Public confidence in the Federal Government is steadily falling to levels last seen before former prime minister Scott Morrison was voted out of office in 2022, as revealed by a new voter survey by the Australian National University (ANU).
The results do however find that Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had “significantly higher favourability” than Opposition Leader, Peter Dutton.
“Despite a lower favourability rating for the Labor Party compared to the Liberal Party, respondents rate Prime Minister Anthony Albanese significantly higher than Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, whereas the Greens leader Adam Bandt has the lowest rating of all party leaders,” associate director of the ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods, Professor Nicholas Biddle said.
The study also found that Gen Z had more favourable attitudes towards democracy than other generations, with 67% reporting they are satisfied with the direction of the country despite the increasing cost of living crisis.
Overall satisfaction in democracy was high with 64% of respondents reporting that they were either satisfied or very satisfied.
“While dissatisfaction is not as low as in other countries, it is worth noting that dissatisfaction around 6 months out from the next federal election, if Parliament goes to full term, is more or less the same as dissatisfaction was in April 2022, just prior to the Morrison government losing the subsequent election,” Biddle said.
Although Australians are overall satisfied with the direction of the country in general, trust in the Federal Government has declined since Albanese was elected into power, with 48.1% of respondents reporting little to no trust in the Federal Government.
Gen Z and Millennials are also projected to dominate the voting force in the 2025 election and the study found that 47% of respondents aged 18 to 34 have confidence in the Federal Government.
This falls to 42.5% for those aged 35-54.
The study also found that women were more likely to be unsure of who to vote for (12.1%) in comparison to men (6.7%).
“Given the requirements around compulsory voting in Australia, who these individuals end up voting for may end up having a large impact on the 2025 federal election outcome,” Biddle said.