Australians call for more information on the Voice to Parliament: ACM survey

The survey, conducted by the owner of this publication, polled 10,131 people, between June 16 and June 26. It used a dual sample collection approach, and reweighted the sample against 2022 demographic data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The Voice would be an independent advisory body to Parliament on matters affecting the lives of First Nations peoples.

A referendum to be held later this year will ask citizens whether they want to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.

The proposed change will go ahead if a majority of voters approve it nationally, as well as a majority of voters in at least four of the six states.

Only 28 per cent of those polled thought the federal government had done enough to explain the Voice to the community.

Regional respondents were also more likely to say the government had not done enough to explain the advisory body (73 per cent compared with 68 per cent of respondents in metropolitan areas, including Canberra).

A difference emerged between men and women too, with 76 per cent of male respondents convinced the government had not done enough, compared to 68 per cent of female respondents.

ACM research director Alex Mihalovich said the results showed the government had "dropped the ball and is lacking in providing adequate information".

"And it's because of that, we believe largely that you've got this increase in the 'no' vote, because people, as there's more discussion about the Voice, there's more uncertainty about what are the actual implications, what does that actually mean?"

Overall, asked whether they felt they had enough information about the proposed Constitutional change to make an informed choice in the referendum, respondents were fairly evenly split.

Those who said they were fully informed comprised 29 per cent, while 25 per cent of respondents said they did not have enough information.

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But respondents from metropolitan areas (including Canberra) were more likely to feel fully informed (37 per cent compared to 26 per cent). Those in regional areas were 8 per cent more likely to say they didn't feel informed enough.

Meanwhile, older respondents were most confident they were informed enough. Of those in the 62-75 and 75+ brackets, 32 per cent said they were fully informed, compared with 29 per cent of those aged 18-39.

The youngest group of respondents was also more likely to report feeling somewhat informed or uninformed.