Taking the Pulse of the Nation Tracker

Informing Australian economic & social policy. A Melbourne Institute & Roy Morgan partnership

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Taking the Pulse of the Nation (TTPN) surveys Australians to capture real-time information about their financial position, mental stress, their voting intentions and attitudes towards government policy

Our unique tracker delivers real-time insights into how Australians are tracking during and out of the pandemic. The following graphs use the Taking the Pulse of the Nation survey data to track the social and economic trends of Australians since the survey first began in 2020.

Recent insights include:

  • Decreased voting share for the Labor Party and an increased share for the Liberals: The overall voting share for the Labor Party has declined since August, falling from 37.3% to 32.4%. This drop is most pronounced in people aged over 65 where Labor support has fallen from 42.8% to 35.9%. Meanwhile, the voting trend for the Liberal Party has risen since April 2023, stabilising in the last three months (28.1% compared to 24.9% in August).
  • High-income earners and Australians with a university degree are less satisfied with economic policies: There has been a gradual decrease in policy satisfaction levels among Australians earning more than $90,000 a year. Satisfaction has fallen from 30.3% in August to 28.2% in October. A similar trend in economic policy dissatisfaction is also evident among those with a university degree — recent data indicates a drop to 30.2% compared to 32.8% in August.

The data in this tracker was last updated on 10 November 2023. The next update will be on 15 December 2023.

This survey data is available subject to relevant fees and conditions. Please contact us for more information and access.

Publications

A series of research publications have been produced using the TTPN data, all of which are available for download. Please subscribe for updates when a new publication is released.

TTPN reports and insights

Beginning in April 2020, the Taking the Pulse of the Nation (TTPN) was conceptualised and implemented by a group of researchers at the Melbourne Institute: Applied Economic & Social Research. Each wave includes a set of core questions, as well as additional questions that address current and emerging issues facing Australians. The TTPN sample is stratified to reflect the Australian adult population in terms of age, gender, and location. In 2022, the Melbourne Institute and Roy Morgan formed a partnership to extend the running of the TTPN. The TTPN Survey uses a repeated cross-sectional design. If you are interested in adding questions to the survey or accessing the data, please contact us at: melb-inst@unimelb.edu.au.

© The University of Melbourne & Roy Morgan – Melbourne Institute: Applied Economic & Social Research, 2023. This work is copyright. The material may be reproduced and distributed for non-commercial purposes only, subject to the inclusion of an acknowledgement of the source(s).