The Australian Election Study (AES) provides the most sophisticated and comprehensive source of evidence ever collected on political attitudes and behaviour in Australia. The AES has fielded a representative public opinion survey after every federal election since 1987. The survey asks a wide range of questions to discover what shaped voters’ choices at the ballot box—including considerations in the vote decision, the importance of different policy issues, and attitudes towards the political parties and leaders. This provides a wealth of information to understand voter behaviour and how that contributes to election results.

This monograph presents the long-term trends over time in voter attitudes and behaviour in Australia. Situating the 2022 election in historical context highlights unique factors in this election. Factors advantaging Labor in the 2022 election include: Labor’s advantage over the Coalition in most policy areas – a major shift since the previous election (pp. 36-43), increasingly pessimistic views of the economy under the previous government (p. 55); and Scott Morrison’s unpopularity, as the least popular main party leader in the history of the AES (p. 90). Although Labor won the election, the data highlights concerns for both the major parties, including declining political partisanship (p. 29) and low levels of trust in politicians (p. 101).