Nearly two-thirds of Australians (65%) now say Australian Government is handling COVID-19 well – up 22% in a week

Nearly two-thirds of Australians (65%) now say the Australian Government is handling COVID-19 well, up a large 22% in a week. In addition, now 59% of Australians say the ‘worst is yet to come’ over the next month in regards to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic – down a significant 26% in a week according to a special Roy Morgan web survey of an Australia-wide cross-section of 987 Australians aged 18+ conducted over the weekend of April 4-5, 2020.

While previously only 38% of those in New South Wales agreed the Australian Government was handling COVID-19 well this has now increased substantially and now a majority of 59% (up 21% in a week) say the Government is handling COVID-19 well which is similar to clear majorities in other states: Queensland 70% (up 28%), Victoria 66% (up 21%), Western Australia 75% (up 22%) and South Australia 58% (up 11%).

Australians were asked a series of six questions to determine their views regarding the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic sweeping the world. The first five questions were on a five point scale with strongly agree, agree, disagree, strongly disagree and don’t know the available responses.

• Question 1: “I am afraid that either myself or someone in my family may actually catch the Coronavirus?”
• Question 2: “I think the Australian Government is handling the Coronavirus well?”
• Question 3: “I believe the threat from the Coronavirus is exaggerated?”
• Question 4: “I am willing to sacrifice some of my human rights if it helps prevent the spread of the virus?”
• Question 5: “If a new Coronavirus vaccine became publicly available, I would be willing to be vaccinated?”

The final question was posed as a choice between three outcomes. People surveyed were asked: “When thinking about the Coronavirus here in Australia which of the following do you think is most likely to happen over the next month. Either the ‘Worst is yet to come’, the ‘Situation will remain the same’ or ‘Things will begin to improve’.”

Australians are now much happier with the Government’s handling of the crisis

A much increased 65% of Australians agree that the Australian Government is handling the Coronavirus well – up a large 22% in a week. Of Australians that agree the Government is handling the Coronavirus well 21% (up 12%) strongly agree while a further 44% (up 10%) agree.

In contrast a much reduced 29% (down 20%) of Australians disagree that the Australian Government is handling the Coronavirus well. Now just 6% (down 10%) strongly disagree the Australian Government is handling Coronavirus well and a further 23% (down 10%) disagree.

Australians are considerably less negative than a week ago about the next month

A reducing majority of 59% of Australians, down 26% on a week ago say that the ‘Worst is yet to come’ over the next month when it comes to Coronavirus compared to a third 33% (up 22%) who say the ‘Situation will remain the same’ while 8% (up 4%), say ‘Things will begin to improve’.

Analysis by Gender reveals 65% (down 23%) of Women say that the ‘Worst is yet to come’ over the next month compared to only 53% (down 29%) of men. In comparison now well over a third of men, 37%, up 25%, say the ‘Situation will remain the same’ over the next month compared to 29% (up 19%) of women.

There are more Australians positive about the next month than a week ago. Now 10% (up 4%) of men say ‘Things will begin to improve’ over the next month compared to 6% (up 4%) of women.

Now a fifth of Australians agree the threat from Coronavirus is exaggerated

A fifth of Australians now agree that the threat from Coronavirus is exaggerated – up 5% from a week ago compared to 75% (down 6%) that disagree.

Far more men 25% (up 5%) agree the threat from Coronavirus is exaggerated than women 16% (up 6%).

Slightly fewer Australians are now afraid they or someone they know will catch the virus

Just fewer three-quarters of Australians 73% (down 2%) are afraid that they or someone in their family may actually catch the Coronavirus.

A quarter of Australians 25% (down 1%) strongly agree they are afraid they or someone in their family may actually catch the Coronavirus and an additional 48% (down 1%) agree. In contrast only 4% (up 2%) strongly disagree and a further 17% (unchanged) disagree.

Four-fifths of Australians would sacrifice their human rights to help prevent the spread of the virus – unchanged on a week ago

An unchanged 80% of Australians agree they are willing to sacrifice some of their human rights if it helps prevent the spread of the Coronavirus compared to only 14% who disagree.

An increasing 84% (up 3%) of women agree they would willingly sacrifice their human rights if it helps prevent the spread of the Coronavirus compared to 75% (down 4%) of men.

A largely unchanged majority of Australians say they are willing to be vaccinated if a new Coronavirus vaccine became publicly available

A virtually unchanged majority of 87% (up 1%) of Australians say they are willing to be vaccinated for Coronavirus (COVID-19) if a new vaccine became publicly available compared to only 7% (unchanged) who disagree.

