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MCKINNON INDEX: 2025 key findings
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An annual dashboard of democratic health
The McKinnon Index: an annual dashboard of democratic health is made up of a collection of measures aimed at tracking the health and effectiveness of our governments and democracy over time. Most measures are taken from a 4,400-person representative survey of Australian’s conducted in July 2025 by Roy Morgan, supplemented with international benchmarks and structural data taken from sources such as the Australian Electoral Commission.
You can view the McKinnon Index data in an interactive dashboard.
A MESSAGE FROM OUR CEO
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“Australia’s democracy is strong, but not unshakeable, the McKinnon Index shows that while our institutions are largely respected, too many Australians feel their leaders are not listening or delivering. Trust is the foundation of effective government – rebuilding it is essential for a fairer, stronger Australia.”
KEY FINDINGS
KEY FINDINGS
The first McKinnon Index provides a snapshot of how Australia’s democracy and system of government is performing and where pressure is emerging. Trust in institutions remains stronger than trust in politicians, and perceptions of effectiveness directly shape confidence in government.
While three-quarters of Australians support democracy (76.0%), only around half (54.5%) are satisfied with how it functions. Some groups are further disengaged in our democracy than others, highlighting where work is needed to ensure our system works for everyone.
You can view all McKinnon Index data in an interactive dashboard
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MCKINNON INDEX REPORTS
MCKINNON INDEX REPORTS
TRUST IN DIFFERENT INSTITUTIONS
Trust in government and Australia’s political leaders
Australians overwhelmingly trust our institutions. Independent institutions were the most trusted, including the Australian Electoral Commission (70.2%) and independent regulators (56.7%), followed by the public service, and then government overall. Trust in federal politicians (35.9%) and political parties (31.2%) is far lower – trust rises the more independent of politics that institutions operate.
Trust is also higher for State than for the Federal government and politicians. Trust is higher among young people (18–24), university graduates and those satisfied with the country’s direction, but drops sharply among those who feel little sense of belonging in Australia.
Those who trust any institution are also more likely to have higher trust in all others.
Source: 2025 McKinnon Index. Details of question text and scoring available here
Strength
Trust in independent institutions is strong (70.2% for AEC)
Challenge
Trust in politicians is lower
Challenge
Perceptions that corruption is a problem in government are high (62.0%)
Opportunity
Trust levels below the highest performing OECD nations
INTERNATIONAL TRUST COMPARISON (2023 OECD DATA)
TRUST LEVELS ARE BELOW THE HIGHEST PERFORMING OECD NATIONS
Comparing trust in key government institutions to 2023 OECD data indicates that while Australia generally performs well relative to the OECD average there remains significant opportunity for improvement to match the levels of trust seen in the top performing nations. 1
The cynicism towards political leaders could be driven by a range of issues, but general concern about corruption was high, with 62% believing it is a problem in federal politics and only 14% disagreeing. This was a higher proportion than felt politicians don’t understand or represent them (56.4%) or don’t think the government can be trusted to do the right thing (50.8%).
Source: OECD 2023 Drivers of Trust in Government Survey and 2025 McKinnon Index. Details of question text and scoring available here
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TOP 10 SOLUTIONS TO CHALLENGES FACING AUSTRALIA's GOVERNMENT
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Desire for leadership with vision and action
Australians want leaders who act with courage, competence and vision rather than short-term politics. When asked what one thing could solve the challenges facing Australia’s governments, the most common answers related to calls for leadership with vision and action (14.7%) and public participation in decision making (12.7%).
This was significantly higher than answers related to reducing Australia’s immigration levels (7.3%) or fixing the housing crisis (7.1%).
Source: 2025 McKinnon Index. Details of question text and scoring available here
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SATISFACTION WITH DIFFERENT PUBLIC SERVICES
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Effectiveness of our public sector and government service delivery
A majority of Australian’s are satisfied with Australia’s public services overall (55.4%) and key areas including health (54.8%), administrative services (52.8%) and infrastructure (52.1%).
However, a minority consider federal or state governments to be effective or have the capacity to solve long term challenges. Only one third believe governments are likely to adopt innovative ideas.
Concerningly, 54.8% of Australians are dissatisfied with the country’s direction.
Source: 2025 McKinnon Index. Details of question text and scoring available here
strength
A majority of Australians are satisfied with most public services
insight
There is a strong relationship between perceptions of government effectiveness and trust in government, pointing to the importance in governments delivering for their citizens.
EFFECTIVENESS & CAPABILITY OF GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS
Government effectiveness
Trust is also highest when people see competence: 86.2% of those who rate the Federal government as “very effective” also say they trust it compared to the average of 37.6%. It is clear that when governments are seen to be delivering for their citizens, people are more likely to trust them.
More people consider independent regulators to be effective than government, and rate their state governments as more effective than the Federal Government.
While Australians are generally satisfied with public services, Australians are less satisfied with the overall direction of the country, with nearly twice as many people are dissatisfied (54.8%) as satisfied (28.8%) with the way Australia is heading.
Source: 2025 McKinnon Index. Details of question text and scoring available here
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DEMOCRATIC MEASURES
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Democratic behaviours and the performance of our democratic institutions
76.0% of Australians prefer democracy to any alternative, yet only 54.5% are satisfied with how it works. Around two-thirds (64.6%) have confidence in election outcomes and 69.4% believe elections they are free and fair.
