Disinformation, hacking seen as top threats by Australians

The annual Forum brought together leaders to discuss key security issues in Nova Scotia, Canada, from November 22-24. 

Key Australian findings in relation to perceived threats include:

• We are feeling quite pessimistic about the world at the moment with eight  in 10 Australians believing that the world became more dangerous over the last year and only one  in three feeling that more things are getting better in the world these days than are getting worse.  Importantly, the latter is a significant drop on 2023 when almost half (48%) felt that things were getting better.
• Being hacked for fraudulent or espionage purposes is the top perceived threat by Australians, with 80% rating it a very real/somewhat real threat.
• The next most common perceived threats were some person, organisation, or country deliberately spreading disinformation to influence public opinion (76%); a nuclear/chemical attack in the world (75%); and a major natural disaster in your country (75%). 
• The next two most commonly perceived threats were also the two that have increased in the minds of Australians the most in 2024. Seven in ten (71%) see a terrorist attack in Australia as areal threat (up 10 points on 2023) and two thirds (67%) see a violent conflict breaking out between ethnic or minority groups in Australia as a real threat (up nine points on 2023).
• The level of concern about hacking in Australia is slightly higher than the global average of 76%, while concern about disinformation is on par with the global figure.

The key Australian findings in relation to world affairs include:

• Eight in 10 Australians agree that given the difficult economic issues in Australia today, Australia needs to focus less on the world and more at home.
• A little over half (56%) believe that they Ukraine should fight on until full victory, including expelling Russia from its territory.
• Six in 10 believe economic power is more important in world affairs than military power.  Interestingly this is down 14 percentage points on 2023.
• There is less support for more military spending with 53% (vs 65% in 2023) agreeing that given the dangers in the world, my government needs to spend more on my country’s military power.
• There is less belief in the benefits of free trade, although belief is still relatively strong.  Seven in 10 Australians surveyed agree that free trade is beneficial for my country’s economy, down 14 percentage points on 2023.

Commenting on the findings, David Elliott, Deputy Managing Director, Ipsos Public Affairs Australia, said: “The findings of this recent Ipsos Global Survey are consistent with a number of our other studies which show Australians are finding the economic situation in Australia very difficult at the moment, and with this comes a tendency to turn our gaze inward and seek a greater focus on domestic issues.”

“The other findings that stand out are the increase in the perceived threat of terrorist attacks in Australia, which was up 10 points on 2023, and a violent conflict breaking out between ethnic or minority groups in Australia, up nine points on 2023.  These increases are in line with ASIO’s returning of Australia's National Terrorism Threat Level from 'Possible' to 'Probable' in August this year. In fact, they are in line with the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s press conference at the time, as he explained that this increase threat level was more domestic than international in nature, due to a greater number of Australians embracing a more diverse range of extreme ideologies.”