Ipsos Australia Day Poll Report

Ipsos Poll

24 January 2021

Polling

Key findings

Only 28% of Australians support the campaign to change the date of Australia Day from 26^th
However, half (49%) believe that the date of Australia Day will be changed within the next ten years
41% believe that changing the date of Australia date will be important in improving the lives of Indigenous Australians.
Over half (54%) believe that Indigenous Australians face racism all the time or frequently.
A third (34%) think Australia should become a republic, with two-thirds (62%) of these people wanting this change to take place as soon as possible.
Half (54%) disagree that citizenship ceremonies should take place on Australia Day
The vast majority (82%) feel proud to be Australian.

Change Australia Day date

Half of Australians (48%) disagree with the idea of moving Australia Day to an alternative date, i.e. not 26^th January, and a further quarter (24%) neither agree nor disagree with the suggestion.

Support for this change is higher among younger people, with half (47%) of those under 25 backing the move to a different date. Greens voters are markedly more likely to support this campaign (67%), than Labor (31%) or Coalition (23%) voters.

Australians born overseas are not significantly different in their opinions than Aussies born in Australia – but they are more likely to say they neither agree nor disagree with this campaign (36% compared to 20% among those born in Australia).

Q2. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the campaign to change the date of Australia Day from the 26^th January?
	All	Age				Voting intention			Country of birth
	All	18-24	25-39	40-54	55+	Coalition	Labor	Greens	Aus	Other
Agree	28%	47%	35%	24%	19%	23%	31%	67%	29%	25%
Disagree	48%	24%	34%	52%	62%	57%	40%	12%	51%	39%
Neither	24%	29%	31%	24%	19%	20%	28%	21%	20%	36%
Base: All (n=1,222)

Those who support the campaign do so because they want to ‘make the day for everyone’ (21%), because the current day is ‘invasion day’ (15%), that ‘it’s the right thing to do’ (14%) and ‘to reconcile past hurt (15%).

Those who are opposed to change in the date say ‘we are all Australian’ (22%), that ‘its always been the 26^th January’ (16%) and that the date is ‘when Australia was formed or discovered’ (12%).

For those who neither agree nor disagree, they believe ‘there are bigger issues’ (22%), that ‘both sides have valid points’ (20%) and that ‘it won’t make any difference’ (17%).

Despite only a minority (28%) supporting the campaign, almost half (49%) believe this change is likely to take place in the next ten years.

Those most likely to support the campaign to change the date are also those most likely to think that the date will be changed within the next ten years – that is those under 25, and Greens voters.

Q3. How likely do you think it is that in the next 10 years Australia will change the date of its national day from January 26?
	All	Age				Voting intention			Country of birth
	All	18-24	25-39	40-54	55+	Coalition	Labor	Greens	Aus	Other
Likely	49%	58%	47%	51%	49%	47%	52%	63%	51%	45%
Unlikely	41%	37%	46%	37%	40%	40%	42%	32%	38%	49%
Neither	25%	23%	30%	22%	23%	22%	24%	21%	22%	30%
Base: All (n=1,222)

Impact on Indigenous Australians

Despite only 28% of Australians agreeing with the campaign to change the date, 41% believe that this change would be important to improving the lives of Indigenous Australians.

Again, those who support the campaign are more likely to believe this would be an important factor for Indigenous Australians.

Q4. How important do you think changing the date is to improving the lives of Indigenous Australians?
	All	Age				Voting intention			Country of birth
	All	18-24	25-39	40-54	55+	Coalition	Labor	Greens	Aus	Other
Important	41%	61%	50%	39%	32%	35%	49%	69%	40%	44%
Not important	35%	30%	34%	33%	40%	38%	32%	23%	34%	38%
Neither	22%	21%	22%	20%	25%	22%	20%	21%	22%	25%
Base: All (n=1,222)

The majority (54%) of Australians believe that Indigenous Australians face racism either all the time or frequently. Younger people are more likely to believe this is the case, as are Labor and Greens voters.

