Australian higher education is internationally competitive and globally connected, yet domestically strained, politically contested and increasingly judged through the lens of affordability, accessibility and public value. This discussion paper examines how Australians perceive their universities and, in particular, how those perceptions connect to democratic resilience – the capacity of a democratic system to sustain informed participation, institutional trust, social inclusion and collective learning in the face of social, economic and technological change.

The paper situates universities as a core component of Australia’s broader knowledge infrastructure, alongside schools and TAFE, libraries and archives, cultural institutions, government data providers and media. When this infrastructure is trusted, accessible, and seen to deliver public value, it strengthens democratic capability, supporting credible information, civic skills, debate, accountability and policy learning. When it is perceived as distant, unfair or captured by narrow interests, it can contribute to democratic fragility by weakening institutional legitimacy and widening social divides. 

Drawing on nationally representative data from September/October 2025, the paper analyses confidence in universities and other institutions; perceptions of how well universities are performing; views about the value and necessity of university education; perceived barriers to participation for different groups; preferences over public spending across education sectors; and public expectations about universities’ roles in teaching, research, civic engagement, and democratic development. We then link higher education attitudes to key indicators of democratic resilience, using multivariate models that control for standard demographic, socioeconomic, and geographic factors.

Key findings for democratic resilience

1. Australians’ confidence in universities remains relatively high compared to many other public institutions, but it has declined steadily since 2019–2020.
2. Perceptions of fairness and access are shifting. Only a minority of Australians view a university degree as necessary for success, while substantial proportions believe access has become more difficult over the past decade.
3. Australians strongly endorse universities’ workforce and economic roles (training young people for future jobs, developing new ideas), but are more ambivalent about their civic mission.