Australians have more negative attitudes towards major religious groups and immigration levels, but a new report says social cohesion has remained stable over the past 12 months, despite multiple areas of tension.
The Scanlon Foundation, which has been measuring social cohesion since 2007, released its 2024 report on Tuesday, showing the main areas of concern for Australians in 2024, including the economy, housing, immigration and security.
The report is based on a survey of more than 8,000 participants and more than 100 questions.
Report author Dr James O’Donnell, from the Australian National University, said social cohesion declined through 2023, particularly as cost of living pressures emerged.
“Social cohesion, those kinds of bonds and bonds that bind us together, the bonds between people and governments, have been sort of in decline since 2020, since the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.
“But over the last 12 months at least, and despite all the challenges we’ve faced over the last 12 months, many of our metrics have remained fairly stable.”
The index measures social cohesion in five different areas: value, social justice and inclusion, acceptance, belonging and political participation.
In 2024, the figure given to the feeling of belonging and social cohesion is 78, the same as in 2023.
Nearly half of Australians (49 per cent) believe immigration levels are too high, up from 33 per cent last year.
The report found that these attitudes are driven by economic and housing concerns, rather than opposition to diversity, with 85 per cent of respondents agreeing that multiculturalism has been good for Australia.
“This support for multiculturalism and our diversity remains a great strength for Australia,” O’Donnell said.
“It is perhaps an important asset to help us overcome many global challenges, the current geopolitical challenges in the world, as well as some economic challenges. But it should also not be taken for granted. And there is certain pressures on this type of multicultural relationships at the same time.
And as economic pressures hit Australian households, with 41 per cent of Australians surveyed describing themselves as “poor or struggling to pay their bills”, O’Donnell says Australians feel less of a sense of belonging.
“When we have trouble paying our bills, we are less likely to say we have a sense of belonging, we are less likely to say we trust others and the government. We are a little less accepting of others and our differences and our diversity too.”
The report also found less positive attitudes towards religion, across all major faith groups.
Positive attitudes towards has declined, partly because of the war in Gaza.
The proportion of people feeling at least “somewhat positive” toward Christians, for example, fell from 42 percent in 2023 to 37 percent in 2024.
A third of Australians now say they have a somewhat or very negative attitude towards Muslims, up 7 points from 2023, and negative attitudes towards Jews have increased from 9% to 13% in the past year.
There have been similar declines in all other faith groups, including attitudes toward Buddhists (from 50 percent at least “somewhat positive” in 2023 to 44 percent in 2024); Hindus and Sikhs (both 33 percent in 2023 to 26 percent in 2024).
Alex Ryvchin, of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, said he was not surprised.
“It doesn’t surprise me that people have a worse view of the Jewish community. And we certainly feel that. We feel it in terms of exclusion, in terms of discrimination, in terms of street abuse and defamation.”
