Essential Report
Download this week's Report
Likelihood of developing Coronavirus
Q. How likely do you think it is, that you will develop Covid-19?
| 18/05 | 11/05 | 04/05 | 27/04 | 20/04 | 13/04 | 06/04 | 29/03 | 22/03 | 09/03 | |
| Very likely | 6% | 6% | 5% | 5% | 7% | 5% | 8% | 8% | 8% | 7% |
| Somewhat likely | 25% | 24% | 26% | 21% | 25% | 28% | 33% | 36% | 34% | 24% |
| Somewhat unlikely | 48% | 48% | 46% | 50% | 52% | 49% | 45% | 45% | 45% | 43% |
| Very unlikely | 21% | 21% | 23% | 23% | 17% | 18% | 14% | 12% | 13% | 26% |
| Base (n) | 1,073 | 1,067 | 1.093 | 1,054 | 1,051 | 1,068 | 1,069 | 1,086 | 1,034 | 1,096 |
| Age group | Location | |||||
| Total | 18-34 | 35-54 | 55+ | Capital | Non-Capital | |
| Very likely | 6% | 8% | 8% | 3% | 7% | 4% |
| Somewhat likely | 25% | 25% | 29% | 21% | 26% | 24% |
| Somewhat unlikely | 48% | 43% | 42% | 59% | 48% | 49% |
| Very unlikely | 21% | 24% | 21% | 17% | 19% | 24% |
| Base (n) | 1,073 | 339 | 349 | 385 | 730 | 343 |
Government response to Covid-19
Q. Overall, how would you rate the Government’s response to the Covid-19 outbreak?
| 18/05 | 11/05 | 04/05 | 27/04 | 20/04 | 13/04 | 06/04 | 29/03 | 22/03 | |
| Very poor | 3% | 4% | 4% | 4% | 5% | 6% | 6% | 11% | 9% |
| Quite poor | 7% | 9% | 9% | 9% | 10% | 12% | 15% | 21% | 20% |
| Neither good, nor poor | 17% | 16% | 20% | 17% | 21% | 20% | 21% | 24% | 26% |
| Quite good | 41% | 39% | 38% | 44% | 42% | 40% | 37% | 34% | 33% |
| Very good | 32% | 32% | 28% | 26% | 23% | 23% | 21% | 11% | 12% |
| TOTAL: Poor | 11% | 13% | 14% | 13% | 15% | 17% | 21% | 31% | 29% |
| TOTAL: Good | 73% | 71% | 66% | 70% | 65% | 63% | 58% | 45% | 45% |
| Base (n) | 1,073 | 1,067 | 1,093 | 1,054 | 1,051 | 1,068 | 1,069 | 1,086 | 1,034 |
