Australians feel less safe in the world in 2022, according to Lowy Institute poll

The 2022 Lowy Institute poll on international affairs has found only 53 per cent of Australians feel either "safe" or "very safe", a 17-per-cent drop from last year, and a sharp decline from the period of 2005-10, when that figure hovered around 90 per cent.

More than nine in 10 Australians also said they were "very" or "somewhat concerned" about Russia's invasion of Ukraine, while 87 per cent said they were concerned about cooperation between China and Russia, who declared a "no limits" partnership earlier this year.

Some 87 per cent of Australians polled this year said they saw the alliance as "very" or "fairly" important, a nine-point increase from last year.

The poll showed 63 per cent of Australians were either strongly, or somewhat, in favour of allowing the United States "to base military forces" in Australia, an eight-point increase since 2011.

"The majority of Australians want to increase defence spending, host US military in Australia and support the plan to acquire nuclear-powered submarines," Ms Kassam said.

The poll also found that the gap between older and younger Australians on the importance of democracy — which has appeared in several past surveys — seems to have "almost disappeared", with 70 per cent of those aged 18-29 expressing a clear preference for democracy