New research from the Australia Institute shows that 45% of Australians say they will download and use the Government’s COVID-19 mobile app, while 28% say they will not used it and 27% unsure.

The Australia Institute surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1,011 Australians about whether they would use the government’s COVID-19 mobile app on 23-24 April 2020.

Key Findings:

• 45% of Australians say they will use the Government’s COVID-19 mobile app, which is above the Government’s 40% uptake target. Meanwhile, 28% say they will not use the app and 27% say they don’t know /aren’t sure if they will use the app.
• Men are much more likely to say that they will use the app (52%) compared to women (38%).

“While there is a base level of support for the proposed Government COVID-19 mobile app, the Government will need to ensure user privacy is guaranteed in legislation,” said Ben Oquist, Executive Director of the Australia Institute.

“With half the population yet to be fully convinced, the Government will need to ensure strong privacy guarantees are legislated to keep the community on side and assuage any privacy concerns.”