Australian Public Opinion Research Articles

The triangular relationship in platform gig work: Consumers, platform beneficence and worker vulnerability

AbstractPlatform gig work is created and contested in dynamic, triangular relationships between platforms, workers, and consumers. Compared with the first two groups, however, evidence about the role of the third—consumers—is sparse. In this paper, we investigate consumers' changing perceptions of work in the platform gig economy and argue that their perspective warrants greater attention in sociological analyses. Using data from two Australian public opinion surveys conducted 5 years apart (2017 and 2022), we explore how consumers' views of platform gig work evolved during a period of rapid change that includes the first 2 years of the COVID‐19 pandemic. We find that while overall platform use increased markedly, many consumers felt conflicted about gig workers' conditions and key features of platforms' typical labour practices. There is a pronounced, enduring, and consequential tension in consumers' views of the merits and drawbacks of this work; between, on the one hand, an acceptance that platforms do benefit workers to some extent and, on the other hand, misgivings about workers' vulnerability to harm. In centring consumers, our paper empirically enriches current triangular conceptions of labour relations in the platform gig economy, by showing how consumers mediate the interests of platforms and workers, to shape how gig work manifests and who benefits from it. We also contribute useful new practical knowledge, by elucidating the prevailing concerns of consumers that could be developed into resonant themes for campaigns aimed at improving platform gig workers' rights.

Australian foreign policy, the media and responses to mass atrocities

ABSTRACT This paper begins to put together a thus-far missing picture of the dynamics between Australian public opinion, media and foreign policy responses to genocide and other mass atrocities, in the Asia-Pacific and further afield. It examines key factors likely to influence these relationships, focusing on the role and significance of normative-ideational imperatives, such as Australian values and notions of ‘good international citizenship’ in Australia's foreign policymaking. To assess the centrality of these imperatives for the public and their implications for foreign policy, an exploratory study is conducted of Australian mainstream media's coverage of the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar during 2016–2017. The findings point to striking normative omissions in the media's coverage and public and official deliberations over Australia's policy responses to the crisis. The essay discusses potential explanations for these omissions and highlights themes for further research arising from the study. These relate to the influence of political party bipartisanship on Australia's foreign policies, the importance of middle powers cooperation for international atrocity prevention, and the extent to which a focus on refugee intake and humanitarian aid might have substituted for discussions of more direct ways Australia could assist in halting the violence itself.

Corrigendum to: A survey of Australian public opinion on using comorbidity to triage intensive care patients in a pandemic.

Corrigendum to: A survey of Australian public opinion on using comorbidity to triage intensive care patients in a pandemic.

A survey of Australian public opinion on using comorbidity to triage intensive care patients in a pandemic.

Objectives This study aimed to determine which method to triage intensive care patients using chronic comorbidity in a pandemic was perceived to be the fairest by the general public. Secondary objectives were to determine whether the public perceived it fair to provide preferential intensive care triage to vulnerable or disadvantaged people, and frontline healthcare workers. Methods A postal survey of 2000 registered voters randomly selected from the Australian Electoral Commission electoral roll was performed. The main outcome measures were respondents' fairness rating of four hypothetical intensive care triage methods that assess comorbidity (chronic medical conditions, long-term survival, function and frailty); and respondents' fairness rating of providing preferential triage to vulnerable or disadvantaged people, and frontline healthcare workers. Results The proportion of respondents who considered it fair to triage based on chronic medical conditions, long-term survival, function and frailty, was 52.1, 56.1, 65.0 and 62.4%, respectively. The proportion of respondents who considered it unfair to triage based on these four comorbidities was 31.9, 30.9, 23.8 and 23.2%, respectively. More respondents considered it unfair to preferentially triage vulnerable or disadvantaged people, than fair (41.8% versus 21.2%). More respondents considered it fair to preferentially triage frontline healthcare workers, than unfair (44.2% versus 30.0%). Conclusion Respondents in this survey perceived all four hypothetical methods to triage intensive care patients based on comorbidity in a pandemic disaster to be fair. However, the sizable minority who consider this to be unfair indicates that these triage methods could encounter significant opposition if they were to be enacted in health policy.