| Gender | Age Group | Location | |||||||
| Total | Male | Female | 18-34 | 35-54 | 55+ | Capital | Non-Capital | ||
| Very poor | 3% | 5% | 2% | 4% | 4% | 2% | 3% | 3% | |
| Quite poor | 7% | 8% | 7% | 10% | 9% | 3% | 7% | 7% | |
| Neither good, nor poor | 17% | 18% | 15% | 25% | 16% | 10% | 15% | 20% | |
| Quite good | 41% | 38% | 43% | 47% | 38% | 38% | 43% | 35% | |
| Very good | 32% | 31% | 33% | 14% | 32% | 47% | 31% | 35% | |
| TOTAL: Poor | 11% | 13% | 8% | 14% | 13% | 5% | 11% | 11% | |
| TOTAL: Good | 73% | 69% | 76% | 61% | 70% | 85% | 74% | 70% | |
| Base (n) | 1,073 | 524 | 549 | 339 | 349 | 385 | 730 | 343 | |
State Government response to Covid-19
Q. How would you rate your state government’s response to the Covid-19 outbreak?
| 18/05 | 11/05 | 04/05 | 27/04 | 20/04 | 13/04 | |
| Very poor | 3% | 4% | 4% | 4% | 5% | 5% |
| Quite poor | 8% | 8% | 8% | 9% | 9% | 11% |
| Neither good, nor poor | 17% | 16% | 18% | 17% | 20% | 20% |
| Quite good | 39% | 39% | 38% | 41% | 39% | 38% |
| Very good | 33% | 34% | 31% | 30% | 26% | 26% |
| TOTAL: Poor | 11% | 12% | 12% | 13% | 14% | 16% |
| TOTAL: Good | 72% | 73% | 70% | 70% | 66% | 64% |
| Base (n) | 1,073 | 1,067 | 1,093 | 1,054 | 1,051 | 1,068 |
| State | |||||||
| Total | NSW | VIC | QLD | SA | WA | ||
| Very poor | 3% | 5% | 3% | 3% | 2% | 0% | |
| Quite poor | 8% | 7% | 10% | 8% | 5% | 4% | |
| Neither good, nor poor | 17% | 18% | 15% | 24% | 13% | 10% | |
| Quite good | 39% | 43% | 38% | 39% | 39% | 33% | |
| Very good | 33% | 27% | 33% | 26% | 41% | 52% | |
| TOTAL: Poor | 11% | 12% | 14% | 10% | 7% | 5% | |
| TOTAL: Good | 72% | 70% | 71% | 66% | 80% | 86% | |
| Base (n) | 1,073 | 352 | 267 | 216 | 85 | 104 | |
Easing restrictions
Q. When do you think governments should start to ease the restrictions on travel and gatherings to allow offices, shops, restaurants, other workplaces, and public spaces to start operating again?
| 18/05 | 11/05 | 04/05 | 27/04 | 20/04 | |
| As soon as possible | 9% | 13% | 10% | 10% | 9% |
| Within the next 1 to 2 weeks | 13% | 12% | 9% | 7% | 6% |
| Within the next month | 23% | 22% | 21% | 18% | 14% |
| By the end of next month | 22% | 20% | 15% | 15% | 13% |
| It is too soon to consider easing restrictions | 25% | 27% | 37% | 42% | 49% |
| Unsure | 8% | 6% | 8% | 8% | 10% |
| Base (n) | 1,073 | 1,067 | 1,093 | 1,054 | 1,051 |
| Gender | Age Group | ||||||
| Total | Male | Female | 18-34 | 35-54 | 55+ | ||
| As soon as possible | 9% | 12% | 7% | 8% | 9% | 10% | |
| Within the next 1 to 2 weeks | 13% | 15% | 11% | 16% | 12% | 12% | |
| Within the next month | 23% | 24% | 21% | 24% | 19% | 25% | |
| By the end of next month | 22% | 22% | 22% | 22% | 24% | 19% | |
| It is too soon to consider easing restrictions | 25% | 22% | 29% | 19% | 27% | 30% | |
| Unsure | 8% | 5% | 10% | 10% | 8% | 5% | |
| Base (n) | 1,073 | 524 | 549 | 339 | 349 | 385 | |
- Openness to easing the lockdown restrictions continues to increase, with just a quarter (25%) now believing it’s too soon to consider easing restrictions.
- Women (29%) and those over 55 years (30%) are most likely to believe it’s too soon to consider easing restrictions.
Belief in Conspiracy Theories
Q. Here are some things people have been saying about Covid-19. They’re all things that some people say are true and others say aren’t true. To what extent do you believe each of the following to true or false?
| TOTAL:
True |
TOTAL: False | Definitely true | Probably true | Probably false | Definitely false | I don’t know enough to make a decision | |
| The outbreak in China is actually much worse than the official Chinese statistics show | 77% | 11% | 33% | 44% | 7% | 4% | 12% |
| The Covid-19 virus was engineered and released from a Chinese laboratory in Wuhan | 39% | 39% | 14% | 25% | 22% | 17% | 22% |
| The number of Covid-19 deaths have been exaggerated by the media and governments to scare the population | 20% | 71% | 7% | 13% | 23% | 48% | 10% |
| Bill Gates played a role in the creation and spread of Covid-19 | 13% | 71% | 4% | 9% | 17% | 55% | 15% |
| The Covid-19 virus is not dangerous and is being used to force people to get vaccines | 13% | 79% | 4% | 10% | 14% | 65% | 8% |
| The 5G wireless network is being used to spread the Covid-19 virus | 12% | 75% | 4% | 8% | 14% | 61% | 13% |
| TOTAL: True | Gender | Age Group | ||||
| Total | Male | Female | 18-34 | 35-54 | 55+ | |
| The outbreak in China is actually much worse than the official Chinese statistics show | 77% | 79% | 75% | 69% | 75% | 85% |
| The Covid-19 virus was engineered and released from a Chinese laboratory in Wuhan | 39% | 40% | 39% | 41% | 39% | 37% |
| The number of Covid-19 deaths have been exaggerated by the media and governments to scare the population | 20% | 23% | 16% | 30% | 21% | 10% |
| Bill Gates played a role in the creation and spread of Covid-19 | 13% | 14% | 13% | 20% | 13% | 8% |
| The Covid-19 virus is not dangerous and is being used to force people to get vaccines | 13% | 17% | 10% | 20% | 15% | 6% |
| The 5G wireless network is being used to spread the Covid-19 virus | 12% | 15% | 9% | 20% | 13% | 4% |
| Base (n) | 1,073 | 524 | 549 | 339 | 349 | 385 |
- There is widespread belief that the outbreak in China is actually much worse than the official Chinese statistics show with three-quarters (77%) believe this to be definitely, or probably true.
