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  • Sep, 2020

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    State of the economy

    Q. Overall, how would you describe the current state of the Australian economy?

      Sep’20 Sep’19 May’18 Nov’17 May’17 Dec’16
    Very good 8% 5% 8% 3% 3% 2%
    Quite good 16% 27% 31% 30% 27% 21%
    Neither good, nor poor 30% 32% 32% 38% 36% 37%
    Quite poor 32% 25% 18% 17% 23% 28%
    Very poor 14% 8% 6% 7% 6% 8%
    Unsure 2% 3% 5% 5% 5% 4%
    NET: Good 23% 32% 39% 33% 30% 23%
    NET: Poor 46% 33% 24% 24% 29% 36%
    Base (n) 1,081 1,097 1,033 1,021 1,007 1,001

     

      Total Gender Age
    Male Female 18-34 35-54 55+
    Very good 8% 11% 4% 9% 12% 1%
    Quite good 16% 18% 13% 21% 16% 11%
    Neither good, nor poor 30% 28% 31% 34% 30% 26%
    Quite poor 32% 30% 33% 23% 29% 41%
    Very poor 14% 12% 16% 9% 12% 20%
    Unsure 2% 1% 2% 3% 1% 1%
    NET: Good 23% 29% 17% 30% 28% 12%
    NET: Poor 46% 42% 49% 33% 41% 61%
    Base (n) 1,081 539 542 338 374 369

     

      Total Federal Voting Intention
    Labor Coalition Greens Independent / Other
    Very good 8% 4% 10% 7% 9%
    Quite good 16% 13% 20% 13% 13%
    Neither good, nor poor 30% 26% 29% 33% 29%
    Quite poor 32% 38% 28% 34% 33%
    Very poor 14% 18% 12% 12% 16%
    Unsure 2% 1% 1% 2% 0%
    NET: Good 23% 17% 30% 19% 22%
    NET: Poor 46% 56% 39% 46% 49%
    Base (n) 1,081 298 460 115 104
    • Rating of the state of the economy has fallen in the last year in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Now 23% of people the state of the economy as very or quite good, down 9%pts from 32% last year. Over the same time those rating the economy as poor (very/quite) has increased from 33% to 46%.
    • Those most pessimistic about the state of the economy include women (17% rating very/quite good, down from 30% last year), people aged over 55 (12%, down from 31% last year) Labor voters (17%) and Greens voters (19%).
    • Rating of the economy among Coalition voters has dropped from 45% very/quite good in Sep’19 to 30% this year.
  • Sep, 2020

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    Indictors of whether the Australian economy is in a good or poor state

    Q. Which of the following indicators do you think is the most important when thinking about whether the Australian economy is in a good or poor state?

      Sep’20 Sep’19
    The unemployment rate 39% 25%
    The cost of household bills 13% 22%
    The value of the Australian dollar to international currencies 12% 13%
    The amount of homeless people on the streets 8% 10%
    The interest rate set by Reserve Bank of Australia 6% 9%
    The gross domestic product per person 7% 8%
    The consumer price index 6% 6%
    The size of the national surplus 6% 6%
    The number of new shops, restaurants and cafes opening 3% 2%
    Base (n) 1,081 1,097

     

      Total Gender Age
    Male Female 18-34 35-54 55+
    The unemployment rate 39% 34% 44% 38% 42% 38%
    The cost of household bills 13% 12% 14% 14% 14% 11%
    The value of the Australian dollar to international currencies 12% 13% 10% 19% 9% 8%
    The amount of homeless people on the streets 8% 10% 7% 9% 9% 7%
    The interest rate set by Reserve Bank of Australia 6% 5% 6% 2% 7% 8%
    The gross domestic product per person 7% 9% 5% 4% 6% 10%
    The consumer price index 6% 8% 4% 8% 5% 5%
    The size of the national surplus 6% 5% 8% 4% 5% 9%
    The number of new shops, restaurants and cafes opening 3% 4% 3% 3% 3% 4%
    Base (n) 1,081 539 542 338 374 369
    • People rating the unemployment level as the key indicator for a healthy economy has increased in the past 12 months from 25% to 39% while the cost of household bills has fallen from 22% to 13%. All other indicators remain consistent.
  • Sep, 2020