Is there a populist personality? Populist attitudes, personality, and voter preference in Australian public opinion

ABSTRACT This paper investigates whether personality affects support for populist parties either directly or indirectly through “populist attitudes.” It theorizes that populist attitudes should be disambiguated into their component facets and that the attitudinal components of populism are best understood as loosely related characteristic adaptations, which mediate the relationship between personality and vote choice. Using data from a nationally representative survey of 2200 Australians fielded prior to the general election in 2019, the paper demonstrates that the three attitudinal components of populism (People-centrism, Anti-elitism, and a Manichean outlook) are weakly associated with one another and distinctively connected with underlying personality traits. Our results indicate that populist attitudes are better conceptualized as a cluster of weakly related psychological tendencies rather than as a coherent worldview or personality. Mediation analysis indicates that personality traits affect support for populist parties both directly and indirectly through the attitudinal components of populism.

Fear and Greed: Australian Public Opinion Towards China's Rise*

The gradual transformation of Australia's relationship with Asia over the past half century has been accompanied by major shifts in public opinion. These changes have been prompted by numerous changes in the social composition of the electorate, by globalisation which has brought many foreign firms to Australia, and by the political elite's changing approach to engagement with Asia. There is, however, considerable elite anxiety concerning the economic and military rise of China, and these concerns are expressed in public debate and attitudes. Using opinion surveys collected over half a century, the first part of this article examines the trends emerging from debates over Australia's economic and political relationship with China. In the second part, we use the 2018 and 2020 Lowy Polls to explain who changed their views of China and why. The results suggest that the dramatic shift in attitudes towards China between 2018 and 2020 was mainly driven by concerns about foreign influence in Australian politics. Overall, public opinion towards China has become more polarised, between economic opportunity on the one hand and fear of an authoritarian neighbour on the other.

What does the public think about sex offender registers? Findings from a national Australian study

This article presents data from questions about sex offender registration orders in a large national survey on Australian public opinion about adult sex offenders. It outlines the legislative frameworks that govern these registers in Australia and discusses the use of public registers, the research on the effectiveness of sex offender registers, and Australian attitudes to such registers. Our surveys of three cohorts of members of the Australian public reveal strong public support for sex offender registers, especially for cases involving child victims. However, there was also support for judicial discretion in the imposition of orders and reduced support for automatic registration where a non-custodial sentence is imposed. The Australian Government has recently announced the establishment of a national public sex offender register, but our findings show limited support for this approach. The implications for policy and practice are considered.

Sceptics or supporters? Consumers’ views of work in the gig economy

Labour‐management practices and workers’ experiences in the gig economy are topics of major interest for researchers, regulators and the general public. Platform companies project a vision of gig workers as autonomous freelancers, but pervasive features of their own labour practices, along with workers’ traits, create new vulnerabilities and risks. Efforts to improve gig workers’ conditions to date have made in‐roads without achieving a general shift in platforms’ practices or gig workers’ conditions. In this paper, we explore how another, less‐recognised stakeholder group—consumers—shapes the conditions of gig work. Drawing on Australian public opinion data, we study consumers’ views of the gig economy and ask whether these will help or hinder pro‐worker campaigns. While consumers are sympathetic to gig workers’ financial plight, they also see benefits in the work’s flexibility and opportunities for jobseekers. We explain how our findings can inform advocacy campaigns and further gig economy research.

Being International at Home: Australian Public Opinion in the League Era

ABSTRACTDuring the interwar years, Australian internationalists sought to promote League internationalism to Australians at home. In addition to attending international conferences, participating in the League of Nations, or joining non-government organisations with international affiliations, within Australia they gave lectures, were interviewed by the press, and contributed to information events and publications. Each activity was designed to encourage a more internationally or Pacific-minded Australia in the world. When considered together, the range of publics they created points to an emerging culture of internationalism in Australia more diffuse and disparate than previously recognised. In particular, when women and men internationalists are considered in the one frame, a more active and engaged internationalist Australia emerges—one in which white, middle-class academics, activists and professionals sought to encourage a new way of being a ‘’White Australian” that was sufficiently self-reflexive to encourage cross-cultural exchange in the region while retaining authority in (settler) colonial affairs.

