PULSE POLLING SURVEYS
CEDA’s research agenda is informed by insights into the Australian community’s attitudes to economic development through our pulse polling.
CEDA’s pulse polling surveys provide a snapshot of the Australian community and business attitudes and approach to economic growth and development.
COMMUNITY PULSE
Community pulse is CEDA's nationwide survey exploring community attitudes to growth and development.
Australia has lacked community support for the reforms needed to sustain strong economic growth. The first step to Australia regaining momentum for broad based economic reform is better understanding what the community really cares about.
In 2018 CEDA commissioned its first pulse 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.
In 2018, CEDA released the results of its nation-wide survey, Community pulse 2018: the economic disconnect. After 26 years of uninterrupted economic growth, this report examined how satisfied Australians were with their circumstances; who they thought had gained from this growth; and what the most important issues were for them personally and for Australia.
The 2018 survey found that the majority of Australians did not feel they had personally gained or did not know if they had gained from Australia’s record run of economic growth.
Key findings included:
- 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.
- Reliable, low cost basic health services, mattered most to people personally
- High quality and accessible public hospitals was the top critical national issue.
This report was a crucial step in providing the foundation to tackle these issues with new approaches, and set the scene for our foundational research program: Connecting people with progress: securing Australia's future economic development.
COMPANY PULSE
Company Pulse is CEDA's nationwide survey which takes the pulse of Australian businesses periodically, to better understand how they are approaching economic development.
CEDA's Company Pulse survey goes beyond the traditional surveys of business sentiments and quick polls of attitudes to government policy and regulation. It seeks to uncover business attitudes and responses to critical emerging issues that will impact Australia’s future progress from trust in institutions to technology and data and migration.
Company Pulse assists in identifying new insights and trends about Australian business and informs the focus of CEDA’s research in areas where economic policy is struggling to keep up. It also provides an important foundation for discussions on the role of business in economic development at CEDA forums and events.
The 2019 Company Pulse results found the community expects a broad contribution from business including on social and environmental issues. While the survey highlighted many issues that the community and business leaders are aligned on – perhaps more so than might be expected – it also identified areas of disconnect.
This survey found that business and the general public agree that expectations of business have risen. However, scepticism remained around whether the behaviour of business has improved, and whether business leaders are seeking to advance national interests or their own company’s when they speak out on important issues.