The results for the 2022 Canberra Community Survey are in! Today I'm pleased to let you know what respondents have told me over the past few months.
I want to thank all Canberrans who participated. I'm incredibly proud to represent our engaged, progressive community.
1,227 constituents responded to the survey over the past few months. The views expressed in the survey will help to guide my representation of you in the Parliament. It's important to note that not all respondents answered every question.
The results of this survey have also been used to guide the work of the Canberra Forum, my Australian first deliberative panel.
Who Responded
Respondents of the survey came from across the Canberra electorate and represented all age groups.
The largest age group were those over 65 with 376 responses, followed by the 26-35 age group with 243 responses.
When it comes to survey respondents by area, 43% of respondents live in the Inner North, 30% are from the Inner South and 27% are residents of Belconnen.
This is broadly comparative to the general population breakdown of the Canberra Electorate in which around 47% of my constituents live in the Inner North, 36% live in the Inner South and 17% live in Belconnen. (2021 Census Data).
The Issues
When asked to name your top issue, the top answer by an overwhelming margin was Climate Change at 37%. Poverty and Inequality was the next highest at 8% followed by Cost of Living (7%) and Integrity in Politics (6%).
You can see the full breakdown of the top 12 responses below.
When asked what issues make up respondents top 4 concerns, Climate Change and Poverty and Inequality once again top the list. Healthcare was the third most stated issue and Integrity in Politics, the Environment and Education are fourth, fifth and sixth respectively.
See the breakdown below:
I was heartened to read some of the thoughtful written responses from Canberrans when asked why their top issues concerned them. Here's just a few:
On Climate Change: "Global warming is an existential threat to our civilisation. If we lose that fight, we can’t win the others."
On Poverty and Inequality: "Poverty and inequality touches on many of the other issues listed, particularly cost of living, housing and healthcare. Inequality continues to increase and has a material effect on people's self-determination."
On Housing: "We are in the midst of a housing affordability crisis and everyone deserves the right to adequate housing as a basic human right."
On Healthcare: "I feel our public health system is slowly declining from previous excellent standards. Waitlists are getting longer, the Medicare gap seems to be widening, and staff are stressed. It needs more investment, and higher pay for nurses and support workers."
On Defence: "Current Defence equipment and manpower policies seem to still be based on the premise that Australia will continue to deploy expeditionary forces to the Middle East. Our strategy should primarily be the defence of Australia."
I want to thank all respondents to this survey. This has been a useful addition to the other ways constituents let me know what's important to you, including coming to my regular mobile offices and coffee catch-ups, writing to me or calling my office.
Knowing what matters to you is fundamental to me representing you in Parliament.
Thanks again for participating in this survey.
If you haven't had your say you can do so by filling in the survey below.