Satisfaction with democracy was lower among those whose highest qualification was high school, those on lower incomes, and older Australians (50+, particularly men aged 50-64). A lack of confidence in understanding how our democracy works and not feeling part of Australia were also associated with being more likely to be dissatisfied with our democracy.
While four in five (80.4%) reject violence or extreme measures to advance causes, the number that believe it is warranted in some circumstances is still concerningly high.
While satisfaction may be lower, support for democracy in Australia seems high by international standards. A recent Gallup International poll of 43 countries found agreement that democracy is the best system of government was 59% on average, compared with the 76% in the McKinnon Index who agreed democracy if preferable to any other kind of government2.
Source: 2025 McKinnon Index. Details of question text and scoring available here
strength
Support for democracy remains strong (76.0%), and the vast majority of Australians reject violence to advance political causes (80.4%)
challenge
Satisfaction with how democracy works in Australia (54.5%) is lower than overall support for democracy.
AUSTRALIANS ENGAGEMENT IN ELECTIONS
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VOTER ENGAGEMENT
Around one in six Australians (16.8%) say they vote mainly to avoid a fine. While compulsory voting keeps our participation rate among the highest in the world, more than one in ten eligible Australians still didn’t cast a ballot at the last federal election. Taken together, around a quarter of voting-age Australians could be considered disengaged from the democratic process.
Source: 2025 McKinnon Index and AEC 2025 Election Turnout data. Details of question text and scoring available here
MAIN REASONs FOR VOTING
REASONS FOR VOTING
While simply voting to avoid a fine was the third most common main reason for voting, overall it ranked only fifth when considering all responses (26.9% selected this in their top three).
In contrast, far more people selected constructive reasons such as wanting to influence decisions (52%), seeing voting as a civic responsibility (43.6%) or to change their community (37%). More partisan motivations were less common, like blocking specific candidates (24%) or simply supporting a particular party (11.1%).
Source: 2025 McKinnon Index. Details of question text and scoring available here
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patterns of democratic support and trust
regional disparities
Australians overall are supportive and engaged in our democracy. However, some groups stand out as less engaged or feel less well served by it. It is important that our political leaders, public services and civil society continue to identify ways to reach and engage with these cohorts.
There appears to be a democratic deficit in regional Australia relative to our cities. Regional Australians record lower trust in government, lower satisfaction with the AEC, and weaker belief that politicians understand and represent them.
This deficit does not appear to be driven by a lack of understanding of how our democracy works, as this was roughly equal across regional groups. Instead, those in the regions were less likely to say they had access to quality information on policy issues they care about (43.2% outer regional vs 56.6% for those in major cities) and were less likely to think the political system allowed people like them to have a say in what the government does (38.3% outer regions vs 52.6% for major cities). People who live in regional Australia are also less likely to be satisfied with all public services they were asked about.
Source: 2025 McKinnon Index. Details of question text and scoring available here
Opportunity
Those who live furthest from the major cities were less likely to say they had access to quality information on policy issues they care about and were less likely to think the political system allowed people like them to have a say.
Concern
Regions perform worse on most key democratic indicators compared to cities
democratic indicators by age
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youth
While they tend to be more trusting of government and more satisfied with public services, young people are less supportive of democracy and less likely to trust the AEC (unlike other institutions where young people tend to be more trusting). One in five (21.9%) 18-24 year olds say they cannot be friends with people who hold opposing political views, and young men (25–34) are the most likely to strongly support extreme measures like violence (8.5% vs 2.4% national average).
This democratic dissatisfaction may relate to the fact that younger people were less likely to say they understand how democracy works in Australia (60.7% for 18-24yos, rising to 85.5% for 65+) and are less interested in politics than older Australians (28.8% of 18-24yos are interested, rising to 60.3% for 65+).
Source: 2025 McKinnon Index. Details of question text and scoring available here
strength
Young people are among the most trusting of government and feel broadly well represented in our political system.
concern
Young people have lower support for, and satisfaction with, democracy, and are more likely to say they can’t be friends with those with different political views and support politically motivated violence.
Democratic indicators and media use
IMPACT OF MEDIA USE
Where people get their news seems to influence democratic support, with less traditional sources like social media associated with lower democratic support. Concerns related to misinformation and media bias were the most prevalent responses when people were asked about challenges facing Australia’s democracy.
Generally, those whose main source of news was non-commercial TV or radio, or online newspapers, were the most supportive of democracy and satisfied with it, most trusting of government and confident in election outcomes, and least supportive of extreme measures such as violence.
Conversely, those who get their news primarily from social media or online gaming platforms scored among the lowest for all these measures.
Source: 2025 McKinnon Index. Details of question text and scoring available here
Challenge
Support for democracy and confidence in elections is lower among those who use social media or other alternative sources of news.
Opportunity
Many are concerned about misinformation and media bias or influence, indicating an area of reform to support people to feel more informed and engaged in our democracy.
STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE MCKINNON INDEX
The McKinnon Index will track these measures annually, adding additional measures including expert opinion from next year. McKinnon will continue to respond to the challenges identified in the McKinnon Index by delivering a range of programs to support political leaders, make governments more effective and deliver innovative policies.
If you would like to get in touch to understand more about this data or provide feedback on the Index, please reach out to us at [email protected]
In 2026, McKinnon will also launch a program of work focused on democratic renewal > sign up to hear more