Australian higher education is internationally competitive, yet domestically strained and politically contested. This paper examines how Australians perceive their universities and how those perceptions connect to democratic resilience – the capacity of a democratic system to sustain informed participation, institutional trust, social inclusion and collective learning. Three findings are especially salient for democratic resilience.

A presentation of 2025 survey results as part of a broader study into racism at Australian universities. The survey asked whether people had experienced racism. It asked about student and staff experiences of, and perceptions about, their university, their knowledge of policies to address racism, and whether they took precautionary actions to guard against racism.

This paper examines the relationship between income inequality and democratic resilience, focusing on how perceptions of economic disparity influence public satisfaction with public institutions. It finds that perceived inequality significantly affects attitudes toward the government, suggesting that addressing the disconnect between public expectations and government action on inequality could enhance democratic satisfaction.

This paper reports the results of modelling of the main measures in the 2024-25 Commonwealth Budget that directly impact on the incomes of Australian households, the reductions in personal income tax that take effect from 1 July 2024, and main budget measures that directly impact on the incomes of Australian households from previous budgets of...

There is a growing concern that democracies and democratic norms are under severe strain and threat. This paper uses Australian survey data to explore the concepts of 'democratic recession' and 'democratic resilience', framing the discussion around the quality and applicability of survey data in assessing public sentiment and democratic health.