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    State of the economy in next six months

    Q. How do you think the economy will look in the next six months?

      Total Gender Age
    Male Female 18-34 35-54 55+
    The economy will improve in the next six months 25% 29% 21% 27% 29% 20%
    The economy will stay the same in the next six months 39% 37% 40% 43% 37% 37%
    The economy will get worse in the next six months 36% 33% 39% 30% 35% 43%
    Base (n) 1,081 539 542 338 374 369

     

      Total Federal Voting Intention
    Labor Coalition Greens Independent / Other
    The economy will improve in the next six months 25% 24% 31% 19% 19%
    The economy will stay the same in the next six months 39% 35% 41% 38% 35%
    The economy will get worse in the next six months 36% 40% 28% 43% 46%
    Base (n) 1,081 298 460 115 104
    • A quarter of people expect the economy to improve in the next months, lower than the 36% who expect it to get worse. 39% do not expect any change.
    • Older people aged over 55 are more likely than those aged 18-34 to expect the economy to get worse over the next six months (43% to 30%).
    • 31% of Coalition voters think the economy will improve in the next six months, compared to 24% of Labor voters, 19% of Greens voters and 19% of independent/other minor party voters.
  • Mar, 2015

    State of the economy

    Q. Overall, how would you describe the current state of the Australian economy?

     

     

    Total

     

     

    Vote Labor

    Vote Lib/Nat

    Vote Greens

    Vote other

     

    May 2012

    Apr 2013

    Sep 2013

    Jan 2014

    Apr 2014

    Aug 2014
    Total good

    27%

    28%

    33%

    28%

    12%

    35%

    45%

    40%

    34%

    38%

    37%
    Total poor

    33%

    34%

    28%

    33%

    48%

    29%

    26%

    25%

    26%

    24%

    26%
    Very good

    3%

    3%

    4%

    2%

    –

    6%

    8%

    6%

    4%

    3%

    6%
    Good

    24%

    25%

    29%

    26%

    12%

    29%

    37%

    34%

    30%

    35%

    31%
    Neither good nor poor

    36%

    35%

    37%

    31%

    33%

    33%

    28%

    32%

    36%

    34%

    35%
    Poor

    24%

    24%

    23%

    26%

    30%

    20%

    17%

    20%

    21%

    19%

    18%
    Very poor

    9%

    10%

    5%

    7%

    18%

    9%

    9%

    5%

    5%

    5%

    8%
    Don’t know

    4%

    3%

    2%

    7%

    7%

    2%

    2%

    3%

    4%

    4%

    3%

    27% described the economy as good or very good and 33% poor/very poor – 36% said it was neither. This represents a substantial net decline from +11 to -6 since August.

    Views on the state of the economy were similar across age and voter groups. Among Labor voters 28% thought it was good and 34% poor; for Liberal/National voters 33% said it was good and 28% poor.

  • Aug, 2014

    State of the economy

    Q. Overall, how would you describe the current state of the Australian economy?

     

     

    May 2012

    Apr 2013

    Sep 2013

    Jan 2014

    Apr 2014

     

    Total

     

     

    Vote Labor

    Vote Lib/Nat

    Vote Greens

    Vote other
    Total good

    35%

    45%

    40%

    34%

    38%

    37%

    36%

    44%

    41%

    22%
    Total poor

    29%

    26%

    25%

    26%

    24%

    26%

    33%

    19%

    18%

    35%
    Very good

    6%

    8%

    6%

    4%

    3%

    6%

    6%

    6%

    7%

    3%
    Good

    29%

    37%

    34%

    30%

    35%

    31%

    30%

    38%

    34%

    19%
    Neither good nor poor

    33%

    28%

    32%

    36%

    34%

    35%

    29%

    37%

    39%

    42%
    Poor

    20%

    17%

    20%

    21%

    19%

    18%

    21%

    15%

    16%

    20%
    Very poor

    9%

    9%

    5%

    5%

    5%

    8%

    12%

    4%

    2%

    15%
    Don’t know

    2%

    2%

    3%

    4%

    4%

    3%

    2%

    1%

    3%

    1%

    37% described the economy as good or very good and 26% poor/very poor – 35% said it was neither. This represents a small net decline from +14 to +11 since April.

