What do Australian people think about free speech?
Social axis · 🇦🇺 Australia · measured continuously, published only above 100 responses.
24% of Australian respondents take the position “The state should stop speech that puts down small groups.”, against 48% for “People should be free to say hurtful things without the state stepping in.”, with 29% choosing neither. n = 113, margin of error ±9.5, weighted to Australia's adult population.
Where Australia sits on social
What is measured about Australia on this axis. These are facts about the country, not what its people think about them — that is the part of this page waiting on a sample.
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Using the internet
ITU · 2024
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96.1% |
among the highest in the world
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Tertiary enrolment
UNESCO UIS · 2024
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108.4% |
among the highest in the world
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Ranked against every country with a published figure for the same series. Sources: World Bank World Development Indicators, which republish UN, ILO, UNESCO, WHO, SIPRI, IISS and UNODC data.
The questions that bear on free speech
Asked as a forced choice between two written positions, in randomised order, with the sides flipped for half of respondents.
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A · People should be free to say hurtful things without the state stepping in.
B · The state should stop speech that puts down small groups.
World, unweighted: 40% A ·
27% neither ·
33% B · n = 4765
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24% B 🇦🇺 n=113 |
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A · Keeping order matters more than letting people be themselves.
B · Letting people be themselves matters more than keeping order.
World, unweighted: 45% A ·
22% neither ·
33% B · n = 4737
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20% B 🇦🇺 n=115 |
A national figure appears only once that nation clears 100 responses on the question. The world column is a raw count of every answer received and is not post-stratified — it is shown because withholding it would say less, not more.
Asked another way
The same question, as people put it.
- Australia public opinion on free speech
- Free speech poll australia
- What do australian people think about free speech
- What percentage of australian people support free speech
Each has one answer on this page, and it is the same answer.