Australian public opinion on asylum

Australia has a policy of deterring attempts by asylum seekers to reach the country by boat. In 2001 and again in 2013 a policy of offshore processing was implemented and since 2013 the government has determined that no asylum seeker reaching Australia by boat will be eligible for resettlement in Australia. In addition, current policy provides for the turning back of boats at sea when it is safe to do so, to maintain the integrity of the country’s borders. This article considers Australian public attitudes to asylum policy. It finds that while there is majority support for the right to seek asylum, in response to questions on boat arrivals strong negative views outnumber the strong positive by more than two to one. The findings also show that the young, females, tertiary educated, financially better off and those born in the United Kingdom are more likely oppose turning refugee boats back.

Public opinion on sentencing and parole in Australia

Australia has nine different legislative regimes for sentencing and parole, as well as eight prison regimes; it has therefore been described as an ideal penal laboratory. This paper presents an overview of the extensive body of recent Australian research on public opinion on sentencing and, more recently, parole. The discussion on parole is situated in the context of an analysis of the legislative and policy landscape, which has undergone significant changes in recent years. The paper concludes with some comments on future research directions in relation to Australian public opinion on parole.

Aid Policy and Australian Public Opinion.

Since 2013, Australian aid has been reduced and increasingly focused on delivering benefits to Australia. Motivated by these changes, this paper fills three gaps in the existing literature on public opinion about aid. It provides the only recent detailed study of Australians' opinions about aid. It studies specific policy questions in addition to the broader questions typical of international research. And it studies views on the purpose of aid, an area not previously researched. Although Australians are generally supportive of aid, most backed major aid cuts in 2015. However, most Australians think the purpose of Australian aid should be helping people in poor countries, not bringing benefits to Australia. There is a clear left–right divide in responses to all questions; however, some variables correlated with support for aid fail to explain variation in views about aid's purpose. The paper concludes by discussing ramifications for those who seek to change aid policy.

A cross-sectional survey of Australian and New Zealand public opinion on methods to triage intensive care patients in an influenza pandemic

A cross-sectional survey of Australian and New Zealand public opinion on methods to triage intensive care patients in an influenza pandemic

Measuring or Creating Attitudes? Seventy Years of Australian Public Opinion Polling about Indonesia

This article critically evaluates the relationship between public opinion polling and foreign affairs. It plots key trends in public opinion polls of Australian attitudes towards Indonesia from the 1940s to the present day. Despite variations in polling companies and questions, Australian attitudes to Indonesia appear surprisingly stable, especially since the 1970s. Reading across multiple polls over this period reveals that, both as a mass and among individuals, Australians held complex views in which positive appraisals of Indonesian people and culture co-existed with an underlying fear of Indonesia as a potential military threat. Yet rather than accepting these findings at face value, this article calls for nuanced scrutiny of the role played by polling companies and the media in the construction and representation of so-called “public” opinion. Sensitive to recent developments in the historiography of public opinion polling, it suggests that public opinion polls not only attempted to measure Australian attitudes towards Indonesia, but also helped construct Indonesia as an object of popular and political concern.

A Lesson in Violence: The moral dimensions of two punitive expeditions in the Gulf of Papua, 1901 and 1904

This article explores the moral dimensions of the deployment of violence in colonial British New Guinea through close examination of the two punitive expeditions conducted in 1901 and 1904 in response to the killing of missionary James Chalmers by Kerewo people in the Gulf of Papua. I focus on the different discourses embedded in the texts produced to describe those expeditions, with particular attention to the language used to justify the recourse to violence and the thin line that separated a lawful punishment from an amoral reprisal. Differences in the reactions of Australian public opinion to these two acts of violence toward Native subjects are weighed against the changing political context of the transition from British colony to direct Australian administration.

