Support for an Australian republic has plunged since 1998, the year before the republic referendum, and is now at the lowest level recorded. Those believing the Queen is important has climbed by a slightly slower rate. The gap between the two measures has narrowed from 36% in 1998 to just 6% in 2019.
Just under half of those surveyed (49%) favour Australia becoming a republic.
43% think the Queen is important for Australia.
As support for a republic has fallen, and those thinking the Queen is important has increased, the gap between the two has narrowed from 36% to 6%.
The narrowing slowed between 2013-2019 as fervour for the Queen has plateaued.
The Australian Election Study surveys Australians’ attitudes towards their democracy and institutions every election year. One such institution is the monarchy. The 2019 survey shows that support for an Australian republic is at a record low, while the belief that the Queen and Royal Family are ‘important’ for Australia remains stable.
The AES asks whether ‘Australia should become a republic with an Australian head of state’ or if ‘the Queen should be retained as head of state’. Support for a republic has reached its lowest level since the question was first asked in 1993, with just under half of respondents believing Australia should become a republic. This represents a decline of 17 percentage points since 1998, when support for a republic reached 66 per cent.
As support for a republic has declined, the belief that the Queen and Royal Family are important for Australia has moderately increased since 1998, when less than a third of Australians held this view of the monarchy. With support for a republic in decline over the 20 years since the 1999 referendum and regard for the monarchy broadly on the rise in the same period, it seems demand for an Australian head of state is falling as it becomes less salient.