Analysis by Gender reveals slightly more men 89% (up 4%) than women 85% (down 1%) say they are willing to be vaccinated if a new Coronavirus vaccine became publicly available.

Question 2: Do you think the Australian Government is handling the Coronavirus well – By States

Source: Roy Morgan web survey of Australians conducted on the weekend s of March 28-29, 2020, n=988 and April 4-5, 2020 in Australia, n=987. Base: Australians aged 18+.

Question 1:

I am afraid that either myself or someone in my family may actually catch the Coronavirus

UK 18+	Australians 18+
	Mar 18-20, 2020	Mar 28-29, 2020	Apr 4-5, 2020
	%	%	%
NET: Agree	78	75	73
Strongly agree	34	26	25
Agree	44	49	48
Disagree	12	17	17
Strongly disagree	4	2	4
NET: Disagree	16	19	21
Don’t know	6	6	6
TOTAL	100	100	100

I am afraid that either myself or someone in my family may actually catch the Coronavirus – By Gender & Age

Gender		Age
	Australians 18+	Men	Women	Under 25	25-34	35-49	50-64	65+
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
NET: Agree	73	71	74	74	77	74	73	66
Strongly agree	25	22	28	15	37	27	26	20
Agree	48	49	46	59	40	47	47	46
Disagree	17	18	16	17	17	14	18	20
Strongly disagree	4	5	3	5	3	5	3	2
NET: Disagree	21	23	19	22	20	19	21	22
Don’t know	6	6	7	4	3	7	6	12
TOTAL	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

I am afraid that either myself or someone in my family may actually catch the Coronavirus – By State

		States
	Australians 18+	NSW	VIC	QLD	WA	SA	TAS#
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
NET: Agree	73	71	73	74	72	73	66
Strongly agree	25	24	27	22	24	32	25
Agree	48	47	46	52	48	41	41
Disagree	17	20	14	16	17	14	29
Strongly disagree	4	4	5	4	1	4	0
NET: Disagree	21	24	19	20	18	18	29
Don’t know	6	5	8	6	10	9	5
TOTAL	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

#Sample sizes with fewer than 50 respondents should be treated with caution.

Question 2:

I think the UK/Australian Government is handling the Coronavirus well

	UK 18+	Australians 18+
	Mar 18-20, 2020	Mar 28-29, 2020	Apr 4-5, 2020
	%	%	%
NET: Agree	49	43	65
Strongly agree	11	9	21
Agree	38	34	44
Disagree	22	33	23
Strongly disagree	16	16	6
NET: Disagree	37	49	29
Don’t know	14	8	6
TOTAL	100	100	100

I think the UK/Australian Government is handling the Coronavirus well – By Gender & Age

	Gender		Age
	Australians 18+	Men	Women	Under 25	25-34	35-49	50-64	65+
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
NET: Agree	65	64	65	63	53	58	68	83
Strongly agree	21	23	20	23	15	14	23	33
Agree	44	41	45	40	38	44	45	50
Disagree	23	23	23	25	27	27	21	13
Strongly disagree	6	7	5	4	10	9	5	2
NET: Disagree	29	30	28	29	37	36	26	15
Don’t know	6	6	7	8	10	6	6	2
TOTAL	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

I think the Australian Government is handling the Coronavirus well – By State

	States
	Australians 18+	NSW	VIC	QLD	WA	SA	TAS#
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
NET: Agree	65	59	66	70	75	58	58
Strongly agree	21	20	18	27	25	23	20
Agree	44	39	48	43	50	35	38
Disagree	23	27	17	19	19	27	36
Strongly disagree	6	7	9	6	5	1	6
NET: Disagree	29	34	26	25	24	28	42
Don’t know	6	7	8	5	1	14	0
TOTAL	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

#Sample sizes with fewer than 50 respondents should be treated with caution.

Question 3:

I believe the threat from the Coronavirus is exaggerated

	UK 18+	Australians 18+
	Mar 18-20, 2020	Mar 28-29, 2020	Apr 4-5, 2020
	%	%	%
NET: Agree	26	15	20
Strongly agree	8	5	4
Agree	18	10	16
Disagree	28	34	34
Strongly disagree	33	47	41
NET: Disagree	62	81	75
Don’t know	12	4	5
TOTAL	100	100	100

I believe the threat from the Coronavirus is exaggerated – By Gender & Age

Question 4: 

I am willing to sacrifice some of my human rights if it helps prevent the spread of the virus

