Almost half of Australians believe current immigration levels are too high, despite an overwhelming majority saying the country has benefited from multiculturalism.
The latest Mapping Social Cohesion study by the Australian National University (ANU) and the Scanlon Foundation Research Institute found 49 percent, of more than 8000 people surveyed, believed immigration levels were too high.
Study author James O’Donnell, from ANU, said this figure was up sharply from 33 percent in 2023, and higher than before the pandemic, when it was 41 percent, in 2019.
Dr O’Donnell said Australian attitudes towards multiculturalism remained overwhelmingly positive, despite tapering off slightly from the peaks of recent years.
He said a large majority of Australians, 85 percent, agreed that multiculturalism had been good for Australia, down from 89 percent in 2023, but significantly higher than pre-Covid (80 percent in 2019).
“This view that immigration is too high is driven by economic and housing concerns, rather than opposition to diversity. Seventy-one percent of Australians still agree that accepting immigrants from different countries makes Australia stronger,” Dr O’Donnell said.
He said for almost half of Australians (49 percent), the economy was still the top issue facing the country, followed by housing issues and affordability, with financial stress widespread.
Dr O’Donnell said 41 percent of Australians described themselves as either “poor or struggling to pay bills” or “just getting along”, with the hardest hit groups renters (61 percent) and young adults aged 25-34 (50 percent).
“Young people and financially stressed individuals feel increasingly locked out of the housing market, and those facing financial hardships show less trust in government, institutions, and other people.”
He said trust in government had continued to decline since the pandemic’s historic highs, with one-in-three Australians (33 percent) trusting the Federal Government to do the right thing “all” or “most of the time” in 2024.
Dr O’Donnell said with crime a prominent national issue, especially violence against women, Australians were feeling less safe in their local areas in recent years.
“The proportion of women who feel at least “fairly safe” walking alone at night in their local area declined from 54 percent in 2022 to 46 percent in 2024.
Read the full report: Mapping social cohesion
