Australian Attitudes presents a set of analyses from the National Social Science Survey which explore a wide range of interesting questions about the attitudes, values and behaviour of the Australian public. The authors combine academic rigour with easy-to-read prose to produce a book which will be of interest to scholars and general readers alike. The topics covered include attitudes towards moral issues such as abortion and foreign aid, views on economic policy and the political system in general, political ideology, access to higher education and attitudes associated with different educational backgrounds, discrimination against immigrants, female participation in the workforce and the content of work, happiness and satisfaction with life, and religious beliefs and the church.

The National Social Science Survey is the most comprehensive national sample survey of social and political attitudes ever undertaken in Australia and, in addition to updating some earlier work with fresh evidence for the 1980s, the book presents a number of completely new analyses of topics that have not until now been subject to systematic analysis of this sort.