"A stark example of our compliance is that, at a time of great and increasing cynicism about politicians and politics and a declining belief in the value of our vote, we have more people than ever on the electoral roll and no significant incline in informal voting. "That is not a bad thing. The compliance of the Australian community – when they believe in the social good of the thing that requires compliance – is actually really powerful. We see it in response to drought and water restrictions and we see it in response to something like this." Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video Not everyone supports COVIDSafe, a mobile phone app which stores details of the people we come into close contact with. Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce has declared he won’t download it and has warned his government against pushing ordinary Australians "too far" in its campaign to suppress the virus. He has found an unlikely ally in feminist author Naomi Wolf, who tweeted this week that downloading the app was a "bad idea".

However, it is backed across the mainstream political divide, with leading Labor figures Tanya Plibersek and Daniel Andrews each declaring they'd signed their families up within hours of the app being launched. For COVIDSafe to be effective in stopping the spread of the virus, it needs to be downloaded by about 40 per cent of the population. Its success or otherwise will provide an opportunity for social researchers to analyse what we do, rather than what we say, when it comes to trusting government in a crisis. Recent surveys suggest most of us should be reluctant to make more personal data available to government. A poll by the Australian National University last year found less than a third of respondents thought the federal government could be trusted to prevent data being hacked or leaked, or to use it responsibly. Professor Matthew Gray, the director of the ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods which conducted the survey, said the take-up of the CovidSafe app would show the preparedness of people to put aside those concerns for the greater public good.

. Credit:Matt Golding "The evidence has been that within sections of the population, there has been declining levels of trust and confidence," he said. "In a crisis like this, decisive action can bring people together and convince people that government is acting in their best interests." Trust in government is considered an important measure of social cohesion. For the past 13 years, Monash University Professor Andrew Markus has been "mapping" Australia’s social cohesion for a research project funded by the Scanlon Foundation. Professor Markus cautions against drawing too many conclusions from the take-up of the app but says he would not be surprised if public support for it exceeds the government’s expectations. "When people feel that their lives are at risk, it is very different to their normal attitude towards government," he said. "It is like a situation of war where you look for strong leadership and effective leadership.

"Generalisations about Australians being rebellious and not accepting authority don’t apply in an emergency situation." In truth, these generalisations apply only loosely, if at all. Since 2007, Scanlon Foundation surveys have shown a consistently high level of social cohesion. "Contrary to the media cycle which is more about crisis and failure, what the research shows is stability over a long period." Professor Markus said. Where we don’t trust government, we appear willing to suspend that mistrust for the public good. Despite privacy concerns expressed about My Health – an online database for health records – 22.74 million people or 89 per cent of the population were included in the opt-out scheme as of March 29.

Loading The COVID crisis has inspired a frenzy of work by social researchers. The ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods will next week publish surveys examining confidence in government and fellow citizens to do the right thing during the pandemic. Professor Markus will factor the crisis into his regular series on social cohesion. VoxPop Labs/ABC research published on Tuesday surveys the public response to the COVID crisis. Its findings will challenge stereotypical notions of the Australian character. "Australians like to think of ourselves as iconoclastic rebels," Ms Huntley said. "There is no evidence from what we actually do that that is the case. "When Australians feel there is reason for government to do what it wants, including the significant curtailing of freedom, they are more willing than not to let that happen."