Exploring how Australians think, feel, and engage with social and political issues of within their country.

Australia, like many countries, is experiencing ongoing public discussion and debate on issues such as immigration, gender diversity, and social cohesion. These conversations are shaped by social, political, and technological factors, and may include different forms of civic participation, including public demonstrations and advocacy.

MOSAIC aims to better understand these dynamics by examining how individuals form opinions, how they respond to societal issues, and how these responses may evolve over time.

Introducing MOSAIC: Mapping Opinions and Social Attitudes on Inclusion and Conflict

MOSAIC is a longitudinal survey designed to track Australian attitudes towards racial and gender diversity, as well as corresponding public opinion about governance, democracy, and social cohesion.

By collecting data at multiple time points over an extended period, the project seeks to identify patterns in how views change and how they relate to broader social and political developments.

It is the first Australian survey that uses longitudinal data to map these trends over time.

MOSAIC explores how individuals and groups respond to social issues, and how differing viewpoints interact within public discourse.

We investigate several interrelated areas, including:

Perspectives on gender diversity

Perspectives on racial diversity and immigration

Perspectives on democracy and governance

Forms of civic participation, public engagement, and community experiences

Factors associated with, and perceptions of, social cohesion

Broader social and political attitudes

MOSAIC explores connections between individual perspectives and social contexts.

The project aims to provide a more comprehensive understanding of how opinions are formed and how they relate to ongoing changes in society.

MOSAIC does not focus on any single perspective.

Instead, it considers a wide spectrum of viewpoints and captures the diversity of opinions that exist within the Australian population.

Over 2300 Australians

8 surveys | 4 years | 6-monthly intervals

This will allow us to map the temporal dynamics of mobilisation, showing not only how individual and groups polarise and radicalise over time, but also when, how, and why people enter, exit, or shift their engagement with these movements.

Our Team and Funders

MOSAIC is an independently funded project.

MOSAIC is supported by the Australian Research Council through the Future Fellowship scheme.

The project is conducted by a multidisciplinary team and supported by an international reference group of scholars, practitioners, and analysts.

This group contributes to:

The design and development of the research
Interpretation of findings
Identification of emerging topics of interest
Application of insights to broader social contexts

Professor Emma Thomas

Professor Emma Thomas is an ARC Future Fellow and Chief Investigator of the project. A social and political psychologist by background, Professor Thomas leads the Flinders Social Influence and Social Change Lab and is Deputy Director of the Jeff Bleich Centre for Democracy and Disruptive Technology.

Dr Charlie Pittaway

Dr Charlie Pittaway is a post-doctoral research fellow at Flinders University with experiencing researching political and social change attitudes and actions across diverse causes.

Bridget Ramsey

Bridget Ramsey is a PhD candidate at Flinders University, interested political action and extremism.

Keen to be involved?

Please drop us a line!

The project seeks to include a broad cross-section of the Australian community. If you are interested in participating in MOSAIC or other research conducted by the Jeff Bleich Centre, please get in touch.

Your participation contributes to a better understanding of the range of Australian perspectives.

Your details will remain confidential, in line with Flinders University Ethics Standards.

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