Q. Over the next 12 months do you think economic conditions in Australia will get better, get worse or stay much the same?
| 1 Dec 08 | 15 Jun 09 | 5 Oct 09 | 18 Jan 10 | 29 Mar 10 | 28 Jun 10 | 18 Oct 10 | |
| Total better | 21% | 43% | 66% | 53% | 54% | 33% | 40% |
| Total worse | 61% | 37% | 15% | 19% | 19% | 31% | 30% |
| Get a lot better | 2% | 5% | 8% | 9% | 9% | 5% | 6% |
| Get a little better | 19% | 38% | 58% | 44% | 45% | 28% | 34% |
| Get a little worse | 45% | 28% | 11% | 14% | 13% | 23% | 20% |
| Get a lot worse | 16% | 9% | 4% | 5% | 6% | 8% | 10% |
| Stay much the same | 13% | 17% | 15% | 24% | 22% | 30% | 24% |
| No opinion | 5% | 3% | 4% | 4% | 6% | 7% | 6% |
40% think economic conditions in Australia will get better over the next 12 months and 30% think they will get worse – a net improvement of 8% since this question was last asked in June.
Younger people are more optimistic than older people – of those aged under 35, 50% think conditions will get better and 20% worse.
54% of Labor voters think conditions will get better and 15% worse while 32% of Coalition voters think conditions will get better and 42% worse.