Our research over 25 years has shown that Australian church attenders tend to vote for conservative parties. Just under half have generally voted for the Coalition in federal elections – and this doesn’t include swing voters.
Churches from across 20 denominations were asked in the National Church Life Survey in late 2021/early 2022 about
their voting patterns over the last 10 years.
Q. What have been your voting patterns over the last 10 years in lower house Federal elections?
- Generally Labor
- Generally Liberal/National Party
- Generally Greens
- Generally Family First, Australian Christians or Christian Democratic Party*
- Generally One Nation
- Generally some other party or independents
- I have frequently voted differently
- I didn’t vote
*Note: The Christian Democratic Party was deregistered in 2022.
Overall Findings
The 2021 survey showed that while no party held overall majority, church attender voting patterns heavily favoured the Liberal/National Coalition. The preference of the Liberal/Nationals increased slightly between 2016 and 2021. There was also a slight increase in the proportion who changed their voting preferences, from 12% in 2016 to 15% in 2021.
In the 2026 NCLS, we will be asking a sample of church attenders who they would vote for if an election was held now.
Is your church taking part in the 2026 National Church Life Survey?
Some wider reflections
If you are interested in some reflections in the wider media that draw on previous NCLS findings on the intersection between faith and politics, here are some recent articles.
