Science literacy in Australia

The questions in this survey were first asked of Australians in July 2010 and were based on a previous survey conducted by the California Academy of Sciences.

The second survey was undertaken online and conducted between 7 and 10 May, 2013. Respondents were drawn from a professional social and market research panel.

Key findings

Although most Australians have a basis grasp of key scientific facts, there are still large numbers who answer important scientific questions incorrectly.

• For example, 59% knew the Earth takes one year to orbit the sun.
• 70% of Australians think that evolution is currently occurring.
• 73% of Australians think people are influencing the evolution of other species.  

These results are broadly similar to those in 2010 however there were some small, but statistically significant decreases, in the proportion of Australians who were aware of some key scientific facts.

• There was a 4% reduction in the proportion of people who knew that 3% of the earth’s water that is fresh (down to 9%).
• There was a 4% reduction in the proportion of people who believe humans are influencing the evolution of other species (down to 73%).

Generally younger respondents, men and those with a higher education level were more likely to answer the questions correctly.

• For example, 68% of men knew the Earth takes a year to orbit the sun compared to 50% of women. While 78% of university educated respondents knew that evolution is still occurring compared to 63% of those with just a high school education.

However, knowledge levels amongst young people have dropped more than other groups over the last 3 years.

• For example, there was a 12% reduction in the proportion of 18–24 year-olds who know the earth orbits the sun in a year (down to 62%).
• There were also tentative, but less significant falls in the proportion of 18–24 year olds who believe that evolution is occurring or that humans are influencing the evolution of other species.

There remains a high acknowledgement that science education is important to the Australian economy.

• 79% of Australians say that science education is absolutely essential or very important; almost the same proportion as 2010. 

About the study

The overall sample size was 1,515, segmented and weighted to be nationally representative of Australia’s population by gender, age and residential location.

The accuracy of the results at an overall level is +/-2.5% at the 95% confidence interval. This means, for example, that if the survey returns a result of 50% to a particular question, there is 95% probability that the actual result will be between 47.5% and 52.5%.

Note: All percentage figures in this report are rounded. Accordingly, totals may not add up to 100%.