What is freedom of association index in Australia?

Freedom of association index in Australia was 0.876 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.

What is the highest freedom of association index recorded in Australia?

The highest recorded value was 0.914 in 1996.

What is the lowest freedom of association index recorded in Australia?

The lowest recorded value was 0.611 in 1789.

How does Australia rank for freedom of association index?

Australia ranks 32nd out of 176 countries with data for 2025.

Is freedom of association index rising or falling in Australia?

Over the last ten years it is down 1.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.

Where does this Australia data come from?

The figures come from V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Freedom of Association Index. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Freedom of Association Index in Australia

Name: Freedom of Association Index in Australia
Creator: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
License: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)

Australia: Freedom of Association Index was 0.876 in 2025. ▲ Rising

Latest (2025)

0.876

Change on year

up 0.1%

World rank

32nd

of 176 countries

All-time high

0.914

in 1996

All-time low

0.611

in 1789

Years of data

237

1789–2025

Freedom of Association Index in Australia, 1789–2025

Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.

Analysis

In 2025, freedom of association index in Australia stood at 0.876.

That represents a change of up 0.1% on the previous year and down 1.1% over ten years.

Over the whole period, freedom of association index in Australia peaked at 0.914 in 1996 and was at its lowest, 0.611, in 1789.

That places Australia 32nd out of 176 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 237 years of available data.

