About Voter Studies
The AES routinely collects data among a nationally representative sample of voters and among major party candidates standing for election (the latter is the Australian Candidate Study – ACS). Both the voter and candidate instruments combine a common set of questions. More details on the general methodology used are detailed below, and specific information about the methods used for a particular year is available from the information page for that wave.
The 1987 survey was funded by a consortium of universities and the 2007 survey by the ANU; all of the subsequent surveys have been funded by the Australian Research Council and its predecessors. Each of the surveys conducted since 1987 has had a core theme:
1987 The economy
1990 The environment and environmentalism
1993 Political culture
1996 National identity and citizenship
1998 Constitution, rights and minorities
1999 Constitutional referendum
2001 Challenges to governance
2004 The decline of political parties
2007 Democracy and representation
2010 The dynamics of political choice
2013 Volatility and electoral change
2016-19 Political engagement among the young
2022 Political trust and satisfaction with democracy
The AES methodology
All the Australian Election Study (AES) surveys are national, post-election self-completion surveys. The 1987 – 2013 surveys were based on samples drawn randomly from the electoral register. The 2016 survey used a split sample method, with half of the sample coming from the electoral register, and half from the Geo-Coded National Address File (G-NAF). The 2019 and 2022 surveys were based solely on samples drawn from the G-NAF. The 1993 AES oversampled in some of the smaller states and because of this the sample was weighted down to a national sample of 2,388 respondents.
The overall response rates are listed below. In 2001 and 2004 an online survey was conducted in parallel with the regular AES. In 2010, 2013, and 2016 an online option was available to the survey respondents, and in 2013 an additional sample was collected online in order to correct for an under-representation of younger voters. In 2019 and 2022 a ‘push-to-web’ methodology was used, with a hard copy completion being available to respondents who opted for it. The 1993 and post 2010 surveys are weighted to reflect the characteristics of the national electorate.
The 2022 AES also included a panel component, based on respondents who were interviewed in 2016, 2019 and 2022.
In 2019 a separate survey was conducted which included the Comparative Studies of Electoral Systems module 5, plus some additional items. This survey used the Survey Research Centre’s Life in Australia (LinA) panel.
| Australian Election Study Sample Details, 1987-2019 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Sample | Valid responses | Effective response (%) | |
| 1987 | 3,061 | 1,825 | 62.8 |
| 1990 | 3,606 | 2,020 | 58.0 |
| 1993 | 4,950 | 3,023 | 62.8 |
| 1996 | 3,000 | 1,795 | 61.8 |
| 1998 | 3,502 | 1,896 | 57.7 |
| 2001 | 4,000 | 2,010 | 55.4 |
| 2004 | 4,250 | 1,769 | 44.5 |
| 2007 | 5,000 | 1,873 | 40.2 |
| 2010 | 5,200 | 2,061 | 41.9 |
| 2013 | 12,200 | 3,955 | 33.9 |
| 2016 | 12,497 | 2,818 | 22.5 |
| 2019 | 5,175 | 2,179 | 42.1 |
| 2022 | 5,640 | 2,436 | 43.1 |
The AES studies
Note that the AES Datasets are hosted by the Australian Data Archive Dataverse instance. Clicking on a Dataverse link will open the AES Dataverse dataset in a new page.
1987
The AES 1987 study has two goals. The first is to continue the broad line of enquiry established by the 1967 and 1979 Australian National Political Attitudes surveys so that patterns of stability and change in the political attitudes and behaviour of the Australian electorate can be traced over two decades. The second is to assess the electoral impact of forces specific to this election in order better to understand its outcome.
1990
Two major themes are covered in the survey, the economy and the environment. Questions on the economy include retrospective and prospective evaluations of the country’s economy and the individual’s own personal household situation; wages and price controls; attitudes to particular economic issues; and the position of the major parties and party leaders on the main economic issues.
1993
The 1993 survey replicates many questions from the 1987 and 1990 Australian Election Studies, but also introduces a variety of new questions including a section on foreign affairs and defence, and attitudes to Federal and State government.
1996
The 1996 survey replicates many questions from the 1987, 1990 and 1993 Australian Election Studies, but also introduces a variety of new questions including a section on national identity.