Unbreakable Alliance? ANZUS in the Asian Century

The alliance between the United States and Australia (Australia New Zealand United States or ANZUS), while one of America's least problematic Asia‐Pacific strategic relationships at present, could face a series of new challenges as structural change in this region continues apace. This article analyzes five such challenges facing ANZUS: the rise of China; changing American expectations of its allies and partners; the intensification of Australia‐Japan security relations; the emergence of a divide between Australian public and elite opinion on ANZUS; and the rise of Indonesia. The article concludes by offering a series of policy‐relevant recommendations designed to ameliorate the worst effects of these challenges. These include the generation of greater policy debate on ANZUS in Australia; the introduction of new public education programs highlighting the alliance's costs and risks; and the establishment of a new Australia‐Indonesia‐U.S. trilateral dialogue process at the second track or 1.5 track level.

Australian Public Opinion About Foreign Aid, 201112015

What does the Australian public think about foreign aid? This Discussion Paper collates and summarises survey and omnibus poll data collected between 2011 and 2015 on a range of topics related to Australian foreign aid. These include opinions related to the value and objectives of foreign aid, cuts to the aid budget, and knowledge about aid volumes. Overall, the findings suggest that most Australians support the government giving aid, though only a small proportion actually know how much foreign aid Australia gives, and many are in favour of reducing the aid budget. The paper also considers how the wording and framing of survey questions might affect Australians’ professed support for aid, and outlines areas for future research.

The opinion–policy link in Australia

Whether or not policy is responsive to public opinion is central to questions of representation. Democracy by many accounts is premised on there being a strong correspondence between public opinion and policy. This link has not, however, been examined in detail in Australia. This article examines the policy–opinion link in a more robust way than that has previously been achieved in Australia, through the use of legislative data from the Australian Policy Agendas Project (APAP) and public opinion data from Roy Morgan. The article asks: is policy congruent with public opinion in Australia? In addressing this question, we examine to what extent policy accords with the preferences of the public. This in turn provides us with some answers about how representative Australian democracy is, as well as contributing to an international debate about the responsiveness of policy to public opinion.政策是否要对舆论负责，这是代表制的核心问题。民主的前提往往就在于舆论和政策之间的息息相通。但在澳大利亚，人们并没有仔细地研究过二者间的关联。本文根据澳大利亚政策议题计划提供的立法资料以及罗伊摩根提供的舆情资料，对政策—舆论关联做了比以往充分多的研究。本文试问：政策与舆论在澳大利亚是否一致？我们考察了政策在多大程度上符合民意。这也为澳大利亚民主在多大程度上具有代表性的问题提供了答案，对于国际上争论政策对民意的回应问题也具有参考意义。。

Corruption and confidence in Australian political institutions

Corruption is inimical to public support for democratic government. This article uses Australian public opinion surveys to clarify the link between corruption and views of political institutions. The results show that citizens' personal experiences of corruption among public officials are negligible, but that three in four believe that there is some corruption among politicians and almost half believe that corruption in Australia is increasing. Perceptions of corruption matter much more than personal experiences of corrupt public officials in shaping confidence in political institutions. For policy-makers, the findings have implications for how corruption is handled, and in the measures that should be put in place to allay the public's fears about the increase in corruption.腐败妨碍了公众对民主政府的支持。本文使用澳大利亚舆论调查，澄清了腐败与政治体制观的联系。研究显示公民个人对于公职人员腐败的经验可以忽略不计。倒是四分之三的人相信政客中存在某种腐败，几乎近一半人相信腐败在澳大利亚与日俱增。对腐败的认识，比个人对公职人员中腐败的耳闻目见，对于形成对政治体制的信赖要重要得多。对于政策制定者，这些发现有助于他们处理腐败，采取措施缓和公众对于日增的腐败的恐惧。

Stephen Roberts as a commentator on fascism and the road to war in Europe

In the light of recent scholarship on Australian responses to Nazism, Fascism and the origins of the Second World War in Europe, it is worth revisiting a formative influence on Australian public opinion on international affairs in the 1930s, the Sydney University historian Stephen H. Roberts. While his bestselling 1937 book, The House that Hitler Built, is relatively well-known and well-documented, his regular media commentary in the same period has received less detailed analysis to date. Focussing particularly on Roberts’ weekly commentaries on international affairs in the Sydney Mail, this article looks critically at the strengths and limitations of Roberts’ prolific statements on Nazism, Fascism and the threat of war.This article has been peer-reviewed.