Australia’s wellbeing index high

The disastrous Victorian fires and Queensland floods had the surprising effect of increasing people’s “wellbeing” index because of an enhanced connection with the Australian community and resulting increased sense of personal wellbeing.

The Australian Unity Wellbeing Index showed that overall wellbeing following the fires and floods had risen by 1.1 points to 75.93 which is the second highest recording after the 76.3 peak recording at the time of the Athens Olympics in 2004.

An index author, Professor Bob Cummins, of Deakin University, said that of the eight life domains that comprised personal wellbeing, satisfaction with the community had risen the most.

“It’s very likely that this is because of the increased sense of community generated by the tragedy of the floods and fires,” he said.

“Events such as these generate an enormous out-pouring of sympathy and tangible assistance which possibly caused the population to experience a heightened sense of belonging to the ‘Australian family’.

“This is in keeping with social psychological theory where an external threat causes a population to become more socially cohesive,” he continued.

But Professor Cummins said it should also be noted that the level of community satisfaction also increased at the time of the Athens Olympics and at the time of the election of the Rudd Labor Government in late 2007.

The lowest points in recent times on the wellbeing index were at the times of the second Bali bombing and the Howard Government’s WorkChoices legislation.