The Essential Report Archive Read the latest report

  • Apr, 2020

    , ,

    Financial situation during Covid-19 outbreak

    Q. Which of the following best describes your financial situation during the Covid-19 outbreak?

    NET: Agree 13/04 06/04 29/03 22/03
    I do not expect the Covid-19 will impact my income 23% 24% 26% 24%
    I have sufficient savings to deal with a short-term loss of income 29% 28% 32% 26%
    I will struggle with a short-term loss of income, but will get by 33% 31% 23% 29%
    I will be in serious financial stress with short-term loss of income 16% 16% 20% 21%
    Base (n) 1,068 1,069 1,086 1,034

     

        Household Employment
      Total Have dependent children Do not have dependent children In paid employment Not in paid employment Retired
    I do not expect the Covid-19 will impact my income 23% 15% 27% 13% 19% 49%
    I have sufficient savings to deal with a short-term loss of income 29% 30% 29% 32% 20% 34%
    I will struggle with a short-term loss of income, but will get by 33% 39% 29% 41% 34% 11%
    I will be in serious financial stress with short-term loss of income 16% 17% 15% 13% 27% 6%
    Base (n) 1,068 362 706 543 254 225
  • Apr, 2020

    , ,

    Information about Covid-19

    Q. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements about the information you’ve received about the Covid-19 outbreak?

    NET: Agree 13/04 06/04 29/03 22/03
    I feel informed about the situation and the impact on me and my family 71% 70% 63% 64%
    I trust the Government to provide honest and objective information about the Covid-19 outbreak 65% 63% 56% 56%
    The information I’ve received has been clear and consistent 58% 52% 47% 51%
    I trust the media to provide honest and objective information about the Covid-19 outbreak 42% 51% 42% 35%
    Base (n) 1,068 1,069 1,086 1,034

     

      NET: Agree NET: Disagree Strongly agree Somewhat agree Neither agree nor disagree Somewhat disagree Strongly disagree
    I feel informed about the situation and the impact on me and my family 71% 13% 24% 47% 16% 8% 4%
    I trust the Government to provide honest and objective information about the Covid-19 outbreak 65% 17% 24% 41% 18% 11% 6%
    The information I’ve received has been clear and consistent 58% 21% 19% 39% 21% 14% 6%
    I trust the media to provide honest and objective information about the Covid-19 outbreak 42% 31% 12% 30% 27% 20% 11%
  • Apr, 2020

    , ,

    Changing behaviour due to Covid-19

    Q. Have you changed your behaviour in any of the following ways since the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak?

      13/04 06/04 29/03 22/03
    Increased personal hygiene measures (e.g. hand washing) 76% 78% 79% 72%
    Limited attending social spaces, shops, restaurants or group events 76% 82% 75% 60%
    Stopped physical greetings (e.g. shaking hands, kissing, hugging) 75% 78% 73% 60%
    Bought additional groceries to stock-up 37% 38% 41% 33%
    Reduced use of cash to pay for purchases 52% 50% 43% 23%
    Changed working patterns (e.g. changed hours, or working from home) 32% 33% 33% 20%
    None of these 5% 3% 5% 12%
    Base (n) 1,068 1,069 1,086 1,034

     

  • Apr, 2020

    Happiness

    Q. How happy or unhappy are you with each of the following parts of your personal situation? Average rating (out of 10)

      Total Male Female 18-34 35-54 55+   May’19
    My life overall 6.7 6.9 6.6 6.7 6.7 6.9   6.7
    My personal/family life 7.0 7.1 6.9 6.9 6.8 7.2   7.1
    My spiritual life 6.4 6.4 6.5 6.2 6.4 6.6   6.3
    My social life 5.9 6.1 5.8 6.1 5.8 6.0   6.2
    My work life 5.7 6.0 5.4 5.3 5.7 6.1   5.3
    My financial situation 5.6 5.8 5.4 5.3 5.6 5.8   5.2
  • Apr, 2020

    ,

    Performance of Scott Morrison

    Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Scott Morrison is doing as Prime Minister?

