Cost of living and AI outrank climate change and war as top concerns for future, but support for multiculturalism remains strong
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The vast majority of Australians support immigration and multiculturalism despite more feeling poorer – and increasingly pessimistic and distrustful of government, the annual Scanlon report on social cohesion has revealed.
People are more worried about artificial intelligence than climate change or going to war, but a global economic downturn and cost-of-living pressures are Australians’ key concerns.
Economic pain is also changing the way people vote, with people suffering hardship jumping ship to One Nation, according to the report, which is one of the country’s most extensive social research projects.
Voters were already frustrated before the RBA’s fifth rate hike. Labor will be hoping its luck hasn’t run outRead moreBut, despite rising concern about antisemitism and Islamophobia, social cohesion in Australia has actually remained steady. The lead author of the report concedes many findings are cause for concern, but notes support for multiculturalism and diversity remains high, as does the sense of connection Australians feel to their communities.
“People are clearly under pressure with economic pressures, there’s discontent and distrust, people are blaming immigration … but we don’t necessarily see a permanence to that,” said Dr James O’Donnell from the Australian National University.
“It’s not just that people are getting angry generally. They’re really under pressure and that plays out in different ways.”
Social cohesion steady
More than 10,000 Australians were asked 100 questions by the Scanlon Foundation on topics ranging from life satisfaction and financial circumstances to voting intent.
The report found happiness had declined most for millennials and generation Xers.
The headline figure, the Scanlon index of social cohesion, remained at 78 out of 100 – a consistent figure since 2023.
The philanthropy organisation calculates this number through data about Australians’ sense of belonging, worth, social inclusion and justice, participation in society, and attitudes about acceptance.
Scanlon social cohesion index since 2007“The really important stuff for social cohesion – the sense of belonging and acceptance – a lot of that is built into our daily life. There’s a resilience to that; we’re still volunteering, there’s a high level of trust in the people around us and local communities,” O’Donnell said.
But Scanlon concedes this headline number can “disguise” important shifts in individual numbers, including “increasing strain on Australia’s social cohesion”.
Despite the index remaining static, 62% of adults believe social cohesion has declined in recent years.
Australians pessimistic about their lives
Nearly one-third of respondents expect their lives to get worse over the next four years. That’s up from 29% last year.
While 79% of people said they had been happy in the past year – a number which has remained stable since 2021 – 48% said they were pessimistic about Australia’s future. That figure is up from 43% in 2025.
The Scanlon report said happiness had declined the most for millennials (born between 1981 and 1996) and gen X (born 1965-1980).
Unhappiness among Australians by generation“Since 2014, the proportion of Millennials who are happy or very happy declined from 84% to 75%, while the proportion who are unhappy or very unhappy increased from 16% to 25%. Among Gen X, the proportion who are unhappy or very unhappy increased from 19% to 23%,” the report said.
“Across all generations, people are increasingly pessimistic about their future.”
Economic pressures ‘harmful to social cohesion’
Cost of living was by far the most-cited issue facing Australia, with 36% of people rating it as their top issue. Housing affordability and shortages was second on 11%, other economic issues on 10% and immigration on 9%.
On a different measure, about “major issues” facing the nation, 77% of Australians were concerned about a severe global economic downturn.
Scanlon warned many Australians were facing financial stress in ways which were “likely harmful to social cohesion”.
Some 20% of adults were unhappy with their financial situation. While 10% described themselves as “poor”, 13% said they had gone without food at least sometimes, and struggled to pay their rent or mortgage on time.
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About one in five reported they sometimes had to go without medicine or healthcare, could not afford to heat or cool their homes, or had to ask friends or family to borrow money. Another 16% said they’d had to sell possessions because they needed cash.
Immigration and multiculturalism
While the social cohesion index remained steady, several key measures of cultural diversity have eroded.
Negative attitudes toward Indian immigrants rose to 33% in 2026, up from 25% in 2024.
In new questions asked in 2026, 36% of people said they had a negative attitude toward immigrants from Israel, 39% toward immigrants from Palestine and 41% toward those from Iran.
Some 18% reported a negative attitude toward Jewish people, up from 13% in 2024, while 43% said the same of Muslim people, up from 33% in 2024.
Negative attitudes to Hindus (17%, up from 13%) and Sikhs (20%, up from 14%) also rose since 2024, while negativity toward Christians dropped from 19% to 13%.
But public support for multiculturalism, despite a toxic political debate, remains very high. Some 87% of Australians believe immigrants are just as likely to be “good citizens” as Australian-born people, 76% agreed multiculturalism has been good for the nation and 73% agreed immigrants were good for the economy.
What is keeping Australians up at night?
After cost of living (36%), Australians’ top issues fell away quickly, to housing (11%), economic issues and immigration. The environment and climate change was the top issue for just 4% of people, with national security and terrorism at 1%, alongside health and education, social media, misinformation and artificial intelligence.
When asked about “major issues” facing Australia, 77% were concerned or very concerned about a global economic downturn. Despite only 1% rating it among their top issues, another 69% said they were worried about artificial intelligence – that ranked above climate change (55%) and a military conflict involving Australia (51%).
What does it mean for politics?
The report cross-references various figures with voting intention. It finds financial hardship may be contributing to support eroding for the Labor and Coalition parties, suggesting people feeling economic pain were more likely to vote One Nation or Greens.
Weighted percentage of adults who responded ‘always’ or ‘most of the time’, by voting preferenceThis year, 42% of current Greens voters and 35% of those backing One Nation had gone without meals or healthcare, missed repayments, or couldn’t heat or cool their homes. That compared to only 24% of Labor voters and 23% of Coalition voters.
The Scanlon report found this is changing votes.
“Among people who voted for Labor or the Coalition at the 2025 federal election, we estimate that 47% who are experiencing financial hardship now prefer some other party or candidate compared with 36% of people who reported no hardship,” it said, with most of that vote shifting to One Nation.
In related findings, the report found that across all voting groups, “people experiencing financial stress are predicted to have substantially weaker trust in institutions”.
Adults who feel the system of government needs major change or should be replaced, weighted percentagePolitical polarisation is also a feature of the report, with markedly different perceptions of society depending on voting intent. Only 9% of One Nation voters trust the federal government to do the right thing, and just one-third believe elections are fair and that courts make fair decisions.
That compares with 54% of Labor, 35% of Coalition and 25% of Greens voters trusting the government to do the right thing; 81% of Labor and 63% each of Greens and Coalition voters believing elections are fair; and 68% of Labor, 57% of Coalition and 54% of Greens voters believing courts make fair decisions.
Only 16% of Labor voters believe government leaders abuse their powers, compared to 64% of One Nation voters.