Parliament house Canberra Australia at Sunset By Bruce Aspley (AdobeStock)

This research forms part of a multi-country study examining how politicians understand and use public opinion in their work. Our Australian_study provides unique insights into political representation and decision-making in the Australian context.

How do politicians differ from citizens?

The study reveals differences between politicians and citizens in their backgrounds and worldviews. Politicians typically have higher educational attainment and have experienced greater social mobility compared to the general Australian population. They also show stronger confidence in scientific evidence and expert opinion and tend to hold their beliefs with greater certainty than citizens.

How do politicians view voter behaviour?

Figure 1: Parliamentarians’ perceptions of voter fairness, per cent of responses.

Politicians believe voters are generally well-informed about political issues, though they perceive voters as focusing on a limited range of concerns and adopting shorter-term perspectives. Notably, politicians think voters place more emphasis on party leaders' personalities and performance than on policy positions and ideas. There is considerable disagreement among politicians about whether voters prioritise group and partisan identities over policy preferences when evaluating political performance. As illustrated in the figure above, Australian politicians are split on whether voters are fair judges of their performance.

How do politicians approach decision-making?

Figure 2: The criteria politicians use to evaluate public opinion, ranked. A ranking of one indicates the politician finds the criterion most relevant and five, the least.

Australian politicians demonstrate a strong preference for evidence-based decision-making, placing significant weight on information and data when forming policy positions. This aligns with their higher confidence in scientific expertise compared to the general population.

How do politicians allocate their time?

Figure 3: Activities in a parliamentarian’s ideal day (average)

The study reveals interesting patterns in how politicians would ideally distribute their working hours. They prefer to dedicate only a small portion (6%) of their time to party-related activities. Instead, they seek to balance their time equally between three main areas: legislative work, consultation with interest groups and experts, and media engagement. These three activities collectively represent the majority of politicians' preferred time allocation, reflecting a focus on policy development, stakeholder engagement, and public communication.

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