Issues polling

What Australians care about

Crime sits behind cost of living and housing. Ipsos had 25–30% naming it as a top issue through late 2025 and 2026, near its post-COVID high. Roy Morgan's measure of people agreeing crime is a growing problem in their community reached a decade high of 66% in 2024–25, highest in Queensland (77%) and Victoria (72%). On handling crime, One Nation and the Coalition together lead Labor and the Greens by about two to one.

How much it matters

Ipsos Issues Monitor: % naming each as one of the most important issues facing Australia.

Is crime a growing problem where you live?

Roy Morgan: % agreeing "Crime is a growing problem in my community" (year to June).

Agree

roymorgan.com: 9996 australian perceptions of crime june 2025

Left or right on crime

RedBridge: % naming One Nation or the Coalition (right) against Labor or the Greens (left) as best to handle crime.

ONP + CoalitionLabor + Greens

Best party to handle it

SEC Newgate (Victoria only) · best placed to manage crime and community safety8 Sept 2026

16%27%19%

Labor Coalition One Nation Greens Other / none

newgatecomms.com.au: sec newgate mood of the nation 2026 victoria edition

Key facts

Dec 2024Queensland passed its "adult crime, adult time" youth justice laws. (abc.net.au)
13 Nov 2025Victoria announced "adult time for violent crime", allowing adult sentences for some child offenders. (abc.net.au)
2026ABS: the number of youth offenders fell 5% to 44,583 in 2024–25. (abs.gov.au)
8 Sept 2026SEC Newgate: 32% of Victorians named crime unprompted as a key issue, against 20% nationally. (newgatecomms.com.au)
3 Oct 2026One Nation launched its Victorian campaign with law and order at the centre. (abc.net.au)