Satisfaction with the direction of the country and confidence in the federal government has plummeted, a new ANUpoll study has found.
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The paper revealed public confidence in the government in January 2022 fell to depths not seen since the Black Summer bushfires of 2020 (34.5 per cent and 27.3 per cent respectively).
A majority now feel the worst of the pandemic is not behind us.
It also found fewer than one in five Australians now feel they will avoid becoming infected with COVID-19 in the next six months. Three months ago the number who thought they could avoid infection was three in five Australians.
The survey by the ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods is the longest and largest study tracking the impact of COVID-19 including confidence in the government, which peaked in May 2020 with 60.6 per cent.
The new results come after twin defeats last week for Prime Minister Scott Morrison in parliament over his religious anti-discrimination commitment and his personal authority in cabinet being unable to secure a deal over his commitment for anti-corruption legislation.
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A majority of respondents in the study, which involved more than 3400 Australians, still had confidence in the health system - but that confidence had taken a hit as the Omicron wave of COVID-19 swept through the country.
The survey also recorded the largest decline in confidence in hospitals seen during the pandemic, study co-author Professor Nicholas Biddle said. That coincided with a fall in satisfaction with the direction of the country.
"One of the potential reasons for this drop in satisfaction with the direction of the country is that respondents don't feel that key institutions are handling the pandemic as well as they have in the past, or as well as they should be doing given the current circumstance," Dr Biddle said.
Dr Biddle and his co-author Professor Matthew Gray found Australians had worse outcomes and more negative views in January 2022, as the easing of restrictions on Australians imposed by state governments coincided with the emergence of the Omicron variant and a dramatic increase in infections, and a notable increase in hospitalisation and deaths.
When asked if the worst of the pandemic was behind us, just two in five Australians agreed, compared to a majority (54.6 per cent) who agreed last year.
There were also no improvements in life satisfaction or psychological distress in the three months to January as new problems emerged with the RAT shortage and long queues at PCR testing centres.
Most adult Australians (56 per cent) had taken a RAT or PCR in the past three months, but 22.4 per cent could not get tested when they wanted to.