The ANUpoll also found 67 per cent of those surveyed believe science is best funded by government rather than private business, while 82 per cent believe politicians should rely more on expert scientific advice.

Lead researcher Dr Jill Sheppard says the poll, conducted by The Australian National University, also found 94 per cent of those surveyed believe scientists and industry should cooperate more with each other.

“At a time when science is at the centre of some of the major policy debates, such as climate change and energy security, the ANUpoll finds people want the policy makers to listen to and take advice from scientific experts,” says Dr Sheppard, from the ANU School of Politics and International Relations.

“The findings show Australians are also looking for scientists to help them sort facts from fiction in the modern world of fake news and so called alternative facts.”

The poll found that:

• 75 per cent believe the benefits of technology outweigh the risks;
• 51 per cent believe Australia’s scientific achievements are above average on the world stage;
• 84 per cent believe more people should be working in research and technological development in Australia;
• 68 per cent are more excited than concerned about new technology;
• 45 per cent believe technological change is too fast, increasing to 74 per cent among those with a year 10 education or less;
• Around 60 per cent believe farmers are more worthy of government assistance than technology entrepreneurs; and
• 57 per cent would support government assistance to a medical research company developing an anti-malaria drug.

Lead researcher Professor Matthew Gray, from the ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods, says the ANUpoll provided a snapshot of Australian attitudes at a time when spending on Research and Development (R&D) was falling to around 2.1 per cent of GDP and below the OECD average of 2.4 per cent of GDP, and with private sector investment well below other nations.

“In Australia a smaller proportion of expenditure on R&D is contributed by the private sector compared to other OECD countries,” Mr Gray says.

“The figure for Australia in 2013 was 56.3 per cent compared to an OECD average of 81.1 per cent, and well below the United States (70.6 per cent), Japan (76.1 per cent) and Germany (67.2 percent).

“The relatively low proportion of Australian R&D being undertaken by the private sector is one of the reasons for successive governments attempting to increase private sector R&D expenditure.”

The poll, “Innovation, Science and Business: Australian Attitudes to Government Support”, surveyed 1202 people by phone and was conducted by the Social Research Centre – an ANU Enterprise business.

It is available via ANUpoll home page