Q. How would you rate your state government’s response to the Covid-19 outbreak?

• Nationally, the perception of state governments’ handling of the crisis in in line with government, with 66% rating their own state’s handling as Very/Quite good (compared to 65%).
• In the past week the rating in Queensland has increased from 52% to 63%, while Victoria has fallen from 76% to 69%. Western Australia and Victoria remain the states with the highest rating.

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?

• Half of people think it is too soon to consider lifting restrictions. 29% think restrictions should be lifted within the next month (9% as soon as possible, 6% within the next fortnight and 14% within the next month).
• Those most likely to want an immediate easing of restrictions are aged 18-34 (17%), those in paid employment (11%) and people with a high household income (Over $104k p/a, 14%).
• People who are retired (63%) and residents of Victoria (53%) and WA (54%) are most likely to think it too soon to lift restrictions.

Q. The Federal Government is developing an app to help stop the spread of Covid-19. The TraceTogether app will track a person’s movements by GPS and record if that person comes into contact with someone who is Covid-19 positive.

People have to voluntarily opt-in to download the app onto their mobile phones before their movements can be tracked. Once logged in, the app would track you wherever you went.

To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements about this proposed technology?

•  38% of people agree (strongly/somewhat) that they would download the proposed app to track the spread of Covid-19, 33% of the population disagree.
• Younger people aged 18-34 are more likely to agree they would download the app (44%) than those aged over 35 (35%). 18-34 year olds are also more likely to agree that the app would help stop the spread of the disease (47%) than those aged over 35 (40%).
• There are security and privacy concerns about the app, with 63% concerned about the security of their personal data. 57% are uncomfortable with the government tracking movements and just 35% confident the government can be trusted not to misuse collected data.

Q. To what extent are you concerned about the threat of Covid-19 (coronavirus) in Australia?

• Concern about the threat of Covid-19 has lessened this week, with 45% saying they are very concerned (down from 51% last week). The proportion of people who say they are Quite concerned has increased by the equivalent amount from 37% to 43%).
• The proportion of over 55s saying they are very concerned has decreased from 54% to 45, while concern in both capital and regional areas has eased (those very concerned in capital cities has fallen from 53% to 47%, while in regional areas it has moved from 48% to 42%).

Q. To what extent are you concerned about these possible impacts of the Covid-19?

• Economic issues are seen as most concerning when thinking about the consequences of the Covid-19 crisis. 45% say they are worried about the economy as a whole and 39% are very concerned about general unemployment.
• The top concern for 18-34 year olds was their financial position if they lose a job or work (40% said this was very concerning). The economy (37%) and general unemployment (36%) were also main concerns for this age group. Those aged 18-34 were more likely than other age groups to be concerned about the impact on their mental health (25% to 15%), and that of their families (30% to 21%).
• Concern for children is highest among those in households with dependent children (30% are very concerned).

Q. How likely do you think it is, that you will develop Covid-19?

• Catching Covid-19 is seen as less likely this week, with fewer people saying they are very or somewhat likely to contract the virus (33%, down from 42% last week). The biggest decreases in likelihood were in Queensland (from 44% to 28%) and WA (from 38% to 26%).
• The perceived threat of catching Covid-19 among Greens voters dropped from 56% who thought they were very/somewhat likely to catch Covid-19 (the highest of voter IDs last week) to 35% – which is now in line with voters of other parties.

Q. Which of the following is closer to your personal views of the Covid-19 outbreak?

• Over half of people (59%) now believe the reaction to the threat of Covid-19 has been about right.

Q. Which of the following is closer to your expectations of what will happen to the economy following the Covid-19 situation?

• Little change in the economic expectations from last week, with half of people (49%) think Covid-19 will impact the economy for up to a year, with slow growth following. A further 27% believe the impact will be even more devastating, with long-lasting impact and recession.