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Views towards sexual assault of women in Parliament

2 Mar 2021

 Q. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements about the recent allegations of rape and sexual assault from women working in Parliament?

TOTAL: Agree Total Gender Age Group Federal Voting Intention
Male Female 18-34 35-54 55+ Labor TOTAL: Coalition Greens TOTAL: Other
The government has been more interested in protecting itself than the interests of those who have been assaulted 65% 62% 68% 66% 69% 61% 76% 51% 88% 69%
Women can face a hard time in workplaces in all professions, but politics has a particular problem with harassment and assault 61% 58% 64% 62% 64% 58% 67% 54% 75% 56%
Workplaces only change when women are equally represented in leadership positions 57% 52% 62% 60% 59% 53% 60% 52% 69% 57%
There is no difference in the way the different political parties treat women 45% 54% 37% 36% 44% 54% 41% 53% 30% 48%
Base (n) 1,074 527 547 326 363 385 335 396 106 138
  • 65% agree the government has been more interested in protecting itself than the interests of those who have been assaulted, with Greens voters most likely to agree with this statement (88%), followed by Labor voters (76%) and minor and independent party voters (69%). About half (51%) of Coalition voters agree with this.
  • Less than half (45%) agree there is no difference in the way the different political parties treat women. Of this, 53% of Coalition voters agree, compared to 30% of Greens voters, 41% of Labor voters and 48% of minor and independent party voters.
  • 61% agree women can face a hard time in workplaces in all professions, but politics has a particular problem with harassment and assault. 44% of Greens voters strongly agree with this, compared to 34% Labor voters and 35% minor and independent party voters. Only 21% of Coalition voters strongly agree with this statement.
  • 57% agree workplaces only change when women are equally represented in leadership positions and while agreement towards this is consistent across most demographics, men are more likely than women to disagree (20% to 9% respectively).
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