1998
The 1998 survey replicates many questions from the 1987, 1990, 1993 and 1996 Australian Election Studies, but also introduces a variety of new questions including a section on the constitution, rights and minorities.
2001
The 2001 survey replicates many questions from the previous Australian Election Studies, but also introduces a variety of new questions including a section on political and social institutions.
2004
The 2004 survey replicates many questions from the previous Australian Election Studies, but also introduces a variety of new questions including a section on political and global issues.
2007
The 2007 survey replicates many questions from the previous Australian Election Studies, but also introduces a variety of new questions including a series of questions of Australia’s social welfare system.
2010
The 2010 survey replicates many questions from the previous Australian Election Studies, but also introduces new questions regarding internet usage in election campaigns.
2013
The 2013 survey replicates many questions from the previous Australian Election Studies, but also introduces new questions regarding immigrants to Australia.
2016
One of the greatest challenges to democracy in Australia and internationally is to understand the lack of political engagement among the young. Young people are less likely to vote, to join a political party, or to engage in interest groups than at any time since democratization. The 2016 Australian Election Study is designed to address this question by examining engagement in and attitudes to politics, as well as replicating many questions from the previous Australian Election Studies.
1987-2019 Trends
The tables in this excel file can be used to produce graphs on Australian politics, without the need to conduct analyses separately on the Australian Election Study (AES) data files for individual years. 95 descriptive tables are included for AES data from 1987 to 2019. The tables in this file match the charts contained in the report, Trends in Australian Political Opinion: Results from the Australian Election Study 1987-2019 (Cameron and McAllister 2019). The tables also break down these trends by gender, age group, education level, and vote in the House of Representatives, as presented graphically in the AES interactive charts, available on the AES website. AES question items are included where there is time series data spanning at least three elections.
The tables are grouped into eleven themes, including:
1) The election campaign; 2) Voting and partisanship; 3) Election issues; 4) The economy; 5) Politics and political parties; 6) The left-right dimension; 7) The political leaders; 8) Democracy and institutions; 9) Trade unions, business and wealth; 10) Social issues; and 11) Defence and foreign affairs.
2019
Cross-section
The 2019 survey re-interviewed many of the respondents from 2016, with an additional top-up of new respondents, creating a panel survey. The survey replicated many questions ask in 2016 and in the previous surveys to provide a unique longitudinal perspective on political behaviour. In addition, a variety of new questions measures opinions specific to the 2019 election, including taxation, the environment, views of political parties and leaders, and political reform.
2019 Panel
This survey includes only those respondents who were interviewed in both 2016 and 2019, and only includes the questions that were asked in both of the surveys.
2019 CSES
This survey fields module 5 of the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems, a major international survey of political behaviour in more than 50 countries (see cses.org). In addition, the survey also included new questions on compulsory voting, corruption, the role of the media and populist attitudes.
2022
Declining public support is one of the greatest challenges to democracy. In 2019, Australia recorded the lowest level of trust in politics on record. The 2022 Australian Election Study aims to understand the reasons for declining political trust and satisfaction with democracy in Australia. The 2022 study also continues many questions from previous Australian Election Studies.
1987-2022 Trends
The excel file contains the excel tables underlying the charts contained in the report Trends in Australian Political Opinion: Results from the Australian Election Study 1987-2022 (Cameron and McAllister 2022 available at AES Trends Report). It also breaks down these trends by gender, age group, education level, and vote in the House of Representatives, as presented graphically in the Australian Election Study (AES) interactive charts. The AES data comes from representative post-election public opinion surveys, fielded after each election since 1987. The tables can be used to produce descriptive graphs on Australian politics, without the need to conduct analyses separately on the AES data files for individual years.
Tables for over 100 items are included, selected where there is time series data from the AES spanning at least three elections. The tables are grouped into eleven themes, including: 1) The election campaign; 2) Voting and partisanship; 3) Election issues; 4) The economy; 5) Politics and political parties; 6) The left-right dimension; 7) The political leaders; 8) Democracy and institutions; 9) Trade unions, business and wealth; 10) Social issues; and 11) Defence and foreign affairs.