	UK 18+	Australians 18+
	Mar 18-20, 2020	Mar 28-29, 2020	Apr 4-5, 2020
	%	%	%
NET: Agree	72	80	80
Strongly agree	27	33	35
Agree	45	47	45
Disagree	9	8	8
Strongly disagree	4	6	6
NET: Disagree	13	14	14
Don’t know	15	6	6
TOTAL	100	100	100

I am willing to sacrifice some of my human rights if it helps prevent the spread of the virus – By Gender & Age

		Gender		Age
	Australians 18+	Men	Women	Under 25	25-34	35-49	50-64	65+
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
NET: Agree	80	75	84	65	80	78	84	88
Strongly agree	35	29	39	26	34	36	36	38
Agree	45	46	44	39	46	42	48	50
Disagree	8	10	6	7	10	11	6	5
Strongly disagree	6	9	3	16	4	5	4	4
NET: Disagree	14	19	9	23	14	16	10	9
Don’t know	6	6	7	12	6	6	6	3
TOTAL	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

I am willing to sacrifice some of my human rights if it helps prevent spread of the virus – By State

		States
	Australians 18+	NSW	VIC	QLD	WA	SA	TAS#
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
NET: Agree	80	75	76	84	88	83	84
Strongly agree	35	32	33	37	45	35	31
Agree	45	43	43	47	43	48	53
Disagree	8	9	7	10	5	11	4
Strongly disagree	6	9	8	3	5	2	5
NET: Disagree	14	18	15	13	10	13	9
Don’t know	6	7	9	3	2	4	7
TOTAL	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

#Sample sizes with fewer than 50 respondents should be treated with caution.

Question 5: If a new Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine became publicly available, I would be willing to be vaccinated

	UK 18+	Australians 18+
	Mar 18-20, 2020	Mar 28-29, 2020	Apr 4-5, 2020
	%	%	%
NET: Agree	77	86	87
Strongly agree	44	56	56
Agree	33	30	31
Disagree	4	4	3
Strongly disagree	3	3	4
NET: Disagree	7	7	7
Don’t know	16	7	6
TOTAL	100	100	100

If a new Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine became publicly available, I would be willing to be vaccinated – By Gender & Age

		Gender		Age
	Australians 18+	Men	Women	Under 25	25-34	35-49	50-64	65+
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
NET: Agree	87	89	85	92	88	82	84	93
Strongly agree	56	57	54	53	63	57	48	58
Agree	31	32	31	39	25	25	36	35
Disagree	3	3	4	2	3	4	4	3
Strongly disagree	4	3	3	3	4	4	3	2
NET: Disagree	7	6	7	5	7	8	7	5
Don’t know	6	5	8	3	5	10	9	2
TOTAL	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

If a new Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine became publicly available, I would be willing to be vaccinated – By State

		States
	Australians 18+	NSW	VIC	QLD	WA	SA	TAS#
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
NET: Agree	87	87	89	87	88	79	89
Strongly agree	56	55	53	59	55	52	75
Agree	31	32	36	28	33	27	14
Disagree	3	3	2	4	4	6	4
Strongly disagree	4	3	3	3	3	6	7
NET: Disagree	7	6	5	7	7	12	11
Don’t know	6	7	6	6	5	9	0
TOTAL	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

#Sample sizes with fewer than 50 respondents should be treated with caution.

Question 6:

When thinking about the Coronavirus here in UK/Australia which of the following do you think is most likely to happen over the next month – By Gender & Age

	UK 18+	Australians 18+
	Mar 18-20, 2020	Mar 28-29, 2020	Apr 4-5, 2020
	%	%	%
Worst is yet to come	82	85	59
Situation will remain the same	15	11	33
Things will begin to improve	3	4	8
TOTAL	100	100	100

When thinking about the Coronavirus here in UK/Australia which of the following do you think is most likely to happen over the next month – By Gender & Age

	Gender		Age
	Australians 18+	Men	Women	Under 25	25-34	35-49	50-64	65+
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Worst is yet to come	59	53	65	52	54	61	66	61
Situation will remain the same	33	37	29	36	44	29	28	29
Things will begin to improve	8	10	6	12	2	10	6	10
TOTAL	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

When thinking about the Coronavirus here in UK/Australia which of the following do you think is most likely to happen over the next month – By State

#Sample sizes with fewer than 50 respondents should be treated with caution.

	States
	Australians 18+	NSW	VIC	QLD	WA	SA	TAS#
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Worst is yet to come	59	52	60	65	31	58	66
Situation will remain the same	33	39	30	28	32	38	20
Things will begin to improve	8	9	10	7	7	4	14
TOTAL	100	100	100	100	100	100	100