    Those most likely to think the economy was good/very good were people with university education (47%). Liberal/National voters (44%) were more likely that Labor voters (36%) to think the economy was good.

  • Apr, 2014

    ,

    State of the economy

    Q. Overall, how would you describe the current state of the Australian economy?

     

     

    28 May 12

    8 Apr 13

    16 Sep 13

    21 Jan 14

     

    Total

     

     

    Vote Labor

    Vote Lib/Nat

    Vote Greens

    Vote other
    Total good

    35%

    45%

    40%

    34%

    38%

    38%

    47%

    36%

    21%
    Total poor

    29%

    26%

    25%

    26%

    24%

    24%

    18%

    24%

    46%
    Very good

    6%

    8%

    6%

    4%

    3%

    3%

    5%

    5%

    –
    Good

    29%

    37%

    34%

    30%

    35%

    35%

    42%

    31%

    21%
    Neither good nor poor

    33%

    28%

    32%

    36%

    34%

    34%

    33%

    37%

    33%
    Poor

    20%

    17%

    20%

    21%

    19%

    18%

    16%

    20%

    31%
    Very poor

    9%

    9%

    5%

    5%

    5%

    6%

    2%

    4%

    15%
    Don’t know

    2%

    2%

    3%

    4%

    4%

    4%

    2%

    4%

    –

    38% described the economy as good or very good and 24% poor/very poor – 34% said it was neither. This represents a net improvement from +8 to +14 since January. The main shift since January was an increase of 7% for “good” and a decrease of 6% for “poor” among Liberal/National voters.

    Those most likely to think the economy was good/very good were people with incomes over $1,600pw (42%). Liberal/National voters (47%) were more likely that Labor voters (38%) to think the economy was good.

  • Jul, 2013

    , , ,

    State of the economy

    Q. Overall, how would you describe the current state of the Australian economy?

     

     

    28 May 12

    8 Apr 13

     

    Total

    15 Jul 13

     

     

    Vote Labor

    Vote Lib/Nat

    Vote Greens
    Total good

    35%

    45%

    36%

    59%

    18%

    54%
    Total poor

    29%

    26%

    30%

    14%

    45%

    12%
    Very good

    6%

    8%

    6%

    10%

    1%

    10%
    Good

    29%

    37%

    30%

    49%

    17%

    44%
    Neither good nor poor

    33%

    28%

    30%

    25%

    34%

    33%
    Poor

    20%

    17%

    22%

    12%

    32%

    11%
    Very poor

    9%

    9%

    8%

    2%

    13%

    1%
    Don’t know

    2%

    2%

    3%

    3%

    2%

    2%

    36% described the economy as good or very good and 30% poor/very poor – 30% said it was neither. This represents a net decline from +19 to +6 since April.

    Those most likely to think the economy was good/very good were people with incomes over $1,600pw (41%).

    Those most likely to think the economy was poor/very poor were aged 55+ (35%) and people with incomes under $600pw (36%).

  • Apr, 2013

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    Reasons economy is poor

    Q. What is the main reason you don’t think the state of the economy is good? *

     

    28 May 12

    Total

    Vote Labor

    Vote Lib/Nat
    Poor economic management by Government

    27%

    40%

    17%

    52%
    Increasing cost of living

    34%

    27%

    41%

    22%
    Businesses are struggling

    13%

    11%

    7%

    13%
    Increasing gap between rich and poor

    9%

    7%

    15%

    3%
    Incomes aren’t increasing fast enough to keep up

    7%

    6%

    7%

    5%
    Global financial problems

    7%

    5%

    7%

    4%
    Other reason

    2%

    3%

    6%

    2%
    Don’t know

    1%

    1%

    –

    –

    * Based on those who disagree that economy is good.

    Those who disagreed that the economy was good said the main reasons were poor economic management by Government (40%) and the increasing cost of living (27%). Those who blame poor economic management by the Government has increased 13% and cost of living has decreased 7% since May last year.

    62% of respondents aged 55+ blamed poor economic management by Government while the increasing cost of living was the major factor for 41% of respondents aged 25-44.

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