Trust in Australian democracy has collapsed to its lowest level on record.

Just a few days out from the federal election, a new study has found that satisfaction with the way democracy works in Australia has plummeted to a 20-year low. Congratulations, politicians! KPI smashed!

The study, published jointly by the Museum of Australian Democracy and the University of Canberra’s Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis, asked Australians about their attitudes to democracy, politicians and a whole bunch of other institutions like the media. The results aren’t pretty.

Only 42 percent of Australians say that they are “satisfied with the way democracy works”, down from 86 percent back in 2007. Hmm, I wonder if the fact that we’ve had five Prime Ministers in five years has had any impact on that?

About 40 percent of people aged 18-29 either do not trust the Federal Government at all or distrust them “a little bit”. Another 27 percent “neither trust nor distrust” them.

One of the most interesting parts of that study, especially since the election is this Saturday, looked at how loyal people are to political parties. Back in 1967 a massive 72 percent of Australians always voted for the same political party, no matter what. Over the past couple of decades our ties to political parties have been weakening and as of this year, only 37 percent of Australians regularly vote for the same party.

Political parties are the least trusted institutions in the country with only 20 percent of Australians declaring trust in them. Online media is close behind, attracting support from just 26 percent of the population (Why do you hate Junkee?). The good news for us is that young Australians trust the online media slightly more than the print media: 32 percent vs 31 percent.

The study paints a pretty bleak picture of a nation that hates politicians, journalists and pretty much everything to do with our system of government. Perhaps most surprisingly are the statistics that show that baby boomers are less trusting of politicians than younger Australians, despite the fact that they’re the generation benefiting from their thousands of negatively geared properties and debt free university degrees.

One thing’s for sure: whoever wins this Saturday’s election has a lot of work to do to rebuild Australia’s faith in political institutions and democracy. Do we think it’ll happen? Nup.

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You can read the full study from the University of Canberra here.