Australians are reporting record-low life satisfaction as war in the Middle East sends fuel prices surging and workers fear AI job losses.
The population is now less satisfied than during the COVID-19 lockdowns, the latest survey from an Australian National University series finds.
The fall between December 2025 and March 2026 was not as dramatic as the dive in average life satisfaction when pandemic stay-at-home orders were issued, however, and was from a lower base.
'Life satisfaction was already depressed, making the current reading the culmination of a sustained deterioration rather than a sudden fall,' head of the ANU School of Politics and International Relations, Nicholas Biddle, said.
'Australia in March 2026 is a country under considerable strain.'
The sample of more than 3,600 views was the first ANU poll since the Iran war triggered the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Prices at the pump responded quickly to less oil supply, punishing not only motorists but adding to the cost of transporting goods and threatening broader economic consequences.
The university's latest test of the public mood was also the first to capture the full shift in sentiment following the terrorist attack in Bondi.
Australians are now less satisfied with life than during the COVID-19 lockdowns
The jump in petrol prices has helped put many Australians under financial strain
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In March, Australians were reporting difficulty getting by on their current incomes in record numbers and have grown increasingly nervous about job security.
'The unemployment rate in Australia is a little over four per cent, which is low by any standard,' Prof Biddle told AAP.
'Despite that, more than a quarter of the people who are currently employed expect to lose their job over the next 12 months.'
The troubling economic outlook may be playing a role as well as the emergence of artificial intelligence tools, with nearly a third of Australians specifically concerned machines will replace them.
Fear of automation job losses has nearly doubled since 2018.
The survey was taken after the local tech firm Atlassian axed 1600 jobs, 500 in Australia, citing AI-caused changes in workforce needs.
Despite the sour outlook among the population, democratic attitudes remain strikingly resilient.
Evaluations of how well democracy is working in Australia have held relatively steady, with nearly two-thirds satisfied or very satisfied.
Migrants from non-English background were found to support democratic norms at similar levels to the rest of the population, and be more confident in the direction of the country than Australian-born citizens.