Safety and threats
Feelings of safety
Australians’ sense of safety, which reached a record high in 2010, was deeply shaken at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, and again following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Since then, overall feelings of safety have only partially recovered, with six in ten Australians (62%) in 2024 saying they feel either ‘safe’ or ‘very safe’. This remains steady from last year, but 30 points below the high watermark of 2010 (92%).
It is notable that the proportion of people feeling ‘very safe’ has remained consistently very low since 2020. Today, barely any (5%) say they feel ‘very safe’, as compared to 2010, when four in ten Australians (42%) felt this way.
Indicates change in mode: see 2024 Methodology.
Threats to Australia’s vital interests
Cyberattacks from other countries remain the leading threat to Australia, according to Australians asked about a range of possible ‘threats to the vital interests of Australia in the next ten years’. Seven in ten Australians (70%) see cyberattacks from other countries as a ‘critical threat’, steady from 2023, and a clear 11-point lead over the next highest ranked threat — a military conflict between the United States and China over Taiwan (59%).
Australians are also seized of the potential for a military conflict in the South China Sea, with 57% rating it a critical threat, level with those who say the same of climate change (which remains steady since 2020). Potential conflicts over Taiwan (59%) and the South China Sea (57%) loom larger as critical threats than active, but more distant, conflicts in Ukraine (46%) or the Middle East (41%).
From 2006–2009, this question asked about ‘global warming’ rather than ‘climate change’. In 2020, this question asked about ‘novel coronavirus (Covid-19) and other potential epidemics’ rather than ‘the spread of infectious diseases internationally’. In 2021–2023, it asked about ‘Covid-19 and other potential epidemics’.
With the 2024 US presidential election approaching, concern about the impact of ‘political instability in the United States’ on Australia rose by nine points to 41%. However, together with conflict in the Middle East, this was the lowest ranked threat on the list.
While anxieties about Covid-19 have steadily receded, concern about the spread of infectious diseases has not. Half the population (50%) see ‘the spread of infectious diseases internationally’ as a critical threat, 20 points higher than threat perceptions of ‘Covid-19 and other potential epidemics’ (30%) last year. Concern about the threats of ‘foreign interference in Australian politics’ (53%) and ‘the rise of authoritarianism around the world’ (51%) both held steady.