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This is the first time that Ipsos Mackay has researched how Australians feel about the future, which showed that people found it hard to project five or 10 years ahead, one or two years was as far as many could comprehend.

Overall, the findings revealed that consumers had a fairly bleak outlook on contemporary society and did not believe the future looked any rosier.

Interestingly, consumers were able to divorce feelings about their own lives from what they perceived as problems that the broader society faces. In fact, Australians anticipate that in the future they will personally fare reasonably well and aspired to the same goals as previous generations.

Ipsos Mackay Director of Research, Dr Rebecca Huntley said: “This unremitting bleak view I think is a consequence of our inability to imagine what a more positive future might look like.”

A strong theme in the research was that Australian society as a whole will be ‘sicker’ in the future. In particular, childhood obesity was identified as a prime risk to society’s future well-being.

“Consumers have obviously absorbed the multiple media messages about the problems and dangers of obesity, but clearly felt challenged to change theirs and their children’s eating habits,” Dr Huntley said.

Mental health was also a major area of concern. Consumers discussed the apparent burgeoning mental health problems which were largely blamed on the increasing pace and added stresses of life.

“Mental health issues, like increasing depression, in our society are becoming very common. More people are on their own, working longer hours,” commented one respondent.

A consistent theme in this report, as well as other Ipsos Mackay studies in the last year, has been consumer complaints about the short-term thinking of governments, especially at a state level. Australians increasingly expect that not just government but all society’s institutions should have a plan and be leading the way.

“All public leaders and corporate Australia need to talk about how they see the future but they aren’t. People are looking for vision and how they can make a contribution,” Dr Huntley said.

In addition, Australians believe the increasing reliance on communicating via technology, which they felt would only get more acute in the future, would erode our social, literacy and numeracy skills and lead to increasing isolation.

On the other hand, when reflecting on the lifestyle provided in Australia, consumers were generally optimistic. As one respondent said, “Look at our unemployment rate. We are the lucky country.”

Dr Huntley added: “In their attempts to put a positive spin on the future, consumers referred to the innate adaptability of human beings, even in the worst of circumstances.”

While consumers on the one hand were generally positive and enthusiastic about technological progress, there was also a sense of being selective and realistic about its uses and benefits. Optimism about the future hinged on consumer confidence that society would be able to control the influence of technology.

Dr Huntley said: “Any feeling that our society might improve rather than deteriorate in the future hinged on confidence that people cancontrol the forces at work in our society, particularly technological advancement and population growth.”

Notes to editors: The respected Ipsos Mackay Report has been conducted over the last 30 years and was initially developed by social researcher Hugh Mackay. Based on qualitative methodology, the research technique used for this report was 16 group discussions. Participants ranged from their early 20s to mid 70s and lived in metropolitan and regional areas across the country.

For all Ipsos Mackay reports, the group discussions follow the principles of non-directive research. This is a very different approach from conventional ‘focus groups’ where individuals are assembled in a central location, generally observed through a two-way mirror or via closed circuit TV and the discussion is actively controlled by the facilitator.

For further information, please contact:

Hannah Furness
Access Public Relations
T: 02 9279 4100
M: 0409 348 250
E: hannah@accesspr.com.au

OR

Rochelle Burbury
Access Public Relations
T: 02 9279 4799
M: 0408 774 577
E: rochelle@accesspr.com.au

About Ipsos

Ipsos Australia is one of the world's leading survey-based marketing research firms. Founded and run by market research professionals, Ipsos interprets, simulates, and anticipates the needs and reactions of consumers, customers and citizens – locally, nationally and around the world. Ipsos has a direct presence in more than 50 countries globally and conducts research in more than 100.