This article was originally published in November 2017.
In a new Life Course Centre Working Paper, Francisco Perales and Alice Campbell examine Australian social change in public support towards equal rights for same-sex couples, drawing on national longitudinal data from the Household, Income, and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey.
Their findings indicate that public support of equal rights rose from 40% in 2005 to 66% in 2015. The latter figure is similar to the 62% of the Australian population voting ‘Yes’ in the 2017 ABS marriage equality postal survey.
The authors also examine what socio-demographic characteristics are predictive of high and low support of equal rights for same-sex couples in 2015. Their results provide clear evidence that such support is socially patterned, with women, non-heterosexual individuals, non-religious people, and younger people (amongst other population groups) being more likely to express support.
These findings are deemed to be significant for policy and practice: they highlight the strength of the HILDA Survey data as a means to gauge public opinion, and provide evidence that legislation that extends the rights of same-sex couples (e.g. marriage equality legislation) is required to match contemporary public perceptions.
You can find their paper here.