Vote Compass data shows cost of living is the most important issue for voters ahead of the election, with one-quarter of respondents saying it is their biggest concern.
The cost of groceries and rent is top of mind for Brisbane university student Maya Rawlinson who is preparing to vote in a federal election for the first time.
To reduce costs she opts to buy fresh produce at the markets and is grateful for her parents' support to help cover rent after having to go beyond her budget of $700 to find a house to share with her sister and partner.
"If we didn't have the support of my mum and dad, it would definitely be much harder to find a rental," she said.
"A lot of places, if you don't have a certain amount in your bank account they won't even consider you."
Cost of living is the most important issue for Vote Compass respondents regardless of age, education, birth, sex, and voting intention, but particularly among those under 40.
One-quarter of respondents cite the cost of living crisis as their top concern for this election, which rises to one-third when combined with housing.
The second-most important issue for respondents differs by voting intention, with Liberal-Coalition voters concerned with immigration and the economy and Labor voters concerned with climate change.
For Vote Compass respondents who indicated they would be voting for an independent this election, cost of living and climate change were their top priorities, followed by government operations.
These findings are based on 254,376 responses to Vote Compass.
Overall, issues related to the economy and finance were identified as the most important for 11.6 per cent of respondents, followed by government operations, which encompasses democracy, corruption and good governance, at 8.6 per cent.
Cost of living was also highlighted as a top issue for voters in two recent surveys.
Keeping day-to-day living costs down was the most important issue for electors identified by respondents of a Roy Morgan survey of 14,713 voters in the September quarter of 2024 who were asked to identify their top three issues.
This was up 7 per cent to 57 per cent when comparing results to the same question from a cross-section of 14,522 voters in the first quarter after the 2022 federal election.
Global warming and climate change fell by 9 per cent to 23 per cent as a top-three issue for respondents from 2022 to 2024, Roy Morgan data showed, while open and honest government was down 6 per cent to 19 per cent.
Cost of living was regarded as the primary concern for about 1,000 respondents to the monthly Ipsos monitor survey in March when asked to select the top three from a list of 19, followed by housing, health care, crime and the economy.
Responses not an indication climate change less important for voters
Vote Compass data shows the most important issues for respondents this election differ to 2022, when climate change was the leading concern for 23.5 per cent of respondents.
Immigration and energy have increased in importance among respondents, while issues related to the environment, which includes conservation and biodiversity, and government operations have decreased.
The Australian Electoral Study (AES) conducted after the last election found cost of living was the most important policy issue for respondents asked to identify the most important from a list of 11 options.
The AES ranked climate change lower, but it found a broad group of voters were concerned about climate change, finding "nearly half of all voters see global warming as 'extremely important'".
University of Queensland political science and international studies professor Katrina Lee Koo said the cost of living had become a "crisis point" issue for people.
"It's not necessarily the case that climate change is less important than it was as an issue in itself, but more that it's been overtaken by the cost of living issue,"
she said.
"The last election was fought during a kind of time of a type of cultural wars around climate change — I think we've partly moved on from that."
Professor Lee Koo said while candidates had identified cost of living as the primary issue for voters, it was important to take into account how it impacted age groups and those living in rural and metro areas differently.
"For instance, women in their 50s increasingly becoming a sort of noticeable homeless group in our country, so we have to ask questions about what kind of housing affordability packages are available for that particular group," she said.
Professor Lee Koo said each party had put forward key policies for Australia's energy transformation, which was part of the bigger climate change debate.
"I think that is a major policy for both parties, and it's one of the few policy areas where we're seeing a major difference," she said.
About the data
Vote Compass is an educational tool designed to promote electoral literacy and civic engagement. While not a conventional public opinion poll, Vote Compass responses can be analysed using statistical methods similar to those used in polling to try to adjust for sampling bias.
Responses have been weighted by gender, age, education, language, religion, place of residence and past vote to account for the selection effects of the sample, enabling us to make statistical inferences about the Australian population.
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