Essential Report
Federal government response to Covid-19
Q. Overall, how would you rate the federal government’s response to the Covid-19 outbreak?
19/07 | 05/07 | 07/06 | 24/05 | 12/04 | 15/03 | 01/03 | 15/02 | 01/02 | 30/11 | 16/11 | 02/11 | 05/10 | |
Very poor | 13% | 12% | 10% | 6% | 7% | 5% | 6% | 5% | 4% | 6% | 5% | 5% | 5% |
Quite poor | 19% | 17% | 14% | 12% | 10% | 7% | 8% | 7% | 11% | 8% | 9% | 10% | 12% |
Neither good nor poor | 23% | 26% | 22% | 25% | 21% | 18% | 24% | 19% | 19% | 19% | 18% | 24% | 22% |
Quite good | 32% | 33% | 38% | 40% | 40% | 39% | 39% | 42% | 42% | 41% | 41% | 39% | 39% |
Very good | 14% | 11% | 15% | 18% | 22% | 31% | 23% | 27% | 25% | 26% | 26% | 22% | 21% |
TOTAL: Poor | 31% | 30% | 24% | 18% | 17% | 12% | 14% | 12% | 14% | 13% | 15% | 15% | 18% |
TOTAL: Good | 46% | 44% | 53% | 58% | 62% | 70% | 62% | 69% | 67% | 67% | 67% | 61% | 60% |
Base (n) | 1,100 | 1,099 | 1,104 | 1,100 | 1,368 | 1,124 | 1,074 | 1,109 | 1,092 | 1,034 | 1,010 | 1,063 | 1,066 |
TOTAL: Good | 19/07 | 05/07 | 07/06 | 24/05 | 12/04 | 15/03 | 01/03 |
NSW | 49% | 44% | 62% | 56% | 66% | 69% | 64% |
VIC | 39% | 40% | 42% | 57% | 55% | 65% | 51% |
QLD | 46% | 48% | 54% | 56% | 63% | 69% | 66% |
SA | 51% | 48% | 58% | 66% | 62% | 78% | 68% |
WA | 51% | 42% | 49% | 56% | 65% | 75% | 66% |
- 46% of people rate the federal government’s response to the Covid-19 outbreak as quite good or very good, with 31% rating it as poor.
- Since peaking at 70% in March, positive rating of the federal government’s handling of Covid-19 has dropped off, falling to 44% earlier this month, the lowest rating recorded to date for this question which was first asked in March 2020.
- Positive rating of the federal government’s handling of Covid-19 has improved in WA (up 9 percentage points to 51%), NSW (up 5 percentage points to 49%) and SA (up 3 percentage points to 48%).
- In Victoria, positive rating is now at 39%, down from 65% in March. This positive rating also continues to drop in QLD, now 46% (from 69% in March).

COVID-19 RESEARCH
Read Essential's ongoing research on the public response to Covid-19.
Essential Report
In this week's report:
- Performance of Scott Morrison
- Performance of Anthony Albanese
- Preferred Prime Minister
- Views towards re-electing the federal Coalition government
- Party trust to handle issues
- Importance of Australia’s international reputation
- Scott Morrison’s impact on Australia’s international reputation
- Views towards Australia’s international reputation
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