In 2022, 47% of Australians said they felt safe when thinking about world events.

In 2026, a majority of Australians (53%) say they feel ‘unsafe’ or ‘very unsafe’ in the world, while only 47% say they feel ‘safe’ or ‘very safe’. This is the smallest proportion of respondents who have expressed feelings of safety in the history of the Lowy Institute Poll, marking a 45-point drop in feelings of safety from 2010, when 92% of Australians reported feeling ‘safe’ or ‘very safe’. This year’s result is three points lower than the previous record low, reported in 2020 (50%) at the onset of the Covid pandemic.