National safety

Living peacefully and feeling safe

Metric

Proportion of Australians who feel safe or very safe based on views of world events

Why this matters

National, regional and global events undoubtedly influence the individual and collective wellbeing of Australians. This has become especially apparent as global interconnectedness has increased since the second half of the twentieth century.

This development has created both benefits and risks to the wellbeing of Australians. We need international engagement to maintain a stable and open trading environment, as well as international peace and security. Australia’s security is underpinned by an Indo-Pacific region that is open, stable and prosperous, and where sovereignty is respected.

Progress

In 2024, 62% of people aged 18 years and over reported feeling safe or very safe based on views of world events, compared with a rate of 91% in 2005.

Since 2020, very low proportions of people have reported feeling very safe.

Proportion of adults who feel safe or very safe based on views of world events (a)
	Very safe (%)	Safe (%)
2005	30	61
2006	30	56
2007	40	50
2008	34	57
2009	44	46
2010	42	50
2015	24	56
2017	20	59
2018	18	60
2020	4	46
2021	6	64
2022	6	47
2023	6	57
2024	5	57

Proportion of adults who feel safe or very safe based on views of world events (a)

["","Very safe","Safe"]

[["2005","2006","2007","2008","2009","2010","2015","2017","2018","2020","2021","2022","2023","2024"],[[30],[30],[40],[34],[44],[42],[24],[20],[18],[4],[6],[6],[6],[5]],[[61],[56],[50],[57],[46],[50],[56],[59],[60],[46],[64],[47],[57],[57]]]

[]

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In 2019, the Lowy Institute Poll transitioned from a telephone-based survey to a predominantly online-based survey. For more information, see the Lowy Institute Poll 2024 Report methodology.

Data Source

Lowy Institute Poll 2024 - 'Feelings of safety'

Differences across groups

In 2024:

54% of those on low incomes reported feeling safe or very safe based on world views
63% of those on middle incomes reported feeling safe or very safe
66% of those on high incomes reported feeling safe or very safe
60% of those living in urban areas reported feeling safe or very safe
66% of those living in regional areas reported feeling safe or very safe.

Disaggregation

Further information on national safety is available from Lowy Institute Poll 2024 - 'Feelings of safety'.

Disaggregation available includes:

Age group
Gender
Remoteness
Educational attainment
Income
Cultural and language diversity: Birthplace of person and of parents.

Please note that for the cultural and language diversity disaggregation, some of the data may be drawn from a sample of less than 100 respondents. When a small base is used, the margin of error may be very large and should not be used to draw general conclusions about this population.