Q. Which of the following is closer to your view of the federal government’s role in relation to employment and jobs?

• More people think the federal government’s role is to invest behind local industries to create more jobs than to reduce taxes and red tape so businesses can employ more workers (44% to 35%). 21% are unsure on their preferred role.
• Men are more likely than women to think the federal government’s role is to reduce taxes and red tape so businesses can employ more workers (42% to 29%).
• Coalition voters are also more likely to agree with this viewpoint than all other voters combined (44% to 32% respectively).

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)

• 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.

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)

• 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.

Q. To what extent you agree or disagree with the following statements about work after the Covid-19 outbreak?

THOSE WHO ARE STILL IN EMPLOYMENT (n=488)

• There is low optimism for wage growth following Covid-19. Just 21% agree (strongly/somewhat) that they expect a pay rise soon after things are back to normal and 22% expect to be able to gain a promotion.
• Around half of people (48%) don’t think their wages will keep up with increases in the cost of living.

Q. Last weekend Kristina Kenneally, a NSW senator, called for the federal government to reduce the number of temporary migrant worker visas permitted after the Covid-19 outbreak. She argues that Australian businesses should prioritise training and hiring Australians for roles, rather than seeking temporary workers to fill skill-shortages.

To what extent, do you support or oppose this idea of “Australia first” hiring?

• Kristina Kenneally’s “Australia first” hiring approach is supported by 67% of participants; women (70%), those over 55 (78%), Coalition (75%) and other party voters (82%) are more likely to support this approach than men (64%), 18-34 year olds (52%) and Greens voters (50%).

Q. Which of the following best describes the impact of Covid-19 on your work:

• 25% of participants are worried about losing their job because of the Covid-19 outbreak and another 19% were in paid employment before the outbreak, but now are not.
• 32% of 18-34 year olds say they were in paid work before the Covid-19 outbreak but am not now – this is higher than 35-54 year olds (17%).

Q. Do you think the Government’s budget will be good or bad for employment in Australia? 

49% think that the Government’s budget will be bad for employment in Australia and 21% think it will be good for employment.

Among those earning less than $600pw, 17% think it will be good and 60% think it will be bad.

Q.  Should religious organisations be allowed to refuse to hire people who don’t live according to the organisations’ beliefs?

34% think that religious organisations should be allowed to refuse to hire people who don’t live according to the organisations’ beliefs and 52% think they should not.

Those most likely to think they should not were Labor voters (58%), Greens voters (63%) and respondents on lower incomes (57% of those earning less than $1,000pw).