Religious freedom in Australia - Part III of III

Posted on Friday 16th August 2019 at 7:30pm

Robust national survey data paints a revealing picture of the people behind the current push to legislate “religious freedoms”, and the politicians who are helping them. But electorate winds have recently changed.

In Part I and Part II of this series profiling the campaign for religious freedom in Australia, we explored the predominance of self-referential control amongst religious conservatives, who comprise a small minority (8%) of adult Australians. We also noted the recent collapse of religious faith, with a majority of Australians (54%) now reporting “no religion”.

In this third part, we explore three broad reasons why there’s relatively high support for “religious freedom” amongst federal politicians, even as citizen secularism surges.

The first reason is that our federal politicians are indeed on average more religious than the general population.

Keywords: Attitude research | Behaviour research | Social research | Australia

Religious freedom in Australia - Part II of III

Posted on Friday 16th August 2019 at 7:15pm

Robust national survey data paints a revealing picture of the people behind the current push to legislate “religious freedoms”, and the politicians who are helping them. But electorate winds have recently changed.

In Part I we employed robust national survey data from Australian National University (ANU) to establish that in public attitudes toward four social law reforms — abortion, voluntary assisted dying, marijuana use, and marriage equality — opposition was uniquely high amongst only one psychographic Australian Social Identity (ASI6) segment. That segment is religious conservatives, who comprise a small minority (8%) of the adult population.

While it’s important to remember that each of these characteristics alone doesn’t describe every religious conservative — for example, 15% don’t oppose marriage equality — the ANU data uncovers many other characteristics that are also far more prevalent amongst religious conservatives than others.

Keywords: Attitude research | Behaviour research | Benchmarking research | Social research | Australia

Religious freedom in Australia - Part I of III

Posted on Friday 16th August 2019 at 7:00pm

Robust national survey data paints a revealing picture of the people behind the current push to legislate “religious freedoms”, and the politicians who are helping them. But electorate winds have recently changed.

In political reaction to Australia’s legalisation of marriage equality in 2017, the federal government is about to introduce its “religious freedoms” bill into parliament. But the marriage equality reform explains only a small part of the picture, as robust evidence reveals.

Keywords: Attitude research | Behaviour research | Benchmarking research | Social research | Australia

Better at law and order in Victoria - Coalition or Labor?

Posted on Tuesday 20th November 2018 at 3:00pm

The final report of ResearchSquirrel's major study into law and order in Victoria was released today. Coalition and Labor performance was compared, with one side coming out in front.

The final report of ResearchSquirrel's major study into law and order in Victoria was released today, ahead of the state election. Coalition and Labor performance was compared, with one side coming out in front.

Get the full report PDF

Executive summary

As Victorians head to the polls on November 24^th, a key topic on voters’ minds is law and order. It’s been found to be potentially the most important issue of the election.

Keywords: Analysis | Social research | Australia | Victoria

Secondary data answers marriage equality question

Posted on Sunday 29th October 2017 at 10:30pm

The Australian Government is conducting a $120m+ ‘polling’ exercise to determine if there is majority electorate support for marriage equality. But we already know the correct answer, and it’s a resounding Yes.

At a cost of more than $120 million, the Australian Government is ‘polling’ Australian voters to determine if a majority are in favour of legalising marriage equality. If the result of the poll is positive (over 50%), the Government says it will introduce a Bill to legalise marriage equality. However, MPs will be granted a ‘conscience’ vote: they will not be bound to honour the majority will of the electorate in any case.

The ‘polling’ is wholly different from the process adopted by Australia's federal parliament in 2004, when without consulting the electorate, it amended the Marriage Act to expressly ban same-sex marriage, including refusing to recognise those lawfully solemnised in other Commonwealth countries.