Roy Morgan Update September 2, 2025: Consumer Confidence, Disaffected Australians and Religion in Schools

In this week's Market Research Update, we present the latest data on Roy Morgan Update September 2, 2025: Consumer Confidence, Disaffected Australians and Religion in Schools.

Welcome to the Roy Morgan Weekly update.

The weekly indicators are positive, Consumer Confidence is up 2 points to 88.

And ANZ-Roy Morgan Inflation Expectations is down 0.1% to 4.9%.

Today I want to share with you some serious trends we are seeing across the nation.

First today a look at the large, and growing, cohort of disaffected Australians.

Roy Morgan has identified more than one million Australians (1,152,000) who feel left behind, alienated, and deeply distrusting of authority.

This number has more than doubled since before COVID.

Disaffected Australians are increasingly driven by emotion rather than engagement – and within this broader cohort. ‘Sovereign Citizen’ ideology simply gives that alienation a militant voice.

Both ‘Sovereign Citizens’, and their broader disaffected cohort, reject mainstream political and legal authority.

Roy Morgan data shows this group believes government no longer represents them, echoing the ‘Sovereign Citizen’ creed that laws and institutions are illegitimate.

We are already fielding questions about this worrying phenomenon – where are they located, how has the phenomenon grown over time, who are these people?

Our data scientists and analysts are diving deeper into this powerful research base to answer these questions and more – stay tuned for next week.

Other new Roy Morgan research reveals a profound shift in attitudes towards religious education in government schools over the last few decades, with support sitting evenly at 50% in favour and 50% opposed teaching religion at least once a week.

This is a complete reversal of sentiment over a generation. In 1998, support for weekly religious instruction was overwhelming, with 72% of Australians in favour and just 28% opposed.

Since then, support has gradually eroded, slipping below 70% in the early 2000s and into the low-60s by the mid-2010s.

A look at support for religious instruction in schools shows clear splits between the major parties with 61% of Coalition voters still in favour compared to fewer than half of ALP voters - 44%.

Even lower, only 31% of Greens voters support religion being taught in schools.

And now a look across the Tasman to the political situation in New Zealand – and it is not good news for Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his National-led Government.

In August the main Opposition Labour Party has seen a spike in support – up 3% to 34%. This is Labour’s highest level of support for three years since August 2022 – when former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern still led the party (and the nation).

Labour is now 5% points ahead of National on only 29%, with National down 2% from a month ago.

Labour’s support, at 34%, is the highest for either major party for a full year – since September 2024.

The overall picture changed significantly in August with a surge in support for the Opposition increasing support for the Opposition by 4% to 50% - it’s highest so far this year.

This includes Labour on 34%, the Greens on 13.5% and the Maori Party on 2.5%.

Support for the National-led Government slumped, down 4.5% to 46.5% which includes National on 29%, ACT on 10.5% and NZ First on 7%.

Both major indicators of consumer sentiment were at a low level in August – another poor sign for the Government.

ANZ-Roy Morgan New Zealand Consumer Confidence fell 2.7 points to 92 – the lowest level for this indicator so far this year.

In addition, the Roy Morgan Government Confidence Rating remained at only 83.5. A majority of 53.5% of New Zealanders say the country is ‘going in the wrong direction’ and only 37% say the country is ‘going in the right direction’.