The report measures social cohesion in New Zealand across five dimensions: sense of belonging, sense of worth, social inclusion and justice, participation, and acceptance and rejection. It provides immediate comparison with Australia – with worrying results. It finds that New Zealand’s social cohesion is 8 percentage points lower than in Australia and New Zealand lags on every dimension.

Social cohesion can be understood as the glue that holds communities and society at large together. Without social cohesion, societies become increasingly unstable. The report finds that the biggest fracturing in social cohesion is apparent across political preference, work participation, income and ethnicity. There were encouragingly smaller differences across age groups and regions.

Key findings

• Sense of belonging in the country was high (over 80% felt a national sense of belonging), comparable to Australia, but New Zealand lagged at a more local level (less likely to feel connected to and safe in local community).
• 25% of New Zealanders sometimes or often went without meals compared to 13% of Australians.
• New Zealanders were more likely to have attended a protest (17% vs 11% in Australia).
• Relationship with Indigenous people and Indigenous culture was rated more important by Australians.
• Australians have a generally more positive attitude towards migrants, with 82% saying migrants make the country stronger compared to 56% in New Zealand.
• More New Zealanders believe government can be trusted to do the right thing (42% vs 33% in Australia).