Has affective polarisation increased in Australia? This paper investigates long-run trends and predictors of affective polarisation using repeated waves of the Australian Election Study from 1987 to 2025. Although affective polarisation has become a central concern in the study of democratic politics, much of the literature has focused on the U.S. and, increasingly, Europe, where scholars have had to adapt a concept developed in a two-party system to multi-party competition. Australia presents a further challenge: compulsory voting and the growing electoral presence of independents complicate measures of affective polarisation that generally assume voters hold positive attachments to political parties. Focusing on the Australian case, the paper examines whether partisan animosity has intensified over time and which demographic and political factors are associated with higher levels of affective polarisation. The paper contributes new evidence from Australia while also addressing how affective polarisation can be conceptualised and measured in this unique setting.