    Apr’20 Mar’20 Feb’20 Jan’20 Dec’19 Nov’19 Oct’19 Sep’19 Aug’19 Jul’19
    NET: Approve 59% 41% 39% 40% 45% 45% 47% 49% 48% 48%
    NET: Disapprove 31% 49% 52% 52% 43% 41% 38% 36% 37% 34%
    Don’t know 10% 10% 9% 8% 13% 13% 15% 15% 16% 18%
    Base (n) 1,069 1,096 1,056 1,081 1,035 1,075 1,088 1,093 1,096 1,091

     

      Total Federal Voting Intention
    Labor Coalition Greens NET: Other
    Strongly approve 20% 8% 45% 2% 9%
    Approve 39% 37% 42% 27% 39%
    Disapprove 20% 27% 8% 33% 27%
    Strongly disapprove 11% 18% 2% 22% 15%
    Don’t know 10% 10% 4% 15% 10%
    NET: Approve 59% 46% 87% 30% 49%
    NET: Disapprove 31% 45% 10% 56% 42%
    Base (n) 1,069 333 387 102 122
    • The Prime Minister’s approval rating has jumped up in the past month from 46% to 59% – the highest approval rating recorded for Scott Morrison.
    • The proportion of people strongly approving of the job he’s doing has increased from 11% to 20%, while those strongly disapproving has gone down from 26% to 11%.
    • Approval of the Prime Minister among Labor voters is up (from 19% to 46%) and Greens voters (from 16% to 30%). While support has strengthened among his own voter base, with Coalition voters more likely to strongly approve of him (23% to 45%).
  • Apr, 2020

    , ,

    Performance of Anthony Albanese

    Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Anthony Albanese is doing as Opposition Leader?

    Apr’20 Mar’20 Feb’20 Jan’20 Dec’19 Nov’19 Oct’19 Sep’19 Aug’19 Jul’19
    NET: Approve 44% 41% 41% 43% 39% 37% 40% 36% 38% 39%
    NET: Disapprove 29% 33% 31% 30% 28% 34% 29% 31% 29% 24%
    Don’t know 27% 26% 28% 27% 33% 29% 31% 33% 33% 37%
    Base (n) 1,069 1,096 1,056 1,081 1,035 1,075 1,088 1,093 1,096 1,091

     

      Total Federal Voting Intention
    Labor Coalition Greens NET: Other
    Strongly approve 8% 18% 3% 4% 4%
    Approve 36% 48% 32% 46% 23%
    Disapprove 21% 10% 33% 23% 25%
    Strongly disapprove 8% 3% 13% 5% 10%
    Don’t know 27% 20% 19% 22% 38%
    NET: Approve 44% 66% 35% 50% 26%
    NET: Disapprove 29% 13% 46% 29% 36%
    Base (n) 1,069 333 387 102 122
    • The Opposition Leader’s approval rating has remained consistent this month, at 44% compared to 41% in March.
    • Albanese’s approval among Labor voters remains relatively low at 66%, compared to Morrison’s approval among Coalition voters (87%).
  • Apr, 2020

    , ,

    Preferred Prime Minister

    Q. Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister out of Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese?

      Apr’20 Mar’20 Feb’20 Jan’20 Nov’19 Oct’19 Sep’19 Aug’19 Jul’19 Jun’19
    Scott Morrison 46% 40% 36% 36% 44% 43% 46% 44% 44% 43%
    Anthony Albanese 27% 35% 36% 39% 28% 28% 25% 28% 26% 25%
    Don’t know 27% 25% 28% 25% 29% 29% 29% 28% 31% 32%
    Base (n) 1,069 1,096 1,056 1,081 1,075 1,088 1,093 1,096 1,091 1,099

     

        Federal Voting Intention
    Total Labor Coalition Greens NET: Other
    Scott Morrison 46% 25% 83% 16% 43%
    Anthony Albanese 27% 47% 8% 50% 21%
    Don’t know 27% 28% 9% 34% 37%
    Base (n) 1,069 333 387 102 122
    • 46% of participants believe that Scott Morrison would make a better PM than Anthony Albanese (27%). Around a quarter (25%) of participants don’t know who would make the better PM.
    • A quarter of Labor voters believe Scott Morrison to make the better PM compared to Albanese (25%), up from 13% in March).
  • Apr, 2020

    , ,

    Coronavirus concerns

    Q. To what extent are you concerned about the threat of the Coronavirus in Australia?

      06/04 29/03 22/03 09/03 10/02
    Very concerned 51% 53% 39% 27% 25%
    Quite concerned 37% 35% 43% 36% 43%
    Not that concerned 10% 10% 14% 28% 26%
    Not at all concerned 2% 3% 4% 9% 6%
    Base (n) 1,069 1,086 1,034 1,096 1,057

     

        Age group Location
      Total 18-34 35-54 55+ Capital Non-Capital
    Very concerned 51% 46% 51% 54% 53% 48%
    Quite concerned 37% 39% 37% 36% 37% 36%
    Not that concerned 10% 12% 9% 9% 8% 13%
    Not at all concerned 2% 3% 3% 1% 2% 2%
    Base (n) 1,069 341 342 386 731 338

     

Error: