More Australians have negative views of Jews, but Christians and Muslims fare worse

Australia remains at its lowest level of social cohesion in recorded history, with support for multiculturalism falling and suspicion of religious communities on the rise.

The annual survey by the Scanlon Foundation found Australians’ sense of belonging and connection is at its equal lowest level since the project started in 2007.

Almost half of Australians (48%) have negative attitudes to people of a religion different from their own, up from 38% in 2023.

Negative attitudes towards Jewish people have increased, but they are still low: up from 9% in 2023 to 13% in 2024.

Negative attitudes to Christians are a little higher, having increased from 16% to 19%.

But negative attitudes to Muslims are much higher, with one in three (34%) of adults saying they have a somewhat or very negative attitude towards Muslims. This figure increased from 27% in July 2023, before the current conflict in the Middle East, although it is lower than the highest recorded level of 40% in 2019.

In the context of the conflict in the Middle East, negative attitudes to Muslim and Jewish people have polarised politically. When the Mapping Social Cohesion survey was conducted in July 2024, approximately one half (54%) of right-wing people said they have a somewhat or very negative attitude to Muslims, significantly higher than the proportion for those in the political centre (32%) and on the left (24%).

Among left-wing people, 16% said they have a negative attitude towards Jewish people in 2024, somewhat higher than the proportions for those in the centre (12%) and on the right (11%).

The research also looked at the relationship between social media use and attitudes, but found regular social media users were no more likely, and in some groups sometimes significantly less likely, to have a negative attitude towards Muslim and Jewish people, irrespective of political orientation.

The survey does not measure experiences of antisemitism or Islamophobia but based on questions about discrimination, researchers estimated that approximately one in three survey respondents who were born in the Middle East reported experiencing discrimination in the last 12 months; one in three had been treated differently or less favourably; one in five had been called offensive names or verbally abused; and one in seven had been physically threatened or attacked.

People born in China, India, South-East Asia, Asia generally and Sub-Saharan Africa were more likely to experience discrimination.

General support for multiculturalism remains high, although about half of Australians think immigration is too high.

But most Australians think our biggest problem is housing or economic pressures, not immigration, and 80% of us say we are happy or very happy.

The Scanlon Index of Social Cohesion measures 100 indicators including attitudes to migration, multiculturalism and diversity as well as national pride, participation in the political process and personal happiness. The overall index was stable between 2023 and 2024, recording a score of 78 in both years.

“In the context of the national and global challenges of the last 12 months, this stability reflects the resilience of Australian society and the bonds that connect people. Australians’ sense of national pride and belonging and personal happiness and wellbeing have been steady over the last year, while participation in the political process and in the social and civic life of communities has been at least as strong as in previous years,” the report said.

FULL REPORT

Mapping Social Cohesion 2024 (Scanlon Foundation)

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