ANU Poll 2016: Tax and Equality

This poll is the twenty-second in an ongoing series of polls being undertaken by the Social Research Centre for the ANU. Their purpose is to assess Australians' opinions on important and topical issues, with an emphasis on international comparisons. These polls are typically conducted three times a year, or about every four months. Some questions appear in every poll in order to provide information about changes in opinion over time; the majority of questions appear in one poll only. This research is used to inform public debate and policy about issues affecting Australia.

The main focus of this poll was tax and equality, with a particular focus on participants’ views on government spending, tax reform and the prospective different measures that exist to reduce abstract government debt in Australia. Variables include opinions about most important issues related to taxation and equality in Australia: services funded by taxes, fairness of tax system, taxes and social services, government debt and financing welfare. Demographic and background variables include gender, age, household composition, country of birth, highest level of education, employment status and income. This research is used to inform public debate and policy about issues affecting Australia.