Attitudes towards Newstart

Q. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements about job searching and Newstart?

	NET: Agree	Strongly agree	Somewhat agree	Neither agree, nor disagree	Somewhat disagree	Strongly disagree
In Australia, no-one should have to go without essentials like food, healthcare and power	84%	61%	23%	10%	3%	3%
Politicians are out of touch with what it’s like for people having to live off Newstart payments	73%	49%	23%	16%	7%	4%
Increasing the Newstart payment could help people find jobs, by providing funds for transport, internet access and training	66%	33%	33%	16%	12%	6%
The money it would cost to increase the Newstart payments would be better spent on other services	30%	12%	18%	30%	20%	20%

• A large majority of participants agreed that no-one should have to go without essentials like food, healthcare and power (84%) with three-fifths (61%) strongly agreeing with this statement.
• Three-quarters (73%) also agreed that politicians are out of touch with what it’s like for people having to live off Newstart payments with almost half (49%) strongly agreeing with this statement.
• Two-thirds (66%) of participants agreed that increasing the Newstart payment could help people find jobs, by providing funds for transport, internet access and training.
• Only 30% agreed that the money it would cost to increase the Newstart payments would be better spent on other services.

NET: Agree	Total	Gender		Age
		Male	Female	18-34	35-54	55+
In Australia, no-one should have to go without essentials like food, healthcare and power	84%	81%	88%	75%	86%	91%
Politicians are out of touch with what it’s like for people having to live off Newstart payments	73%	71%	75%	65%	74%	78%
Increasing the Newstart payment could help people find jobs, by providing funds for transport, internet access and training	66%	64%	68%	61%	67%	69%
The money it would cost to increase the Newstart payments would be better spent on other services	30%	32%	27%	36%	30%	24%
Base (n)	1,102	543	559	348	374	380

• Participants over 55 years old were more likely than younger participants to agree that no-one should have to go without essentials like food, healthcare and power (91% compared to 81%); and that politicians are out of touch with what it’s like for people having to live off Newstart payments (78% compared to 70%).

NET: Agree	Total	Federal Voting Intention
		Labor	Coalition	Greens	NET: Other
In Australia, no-one should have to go without essentials like food, healthcare and power	84%	89%	82%	85%	86%
Politicians are out of touch with what it’s like for people having to live off Newstart payments	73%	79%	64%	84%	82%
Increasing the Newstart payment could help people find jobs, by providing funds for transport, internet access and training	66%	72%	61%	78%	68%
The money it would cost to increase the Newstart payments would be better spent on other services	30%	25%	38%	22%	30%
Base (n)	1,102	320	387	107	159

• Labor voters were more likely than Liberal voters to agree that no-one should have to go without essentials like food, healthcare and power (79% compared to 64%).
• Coalition voters were more likely to agree than all other voters, that the money it would cost to increase the Newstart payments would be better spent on other services (38% versus 26% all other voters).
• Coalition voters were also less likely than all other voters to agree that increasing the Newstart payment could help people find jobs, by providing funds for transport, internet access and training (61% versus 72% all other voters).

NET: Agree	Total	Income
		NET: Lower Income	NET: Mid-Income	NET: High Income
In Australia, no-one should have to go without essentials like food, healthcare and power	84%	89%	86%	76%
Politicians are out of touch with what it’s like for people having to live off Newstart payments	73%	79%	72%	66%
Increasing the Newstart payment could help people find jobs, by providing funds for transport, internet access and training	66%	74%	66%	57%
The money it would cost to increase the Newstart payments would be better spent on other services	30%	26%	32%	34%
Base (n)	1,102	399	301	275

• Lower income participants were more likely to agree with most of the statements than high income participants.