Q5. To what extent do you think Indigenous Australians face racism in Australia today?
	All	Age				Voting intention
	All	18-24	25-39	40-54	55+	Coalition	Labor	Greens
They face racism all the time	19%	23%	21%	19%	15%	13%	20%	43%
They face racism frequently	35%	44%	38%	31%	34%	36%	39%	41%
They face racism, but only occasionally	28%	22%	25%	29%	31%	34%	28%	10%
They don’t face racism in Australia	10%	3%	8%	14%	11%	13%	5%	2%
Base: All (n=1,222)

Australia becoming a republic

A third (34%) of Australians believe that the country should become a republic; 40% disagree. This is the lowest level of support since 1979. That said, a quarter (26%) say they ‘don’t know’, which is the highest level of the public recorded as undecided on this issue. (See trend data overleaf).

Labor and Greens voters are significantly more likely to support Australia becoming a republic (41% and 46%, respectively).

Q6. Do you think Australia should become a republic?
	All	Age				Voting intention			Country of birth
	All	18-24	25-39	40-54	55+	Coalition	Labor	Greens	Aus	Other
Yes	34%	26%	34%	34%	34%	27%	41%	46%	33%	38%
No	40%	34%	35%	40%	45%	52%	34%	30%	41%	37%
Don’t know	26%	41%	31%	26%	22%	21%	25%	25%	26%	25%
Base: All (n=1,222)

Among those who support Australia becoming a republic, 62% think this change should happen as soon as possible. Three in ten (31%) think we should wait until the end of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign.

Q. Which of the following statements best describes how soon you think Australia should become a republic?
	All	Age				Voting intention			Country of birth
	All	18-24	25-39	40-54	55+	Coalition	Labor	Greens	Aus	Other
As soon as possible	62%	57%	64%	70%	64%	55%	64%	68%	61%	64%
Only after QEII’s reign ends	31%	30%	28%	25%	33%	37%	32%	16%	32%	30%
Don’t know	7%	14%	9%	6%	3%	8%	4%	15%	7%	6%
Base: All who think Australia should become a republic (n=443)

Q.7 Do you think that Australia should become a republic?
(%)	1979	Mar 1992	Apr 1993	Oct 1993	Feb 1994	Aug 1994	Oct 1994	July 1995	Jan 1998	Feb 1998	Jan 1999	July 1999	Aug 1999	Dec 1999	Apr 2004	Sep 2008	Aug 2010	Apr 2014	Feb 2016	Jan 2021
Yes	31	41	45	48	43	45	50	50	52	53	50	51	54	57	52	52	44	42	42	34
No	61	45	36	42	42	42	36	39	37	32	38	40	32	40	40	40	48	51	47	40
DK	8	14	19	10	15	13	14	10	11	15	12	9	14	3	8	9	8	7	11	26

Citizenship ceremonies

Half (46%) believe local councils should hold citizenship ceremonies on Australia Day; 54% disagree. Men are significantly more likely than women to think citizenship ceremonies should be held on Australia Day (51%, compared to 42% among women). Similarly, those born in Australia are significantly more likely than Australian Citizens born overseas to think ceremonies should be held on Australia Day (49%, compared to 39%).

The majority (82%) of us feel proud to be Australian; only 3% say we feel ashamed of our nationality. Those aged over 40 are significantly more likely to describe themselves as proud Australians. Those voting Coalition, and those born in Australia, are also significantly more likely to say they feel proud to be Australian. One ten (10%) Australians born overseas say they don’t identify as Australian.

Q. How proud do you feel to be an Australian?
	All	Age				Voting intention			Country of birth
	All	18-24	25-39	40-54	55+	Coalition	Labor	Greens	Aus	Other
Proud	82%	73%	78%	84%	87%	91%	84%	65%	85%	76%
Ashamed	3%	2%	2%	3%	3%	2%	2%	5%	3%	1%
DK/Neither	13%	23%	15%	10%	9%	6%	13%	27%	13%	13%
I don’t identify as Australian	3%	4%	5%	3%	2%	2%	2%	4%	0%	10%
Base: All (n=1,222)

Society