A large majority of Australians are supportive of democracy, but young people with lower levels of education are less likely to believe that democracy is always preferrable to other forms of government, according to a new research paper from The Australian National University (ANU).
The paper, led by Professor Nicholas Biddle and Professor Matthew Gray, coincides with the commencement of the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion.
"The terms of reference for the Royal Commission state that strengthening the national consensus in support of democracy, freedom and the rule of law provides the strongest defence against antisemitism and other forms of religious and ideologically motivated extremism,'' Professor Biddle, Head of the ANU School of Politics and International Relations, said.
"ANUpolls taken between October 2024 and December 2025 found that between about 66 per cent and 75 per cent of Australians were satisfied with the way democracy is working.
"However, the results of an ANUpoll taken after the May 2025 federal election found that only 66.9 per cent of Australians agreed or strongly agreed that democracy is always preferable to other forms government.
"This leaves almost one-third of Australians that are either ambivalent towards democracy, or sceptical of its benefits.''
In-depth analysis of data from the May 2025 ANUpoll shows that age was one of the key predictors of support for democracy.
Amongst older Australians, 89.1 per cent of those aged 75 and over agreed or strongly agreed that democracy was always preferable. This was also true for 80.8 per cent of those aged 65 to 74.
However, only 43.8 per cent of Australians aged between 18 and 24 years agreed that democracy was always preferable.
Age alone is not the key determinant of support for democracy. Amongst those aged 18-34 with a university degree, 62.9 per cent thought democracy was always preferable. This dropped to 22 per cent for those that had not completed Year 12 or had post-school qualifications other than a university degree.
"Older Australians may have more individual memories of Australia's interaction with non-democratic regimes, and may also have lived through periods when outcomes in democracies were far superior to those in non-democratic regimes,'' Professor Gray, Director of POLIS: The ANU Centre for Social Policy Research at ANU, said.
Sex differences are also evident. Females reported lower levels of support for democracy (63.1 per cent) than males (70.7 per cent).
Financial stress had only a modest association with support for democracy. But people experiencing financial strain were less likely to be satisfied with how democracy is working.
Residents of outer metropolitan, regional/rural, or remote residents did not differ in their support for democracy from those in inner metropolitan areas. Migration status also did not have an association, with those born overseas having neither higher nor lower support for democracy than those born in Australia.
Three-quarters of those who reported belonging to a religion supported democracy, compared to 63.2 per cent of those who reported no religious affiliation.
The paper also looked at other aspects of social cohesion and views towards democracy. It found that there is a strong relationship between perception of fairness of the income distribution and satisfaction with democracy.
Among those who believe the income distribution is fair or very fair, 77.9 per cent reported being satisfied with democracy. This figure falls to 58.7 per cent for those who believe it is unfair or very unfair.
"For the Royal Commission, these findings imply that social cohesion and support for democracy is sustained through material inclusion and perceived fairness,'' Professor Biddle said.
"All our political institutions need to pay close attention to structural and attitudinal conditions that weaken democratic legitimacy, such as educational stratification, persistent financial stress, declining trust in political institutions, and pessimism about social mobility.''
The research paper, Social Cohesion and Support for Democracy in Australia: Assessing recent polling data and frameworks , is published on the ANU website.
