Quality of Life Down-Under: The Australian Unity Wellbeing Index

This paper describes changes in the wellbeing of Australians as measured through the Australian Unity Wellbeing Index. This project has been in progress for six years, from 2001 to 2007. Each of 17 surveys has collected geographically representative data from 2,000 new respondents on both the Personal Wellbeing Index and the National Wellbeing Index. In addition, over the last nine surveys, people have been asked about their perceived likelihood of a terrorist attack in Australia. The variations in wellbeing over the 17 surveys are interpreted in term of data norms, Homeostatic Theory and possible causal agents. It will be shown that some of the wellbeing measures show no systematic variation over time, while others change quite markedly. However, with a few exceptions, it is usually not clear what might be causing such variation. It is concluded that the results generally conform to the predictions of homeostasis but much work remains to be done in order to understand the kinds of factors that influence such changes in population wellbeing.