The vast majority Australians still view multiculturalism and immigration favourably despite growing concern about the number of new arrivals.

Almost half of those surveyed in the 2024 Scanlon Mapping Social Cohesion report said migration into Australia was “too high”, up sharply from 33 per cent last year.

Australians are now evenly split between those who believe immigration is too high and those who think it’s about right or too low.

Report author James O’Donnell, from Australian National University, said the results were understandable given migration numbers had picked up strongly since the pandemic.

Both the federal government and the opposition had been proposing or implementing measures to try and reduce immigration levels, he added.

Yet respondents were still broadly supportive of multiculturalism and viewed the contribution of migrants to society and the economy positive.

Of the people surveyed who said immigration was too high, 75 per cent agreed that multiculturalism had been good for Australia.

“We were able to separate our feelings and say ‘at this moment in time, immigration might be on the high side or too-high side, but that doesn’t necessarily detract from how we feel generally towards the contribution of multiculturalism and migrants to Australia’,” Dr O’Donnell told AAP.

The 615,300 people added to the population in the year to March from the previous 12 months was largely driven by net overseas migration, based on the latest numbers from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

While higher than pre-COVID levels, the strong growth has followed a sharp fall in migration during the pandemic as borders snapped shut.

Dr O’Donnell said economic circumstances were key to understanding changing attitudes towards migration.

Almost two-in-three adults who said that immigration was too high thought economic issues or housing affordability was the biggest problem the country faced.

Overall, Dr O’Donnell said social cohesion was holding up well despite a backdrop of cost-of-living pain, conflict in the Middle East, difficult debate following the Voice referendum, and high-profile incidents of violence against women.

“While there has been decline in key areas like trust and sense of safety, and financial stress remains a top concern, the continued strength of our communities may be protecting our sense of wellbeing and harmony,” he said.

Half of the 8000 people surveyed said the economy was the nation’s most pressing problem.

Financial pressures continued to weigh on social cohesion, with those experiencing hardship more likely to distrust the government and more likely to have negative views of migrants.

The report found trust in government and the political system continued to trend lower since the pandemic.

Only a third now trust the federal government to do the right thing ‘all’ or ‘most of the time’.

Poppy Johnston
(Australian Associated Press)