/National voters (69%) and lower among Greens voters (32%). 72% of people aged 55+ say they are concerned.
Level of concern is related to perceptions of the number of Muslim people in Australia. The table below shows that those who think there are higher numbers of Muslims in Australia are much more likely to be concerned.
| Estimated % Muslims in Australia | |||||
| Total | 1-2% | 3-5% | 6-10% | Over 10% | |
| Total concerned | 57% | 44% | 52% | 68% | 79% |
| Total not concerned | 38% | 54% | 46% | 31% | 19% |
Fastest Growing Religion
Q. Which of the following religions do you think has grown the fastest in Australia during the 10 years between 1996 and 2006, when the last national census was taken?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Christianity (including Catholic, Uniting Church, Anglican, etc) | 8% | 7% | 11% | 7% |
| Hinduism | 3% | 2% | 3% | 4% |
| Islam (Muslim) | 57% | 58% | 64% | 50% |
| Buddhism | 5% | 3% | 4% | 11% |
| Judaism (Jewish) | * | 1% | - | - |
| Don’t know/Refuse | 27% | 29% | 19% | 27% |
57% believe that Islam is the fastest growing religion in Australia. This perception is broadly similar across all age/gender groups – although a little higher for Liberal/National voters (64%) and those aged 55+ (65%).
Muslims in Australia
Q. What percentage of Australian residents do you think are Muslim?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| 1% | 6% | 6% | 7% | 8% |
| 2% | 11% | 10% | 14% | 9% |
| 3-5% | 26% | 26% | 25% | 37% |
| 6-10% | 20% | 19% | 22% | 18% |
| More than 10% | 19% | 20% | 19% | 17% |
| Don’t know | 18% | 20% | 13% | 11% |
17% think that Muslims make up 1-2% of Australia’s population, 26% think they make up 3-5% and 39% think it is over 5%. The actual figure is 1.7% – meaning 65% have over-estimated the number of Muslims in Australia.
There were only minor differences between age, gender and voter groups.
Concern about Muslims (post information)
Q. The 2006 Census figures show that in fact the fastest growing religions in Australia are Hinduism, Buddhism and then Islam. Presently, only 1.71% of the Australian population identifies as Muslim. In light of this information, how concerned are you about the number of Muslim people in Australia?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Total concerned | 50% | 43% | 62% | 22% |
| Total not concerned | 45% | 54% | 35% | 76% |
| Very Concerned | 22% | 18% | 29% | 11% |
| Somewhat concerned | 28% | 25% | 33% | 11% |
| Not very concerned | 26% | 27% | 24% | 32% |
| Not at all concerned | 19% | 27% | 11% | 44% |
| Don’t know | 5% | 4% | 4% | 1% |
After being given some information about the number of Muslims in Australia, 50% said they were still very/somewhat concerned and 45% said they were not very or not at all concerned. This represents a 7% fall in level of concern from the question asked before this information was given to respondents.
All demographic and voter groups showed a similar fall in level of concern.
Politicians Raising Race/Religion Issues
Q. Do you think some politicians raise issues of race and religion for political purposes just to generate votes or do you think these politicians are genuinely concerned about Australia’s future?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Some politicians raise issues of race and religion for political purposes just to generate votes | 61% | 66% | 55% | 80% |
| These politicians are genuinely concerned about Australia’s future | 27% | 21% | 37% | 14% |
| Don’t know | 12% | 12% | 7% | 5% |
61% believed that some politicians raise issues of race and religion for political purposes just to generate votes and 27% thought these politicians are genuinely concerned about Australia’s future.
Those most likely to think these politicians are genuinely concerned about Australia’s future were Liberal/National voters (37%) – and among people aged 55+, 34% thought these politicians are genuinely concerned about Australia’s future and 58% thought they use race and religion for political purposes.
Essential Report
Two Party Preferred: 17 June 2013
In this week's report:
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Essential Report with EMC’s Peter Lewis and Jackie Woods
Comments19 Sep 2012Lewis and Woods talk through this week’s polling numbers: voting intention, leader attributes, drug laws in Australia, and more…
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Ships, trains and submarines — can we build them here?
Comments11 Sep 2012Tim Ayres wishes Clive Palmer and other mining giants would give local manufacturers a go instead of heading overseas.
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Do we undervalue our public sector innovations?
Comments11 Sep 2012Nadine Flood questions whether governments take our science and other publicly funded breakthroughs for granted.
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