Community attitudes can have a major impact on social policy. Understanding the attitudes of the general community towards issues of poverty and inequality can help address misinformation.

In 2023, a new survey was established to examine community attitudes towards key aspects of poverty and inequality, and related social policies. The findings in this report are useful to reflect on our current policy settings and think about what we want for the future of Australia.

Key findings:

• Poverty is a big problem in Australia.
• We should look after people in need.
• Nobody deserves to live in poverty.
• The gap between people living in poverty and those on high incomes is too great.
• Government policies can both cause and solve poverty.
• People receiving unemployment payments should have enough income to cover meals and visits to the doctor.
• Australia should be a country that looks after those in need.
• They could not live on the current unemployment income support payments. Less than a quarter indicated that they could live on this amount.