CEDA's first national poll of community attitudes has found the majority of Australians do not feel they have personally gained or don’t know if they have gained from Australia’s record run of economic growth.
Downloadable resources
DOWNLOAD REPORT (PDF 5844KB) MEDIA RELEASE (LINK) REPORT DATA & INTERACTIVES (LINK)CEDA has released Community pulse 2018: the economic disconnect – the initial results from polling exploring Australians’ attitudes to work, education, health, community and the economy.
The first step to Australia regaining momentum for broadbased economic reform is better understanding what the community really cares about. CEDA commissioned the poll to understand Australian public perceptions of and attitudes to growth and economic development and what they think the important issues are for their future and for the future of the nation.
After 26 years of uninterrupted economic growth, this report examines:
- how satisfied Australians are with their current circumstances;
- who they think has gained from this growth; and
- what the most important issues are for them personally and for Australia.
Key findings include:
- Five per cent of people believe they have personally gained a lot;
- 31 per cent of people are finding it difficult to live on their current income;
- 74 per cent of people believe large corporations have gained a lot;
- 79 per cent of people believe the gap between the richest and poorest Australians is unacceptable.
Top five issues that matter the most to people personally:
- Reliable, low cost basic health services;
- Reliable, low cost essential services;
- Access to stable and affordable housing;
- Affordable, high quality chronic disease services; and
- Reduced violence in homes and communities
Top five critical national issues:
- High quality and accessible public hospitals;
- Strong regulation to limit foreign ownership of Australians land/assets;
- High quality and choice of aged care services;
- Increased pension payments; and
- Tough criminal laws and criminal sentences.
State results
Alongside the national results, CEDA has released the state-specific results for Community pulse 2018
Download South Australia results
Download Western Australia results
Release events
Community pulse 2018: the economic disconnect was launched on 25 June 2018 at State of the Nation, CEDA's annual public policy conference held in Canberra. CEDA Chief Executive, Melinda Cilento released the report with Jane Halton AO PSM, Tim Gartrell, and Jan Owen AM.
Explore report data: Community pulse
 Explore our series of interactives released to coincide with the launch of CEDA's report, Community pulse 2018: the economic disconnect. Discover key insights and share your opinion on Australia's record economic growth and the benefits to everyday Australians. |
About the poll
CEDA commissioned an online survey to better understand the community’s views on the most important economic and social issues for Australia. The survey was conducted by Polity Research & Consulting. A general community sample (n=2991) was drawn from a professional market and social research panel, and was sampled and weighted to be representative of the Australian population by age, gender and residential location. Further detail is provided in the methodology section and appendix of the report. The full results are available to access here.