74% of Australians say country more divided than a year ago: McKinnon survey 2026
Synopsis
Nearly three in four Australians now believe their country is more divided than a year ago, and a majority — 52.8% — say they distrust their federal government, according to a 2026 McKinnon survey of over 4,000 people. The most striking finding: satisfaction with democracy is nearly 20 percentage points higher among university graduates than among those who only completed high school, exposing a sharp education-based fault line beneath the headline numbers.
Key Takeaways
74.4% of Australians (41.9% strongly + 32.5% somewhat) say the country is more divided than 12 months ago , per the McKinnon survey.
Satisfaction with Australia's direction fell from 28.8% in 2025 to 26.1% in 2026, while deep dissatisfaction rose by 7.2 percentage points .
Trust in federal politicians dropped from 35.9% to 30.5% ; trust in political parties fell from 31.2% to 24.4% .
A majority — 52.8% — now report a low degree of trust in the federal government , up from 46.3% in 2025.
Satisfaction with democracy stands at 59% among university graduates but only 39.7% among those whose highest qualification is high school or below.
The survey polled more than 4,000 people across June–July 2026 .
A major survey by independent think tank McKinnon has found that nearly three-quarters of Australians believe their country is more socially and politically divided than it was 12 months ago, with trust in federal politicians and political parties declining sharply in 2026. The findings point to a deepening crisis of confidence in democratic institutions even as formal trust in democracy itself remains relatively intact.
Key Findings on Division and Satisfaction
According to the survey, 41.9% of respondents strongly agreed that Australia is more divided than a year ago, with a further 32.5% saying they somewhat agreed — bringing the combined total to nearly 74.4%. Meanwhile, satisfaction with the direction of the country continued to erode: only 26.1% of respondents said they were very or somewhat satisfied with the way Australia is heading in 2026, down from 28.8% in 2025. The proportion reporting deep dissatisfaction rose by 7.2 percentage points over the same period.
Trust in Politicians and Parties Slides
The survey recorded a notable drop in trust across key political institutions. The share of Australians reporting a high degree of trust in federal politicians fell from 35.9% in 2025 to 30.5% in 2026. Trust in political parties declined even more steeply — from 31.2% to just 24.4%. Perhaps most strikingly, the proportion reporting a low degree of trust in the federal government climbed from 46.3% to 52.8% over the same period, meaning a majority of Australians now distrust their own federal government.
Feeling Unrepresented: A Growing Sentiment
When asked whether they feel understood and represented by Australia's federal politicians, 34.6% of respondents strongly disagreed — up significantly from 27.0% in 2025. This suggests that the gap between citizens and their elected representatives is widening, a pattern increasingly visible across Western democracies navigating post-pandemic political fragmentation.
The Education Divide
John Thwaites, McKinnon's interim executive chair and former deputy premier of the state of Victoria, highlighted an education-based fault line in satisfaction with democracy. "Satisfaction with democracy is 59 per cent among Australians with a university degree or higher. Among Australians whose highest qualification is high school or below, it is just 39.7 per cent," Thwaites said. He also noted: "Australians have considerably more confidence in the institutions of democracy than they do in the politics conducted within them."
Survey Methodology and Context
The McKinnon survey was conducted in June and July 2026, polling more than 4,000 people on their attitudes toward the Australian political system, leaders, and institutions. This comes amid a broader global trend of declining institutional trust, with similar surveys in the United Kingdom, United States, and parts of Europe revealing comparable patterns of political disillusionment. For Australia, the findings arrive ahead of ongoing debates around cost-of-living pressures, housing affordability, and federal governance — issues that critics argue have sharpened social fault lines in recent years.
Point of View
It signals that political disillusionment is concentrated precisely among communities that feel economically and culturally left behind. Globally, this is the same fault line that has fuelled populist surges from Washington to Warsaw. Australian politicians would be wrong to treat this as a passing mood; the trajectory across 2025 and 2026 is consistently downward on every trust metric. The harder question — which this survey does not answer — is whether institutional reform or economic relief would do more to close the gap.
NationPress
2 Nov 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What did the McKinnon survey find about Australia in 2026?
The McKinnon survey found that nearly 74.4% of Australians believe the country is more divided than it was 12 months ago. Conducted in June–July 2026 across more than 4,000 respondents, it also found that a majority — 52.8% — report low trust in the federal government.
How has trust in Australian politicians changed since 2025?
Trust in federal politicians fell from 35.9% in 2025 to 30.5% in 2026, while trust in political parties dropped from 31.2% to 24.4% over the same period. The share of Australians who feel strongly unrepresented by federal politicians also rose from 27% to 34.6%.
What is the education divide in satisfaction with Australian democracy?
Satisfaction with democracy is 59% among Australians with a university degree or higher, compared to just 39.7% among those whose highest qualification is high school or below. McKinnon's interim executive chair John Thwaites described this as one of the survey's most striking findings.
Who conducted the survey and how was it carried out?
The survey was conducted by McKinnon, an independent think tank, in June and July 2026. It polled more than 4,000 Australians on their views about the country's political system, leaders, and institutions.
Why does the Australian political trust decline matter beyond Australia?
Australia's declining trust figures mirror trends seen across Western democracies, where post-pandemic economic pressures and political polarisation have eroded confidence in governments and parties. The education-based satisfaction gap in particular echoes patterns that have driven populist movements in the United States and parts of Europe.
