Australians are increasingly negative towards immigration, multiculturalism, diversity, Muslims, Jews, Indians and Sudanese, according to a major new social cohesion survey.
The Scanlon Foundation Research Institute’s annual Mapping Social Cohesion report for 2026, which surveyed more than 10,000 people, found that 59% of adults think too many immigrants are being accepted into Australia – the highest in two decades, and more than double the 2022 figure.
The proportion who agree accepting immigrants from many different countries makes Australia stronger fell from 78% in 2022 to 64%, the number who agree multiculturalism has been good for Australia fell from 89% to 76%, and support for immigrant diversity fell six points to 57% in just two years.
The report authors noted that a decline in support for immigration and diversity was common among One Nation supporters, who also reported deteriorations in feelings of personal and social wellbeing.
“Australians have been reporting a weaker sense of belonging, social justice and personal wellbeing and less active involvement in their communities over the last 15 to 20 years, coupled with weaker support for immigration and diversity in the last one to three years, greater animosity toward people of different faiths and immigrant backgrounds, declining and highly polarised trust in government and institutions and increasing discontent with Australia’s current trajectory,” they concluded.
“Much of the recent deterioration has been driven by One Nation supporters. One Nation supporters are also reporting somewhat weaker connections in their neighbourhoods and local communities, less happiness and trust in others, greater financial stress and increasing pessimism for their own futures.
“Although this does not explain everything, it does point to one way in which long-run strains on social cohesion and personal wellbeing are potentially providing the conditions for growing division now.”
When asked about whether they had positive, negative or neutral feelings towards immigrants, 4% of respondents were negative towards those from the UK, the same as in 2024. 20% were negative towards Americans (up from 13%), 26% were negative towards Chinese (down from 28%), 32% were negative towards Indians (up from 25%), and 46% were negative towards those from Sudan, up from 38% in 2024.
This year’s survey asked about immigrants from Israel, Iran and Palestine for the first time, and the proportions reporting negative feelings towards each group were 36%, 41% and 39% respectively.
Negative attitudes towards Muslims increased slightly between 2024 and 2025, and then sharply in 2026 across all age groups and political orientations except for the left and centre-left.
There were also increases in negative attitudes towards Jews across all age groups since 2024 – with the largest increases in people under 44 – and across the political spectrum, with the biggest rises seen on the right and centre-right.
The survey showed eight-year negative attitude highs of 43% towards Muslims, 18% towards Jews, 17% towards Hindus, and 20% towards Sikhs, while only 5% were negative towards Buddhists, down from 7% in 2018.
Negative attitudes towards Christians were at 13% in 2026, one point higher than in 2018, but six points lower than in 2024.
The survey also found that a record high of 38% agree that immigrants take jobs away from Australians, a record high of 58% agree that immigrants raise house prices, and 66% agree too many immigrants are not adopting Australian values, one point lower than the previous high of 67% in 2019.
A record low of 70% agree that immigrants improve Australian society by bringing new ideas and cultures, and a record low of 73% agree immigrants are generally good for the economy.
Another 62% believe that social cohesion in Australia has declined over the last three or four years, 48% are pessimistic about the country’s future, up from 31% in 2018, and one in three believe their own lives will get worse over the next three to four years.
The proportion of adults who think the “government in Canberra can be trusted to do the right thing for the Australian people” almost always or most of the time declined from 54% in 2020 to 31% in 2026, while the proportion who say they “almost never trust the government” increased from 6% to 22%.
The survey also found that those born in Australia were more likely than immigrants to report financial hardship in the past 12 months, and were less likely to support immigrant diversity.
The results come after March for Australia protests erupted around Australia on August 31 last year due to public anger about record-high immigration levels, followed by regular similar demonstrations over the past year, including on Australia Day and last weekend in Melbourne.
Header image: The March for Australia anti-immigration rally in Melbourne last year (supplied).
