Research in the Australian National University (ANU) has found a noticeably large decline in community confidence in the national Government, linked closely to views on sexual assault and harassment in the workplace.
Co-author of the study, Associate Director of the Centre for Social Research and Methods (CSRM) at ANU, Nicholas Biddle said the survey of 3,200 adults was the largest study of its kind in Australia and formed part of CSRM’s COVID-19 monitoring program which began in April last year.
Professor Biddle said the survey responses collected in April this year were linked to responses from the same individuals given prior to the pandemic. He said they found less than half of Australian adults were confident in the Federal Government.
“This is a milestone,” Professor Biddle said.
“Confidence in Government is a key indicator of people’s view on institutions in Australia,” he said.
“For the first time since the pandemic commenced, the majority of Australians no longer have confidence in the Government.”
Professor Biddle said there was a large decline in confidence this year, with 54.3 per cent of January respondents saying they had a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in the Federal Government down to 45.4 per cent in April.
He said the figures were much lower than the peak value of 60.6 per cent in May 2020 but were well above the 27.3 per cent in January 2020, during the Black Summer bushfires.
He said that between January and April satisfaction with the direction of the country also declined, dropping from 78.9 per cent to 75.7 per cent.
The Professor said the study also found that more than three-quarters of Australians, 76.8 per cent, thought “men getting away with committing sexual harassment or assault” was a major problem and 71.6 per cent thought “women not being believed when they claim that they have experienced sexual harassment or assault” was also a major problem.
He said one of the key findings from the Study was the relationship between views on sexual assault and harassment and the confidence/voting measures in the paper, with a person’s views, more than their gender, impacting confidence and voting intentions.
CSRM’s 19-page Study Confidence in Government, satisfaction with the direction of the country and voting intentions (April 2021), can be accessed at this PS News link.
