‘Discontent and distrust’: annual social cohesion checkup shows exactly what’s making Australia angry
Australia's annual Scanlon social cohesion report finds most Australians still support immigration and multiculturalism, but growing numbers feel financially worse off and distrust their government. Cost of living and AI rank as bigger concerns than climate change or war.
Why this matters: Australians now worry more about AI than about armed conflict or the climate. That is a notable shift in public anxiety, and it matters for anyone watching how governments decide to regulate the technology. Distrust of government is rising at exactly the moment when big decisions about AI oversight, data collection, and digital rights need public confidence to stick. Policies built without that trust tend to be ignored or gamed. The gap between what governments are doing with technology and what citizens actually believe they are doing is getting harder to paper over.
Who should care: AI governance · Lawyers · Administrators · General readers · Policy
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