An Australian republic? Attenders’ attitudes

Abstract

Indications are that public support for Australia becoming a republic has declined. In 1999, the year of the unsuccessful referendum1 on Australia becoming a republic, support for a republic among the general population was at 51%2. By 2011, support had fallen to 41%3, a decline of 10% in 12 years.When asked in the 2011 NCLS: “Should Australia become a republic?”, 27% of all church attenders thought that Australia should become a republic within the next 10 years, with 17% wanting a republic within five years (see Figure 1). Some 10% thought Australia should become a republic but not in the next 10 years. Support for a republic among church attenders was therefore approximately 4% lower than among the general population. Thirty percent of all church attenders did not think that Australia should become a republic, and 33% did not know either way.