But the concept of a fair go is alive and well,with equal opportunity ranked among the highest values overall and this principle is held with even greater conviction by younger generations.
Hannah Rayment,33,with her Baby Boomer parents John and Marea.Bianca de Marchi
Those are findings of the Australian National Values in 2022 study by Havas Labs,the research division of the Havas Australia Creative Group,in partnership with YouGov.
Havas chief strategy officer Olly Taylor,who oversaw the research,said there was a mismatch between what Australians believed the national values to be,and how they identified their values on an individual level.
“We are more progressive,we’re more compassionate,we’re more creative,and we value intellectualism,far more than we believe the nation does,” Taylor said.
“On the flip side,some of the things that we believe the nation to hold dear,such as nationalism and mateship,we actually value less.”
The report is based on a nationally representative survey of 1535 residents,plus a booster sample of 500 residents born outside Australia who speak a language other than English.
The survey respondents identified equal opportunity,freedom and mateship as what they believed to be the top three national values. But mateship actually ranked below compassion and on par with work ethic and security.
Most said national values had changed in the past five to 10 years,and shared fears the nation was becoming more selfish and less communally minded.
The actual top three values were honesty,equal opportunity and freedom – and this was broadly consistent for all generations,men and women,people with and without children,city and country people and people born in Australia or overseas.
However,beyond the top three values,the older generations were more aligned with what people perceived as the national values.
Australians’ top three values were honesty,equal opportunity and freedom.
Baby Boomers (born 1946 to 1964) and Silent Generation (born 1918 to 1945) put more weight on traditional values such as mateship,nationalism,security and rule of law.
Meanwhile,Generation Y (also known as Millennials,and born 1981 to 1996) and Z (born 1997 to 2009) were more likely to value creativity,innovation,entrepreneurship,achievement and intellectualism. Generation X (born 1965 to 1980) sits in the middle.
Simon Kuestenmacher,co-founder of The Demographics Group,said the research showed Australian values were in flux,and predicted noticeable changes as power passed to Generation X.
“They were the first generation who had seen their mothers entering the workforce,so they’re really passionate about gender equality in the workforce,” Kuestenmacher said.
Hannah Rayment,33,is living temporarily with her parents John and Marea,aged 63 and 60,in Abbotsford.
Marea said she believed her family’s top values were family and connection,equal opportunity,friendship and loyalty,and these principles were “fundamental to living a decent life”. Her family had always valued sustainability,so she didn’t see that as just a Millennial value.
Marea and John,who are both former police officers,saw how freedom was curtailed during the pandemic lockdowns but said the value of freedom had a broader meaning.
“It’s financial freedom,it’s physical freedom,it’s health freedom,and it’s the freedom to move about without fear,” Marea said.
Hannah said her generation had taken opportunities to travel and had a strong social conscience,with issues such as climate change and the women’s rights movement and Black Lives Matter.
“I think there’s a lot more people who want to be activists and make a difference and have their voices heard,” Hannah said.
She said many Millennials would associate the word “mateship” with Anzacs and soldiers and it would not necessarily resonate,but they would still care about friendship and community.
The research found low-income households (up to $59,000 a year) placed higher weight on tolerance,compassion and tradition than the national average. Middle-income households ($60,000 to $119,000 a year) put more emphasis on responsibility for others,physical health and fitness,and egalitarianism. High-income households (above $120,000 a year) favoured intellectualism,entrepreneurship,achievement and innovation.
Men were more likely to value mateship,rule of law,tolerance,intellectualism and creativity and women to emphasise physical health and fitness,resilience and sustainability.
The values held by city dwellers and people in the country were broadly similar,which Kuestenmacher said was partly because of regional migration,and partly because the internet meant people consumed the same media regardless of where they lived.
However,he pointed out that men and women increasingly did not consume the same media because of social media algorithms.
People born overseas gave more weight to work ethic,security,rule of law,sustainability and responsibility to others than people born in Australia.
Contrary to stereotypes,people without children at home rated tolerance,compassion and mateship higher than people with children,while people with young children or teenagers at home put more emphasis on achievement,intellectualism and innovation.
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