Age and education key to election win

Professor Nicholas Biddle and colleagues have examined voter sentiment in the lead up to and following the 21 May federal election. Photo: ANU - Voters' age and level of education were the two most important factors in deciding the latest federal election, new analysis from the Australian National University (ANU) shows. The findings - taken from a survey of more than 3,500 voters and released ahead of a major symposium to be held at ANU on 24 June - also show Australians feel more positive about the direction of the country following Labor's win. The joint ANUpoll/Comparative Study of Electoral Systems survey compared Australians' voting intentions between April and May 2022, as well as how people voted in this year's federal election and the 2019 election. Co-author Professor Nicholas Biddle said age and education were the two key demographics "driving Labor's path to victory" at the ballot box. "We found age and education were the two key areas where the Coalition government lost the most support in this year's election," Professor Biddle said. "More than one in three voters aged under 55, 34.9 per cent, who voted for the Coalition in 2019 ended up voting for someone else.