- Around the same number of people believe it’s true that the Covid-19 virus was engineered and released from a Chinese laboratory in Wuhan as believe it to be false (both 39%).
- Only a small minority believe other conspiracy theories to be true.
Changing attitudes to people
Q. As a result of the Covid-19 outbreak, have your views and opinions changes about each of the following groups of people?
| More positive view | My views haven’t changed | More negative view | |
| Health workers and care staff | 56% | 40% | 4% |
| People with mental health issues | 23% | 69% | 8% |
| People who are unemployed | 21% | 69% | 10% |
| People who are homeless | 21% | 72% | 7% |
- Over half of people now feel more positive towards health and care workers as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak (56%).
- Around one in five people now feel more positive towards people with mental health issues (23%), those who are unemployed (21%) or homeless (21%).
Employment and Job prospects – Long-term unemployed
Q. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements about looking for work when the Covid-19 restrictions are eased?
THOSE WHO WERE UNEMPLOYED BEFORE COVID-19 AND WILL BE LOOKING FOR EMPLOYMENT ONCE RESTRICTIONS ARE LIFTED (n=135)
| TOTAL:
Agree |
TOTAL: Disagree | Strongly agree | Somewhat agree | Neither agree, nor disagree | Somewhat disagree | Strongly disagree | |
| I’m confident I’ll be able to find a well-paying job in my field at my level of experience | 29% | 43% | 6% | 23% | 28% | 21% | 22% |
| I’m confident there will be many appropriate jobs for me | 25% | 45% | 6% | 19% | 31% | 21% | 24% |
- 43% of people who were unemployed before the Covid-19 outbreak disagree that they’ll be able to find a well-paying job in their field at their level of experience and 45% disagree there will be appropriate jobs for them.
Employment and Job prospects – Recently unemployed
Q. Once the Covid-19 outbreak is over and restrictions are eased, how long do you think it will be before you are back in paid work?
THOSE WHO LOST WORK DUE TO COVID-19 (n=134)
| TOTAL | |
| I don’t think I’ll find paid work again | 10% |
| I think it will take a long time for me to find paid work | 36% |
| I don’t think I’ll be back straight away but I’m confident I’ll find paid work fairly quickly | 36% |
| I’ll be back in paid work straight away | 18% |
| I won’t be looking for paid work after the restrictions are eased | 1% |
| Base (n) | 134 |
- Less than one in five of those who have been made unemployed since Covid-19 think they’ll be back in work straight away (18%).
- 36% think it will take them a long time to find paid work and 10% think they may not find paid work again.
COVID-19 RESEARCH
Read Essential's ongoing research on the public response to Covid-19.
Download this week's ReportEssential Report
Two Party Preferred: 14 May 2019
Labor
51.5%-0.5
Coalition
48.5%+0.5
In this week's report:
Essential Tags
2PP
Abbott
ALP
Approval of opposition leader
Approval of Tony Abbott
asylum seekers
Australian economy
Better Prime Minister
Bill Shorten
Carbon Tax
climate change
coronavirus
covid-19
economy
Education
Election
EMC
environment
ER
Essential Media
Essential Report
Federal Government
federal politics
federal politics voting intention
Gillard
Greens
Julia Gillard
kevin rudd
Labor
Labor Party
leadership
Liberal
Liberal Party
Liberals
media
mining
Nationals
peter lewis
Polling
polls
Prime Minister
tony abbott
two party preferred
voting
Voting intention
Recent Comments
