The authors of ‘Happiness and the Human Development Index: The Paradox of Australia’ claim that Australia ranks highly in the Human Development Index (HDI), but relatively poorly in happiness. But when Andrew Leigh and Justin Wolfers compare that happiness data with the HDI, Australia appears happier, not sadder, than its HDI score would predict. Their findings accord with numerous cross-national surveys conducted since the 1940s, which have consistently found that Australians report high levels of wellbeing.