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Living in Australia community views

Social cohesion (e.g. acceptance of multiculturalism, religious groups living in harmony, etc)

Studies have shown that societies with high levels of 'social cohesion' tend to be more prosperous, economically competitive and resilient. To this end, residents are a tremendous resource for informing our understanding as to how cohesive our local communities are today, tomorrow, and whether there are some communities that are becoming more or less cohesive over-time. People born overseas tend to place more stock in 'social cohesion' than those who were born here.

Social cohesion in Australia in 2025

26% of residents selected ‘Social cohesion (e.g. acceptance of multiculturalism, religious groups living in harmony, etc)’ as an important attribute when considering what makes somewhere a good place to live, making it the 9th most important liveability aspect for Australia residents overall. Residents rated their experience of ‘Social cohesion (e.g. acceptance of multiculturalism, religious groups living in harmony, etc)’ in their local area 6.3 out of 10, on average, making it the 4th most positively experienced attribute of 16.

Benchmarks

Importance
Experience
Australia 2025
26%
6.3
Regional Australia
23%
6.0
Metropolitan Australia
29%
6.4

Local Area

Importance
Experience
Australia
26%
6.3
Adelaide (n = 207)
34%
6.6
Central NSW (n = 198)
19%
6.2
Central QLD (n = 227)
22%
6.0
Central VIC (n = 218)
35%
6.1
Darwin (n = 199)
29%
5.3
Eastern VIC (n = 219)
22%
6.0
Far North Queensland (n = 220)
23%
5.4
Hobart (n = 168)
25%
6.1
Melbourne (n = 456)
30%
6.5
Northern NSW (n = 218)
22%
6.0
Perth (n = 333)
24%
6.1
Regional NT (n = 147)
21%
4.6
Regional SA (n = 144)
30%
5.9
Regional Tas (n = 145)
23%
6.2
Regional WA (n = 220)
26%
6.1
Rest of QLD (n = 37)
17%
6.4
South East Queensland (n = 531)
21%
6.3
Southern NSW (n = 207)
29%
6.4
Sydney (n = 430)
33%
6.6
The ACT (n = 188)
27%
6.7
Western VIC (n = 195)
22%
6.4

Gender

Importance
Experience
Australia
26%
6.3
Male (n = 1709)
25%
6.4
Female (n = 3037)
27%
6.3
Other (n = 39)
40%
5.6

Age

Importance
Experience
Australia
26%
6.3
18 - 34 (n = 593)
28%
6.3
35 - 59 (n = 1681)
24%
6.2
60 + (n = 2302)
29%
6.4

Significantly higher
Significantly lower