Freedom of Association Index in Australia, year by year

Annual values for Freedom of Association Index in Australia, 1789 to 2025.
Year	Value	Change
1789	0.611	—
1790	0.611	+0.0%
1791	0.611	+0.0%
1792	0.611	+0.0%
1793	0.611	+0.0%
1794	0.611	+0.0%
1795	0.611	+0.0%
1796	0.611	+0.0%
1797	0.611	+0.0%
1798	0.611	+0.0%
1799	0.611	+0.0%
1800	0.611	+0.0%
1801	0.611	+0.0%
1802	0.611	+0.0%
1803	0.611	+0.0%
1804	0.611	+0.0%
1805	0.611	+0.0%
1806	0.611	+0.0%
1807	0.611	+0.0%
1808	0.611	+0.0%
1809	0.611	+0.0%
1810	0.611	+0.0%
1811	0.611	+0.0%
1812	0.611	+0.0%
1813	0.611	+0.0%
1814	0.611	+0.0%
1815	0.611	+0.0%
1816	0.611	+0.0%
1817	0.611	+0.0%
1818	0.611	+0.0%
1819	0.611	+0.0%
1820	0.611	+0.0%
1821	0.611	+0.0%
1822	0.611	+0.0%
1823	0.79	+29.3%
1824	0.79	+0.0%
1825	0.79	+0.0%
1826	0.79	+0.0%
1827	0.79	+0.0%
1828	0.79	+0.0%
1829	0.79	+0.0%
1830	0.79	+0.0%
1831	0.79	+0.0%
1832	0.79	+0.0%
1833	0.79	+0.0%
1834	0.79	+0.0%
1835	0.79	+0.0%
1836	0.79	+0.0%
1837	0.79	+0.0%
1838	0.79	+0.0%
1839	0.79	+0.0%
1840	0.79	+0.0%
1841	0.79	+0.0%
1842	0.79	+0.0%
1843	0.83	+5.1%
1844	0.865	+4.2%
1845	0.865	+0.0%
1846	0.865	+0.0%
1847	0.865	+0.0%
1848	0.865	+0.0%
1849	0.863	-0.2%
1850	0.863	+0.0%
1851	0.862	-0.1%
1852	0.862	+0.0%
1853	0.862	+0.0%
1854	0.862	+0.0%
1855	0.862	+0.0%
1856	0.896	+3.9%
1857	0.896	+0.0%
1858	0.896	+0.0%
1859	0.895	-0.1%
1860	0.895	+0.0%
1861	0.893	-0.2%
1862	0.893	+0.0%
1863	0.893	+0.0%
1864	0.893	+0.0%
1865	0.894	+0.1%
1866	0.894	+0.0%
1867	0.894	+0.0%
1868	0.894	+0.0%
1869	0.895	+0.1%
1870	0.897	+0.2%
1871	0.897	+0.0%
1872	0.897	+0.0%
1873	0.897	+0.0%
1874	0.897	+0.0%
1875	0.895	-0.2%
1876	0.895	+0.0%
1877	0.896	+0.1%
1878	0.897	+0.1%
1879	0.897	+0.0%
1880	0.897	+0.0%
1881	0.895	-0.2%
1882	0.895	+0.0%
1883	0.895	+0.0%
1884	0.895	+0.0%
1885	0.895	+0.0%
1886	0.894	-0.1%
1887	0.894	+0.0%
1888	0.893	-0.1%
1889	0.893	+0.0%
1890	0.893	+0.0%
1891	0.893	+0.0%
1892	0.893	+0.0%
1893	0.893	+0.0%
1894	0.892	-0.1%
1895	0.894	+0.2%
1896	0.895	+0.1%
1897	0.895	+0.0%
1898	0.88	-1.7%
1899	0.88	+0.0%
1900	0.88	+0.0%
1901	0.894	+1.6%
1902	0.907	+1.5%
1903	0.907	+0.0%
1904	0.905	-0.2%
1905	0.905	+0.0%
1906	0.905	+0.0%
1907	0.906	+0.1%
1908	0.906	+0.0%
1909	0.906	+0.0%
1910	0.89	-1.8%
1911	0.89	+0.0%
1912	0.89	+0.0%
1913	0.89	+0.0%
1914	0.883	-0.8%
1915	0.878	-0.6%
1916	0.867	-1.3%
1917	0.861	-0.7%
1918	0.858	-0.3%
1919	0.886	+3.3%
1920	0.891	+0.6%
1921	0.891	+0.0%
1922	0.891	+0.0%
1923	0.893	+0.2%
1924	0.893	+0.0%
1925	0.893	+0.0%
1926	0.891	-0.2%
1927	0.891	+0.0%
1928	0.891	+0.0%
1929	0.89	-0.1%
1930	0.894	+0.4%
1931	0.894	+0.0%
1932	0.896	+0.2%
1933	0.896	+0.0%
1934	0.896	+0.0%
1935	0.897	+0.1%
1936	0.897	+0.0%
1937	0.897	+0.0%
1938	0.894	-0.3%
1939	0.859	-3.9%
1940	0.833	-3.0%
1941	0.843	+1.2%
1942	0.87	+3.2%
1943	0.869	-0.1%
1944	0.867	-0.2%
1945	0.867	+0.0%
1946	0.882	+1.7%
1947	0.887	+0.6%
1948	0.887	+0.0%
1949	0.887	+0.0%
1950	0.864	-2.6%
1951	0.865	+0.1%
1952	0.881	+1.8%
1953	0.901	+2.3%
1954	0.904	+0.3%
1955	0.905	+0.1%
1956	0.904	-0.1%
1957	0.904	+0.0%
1958	0.905	+0.1%
1959	0.906	+0.1%
1960	0.906	+0.0%
1961	0.906	+0.0%
1962	0.905	-0.1%
1963	0.905	+0.0%
1964	0.898	-0.8%
1965	0.898	+0.0%
1966	0.898	+0.0%
1967	0.9	+0.2%
1968	0.9	+0.0%
1969	0.9	+0.0%
1970	0.907	+0.8%
1971	0.907	+0.0%
1972	0.907	+0.0%
1973	0.905	-0.2%
1974	0.903	-0.2%
1975	0.902	-0.1%
1976	0.902	+0.0%
1977	0.902	+0.0%
1978	0.905	+0.3%
1979	0.905	+0.0%
1980	0.905	+0.0%
1981	0.905	+0.0%
1982	0.905	+0.0%
1983	0.903	-0.2%
1984	0.903	+0.0%
1985	0.909	+0.7%
1986	0.909	+0.0%
1987	0.907	-0.2%
1988	0.905	-0.2%
1989	0.905	+0.0%
1990	0.912	+0.8%
1991	0.911	-0.1%
1992	0.911	+0.0%
1993	0.911	+0.0%
1994	0.911	+0.0%
1995	0.911	+0.0%
1996	0.914	+0.3%
1997	0.898	-1.8%
1998	0.898	+0.0%
1999	0.897	-0.1%
2000	0.909	+1.3%
2001	0.902	-0.8%
2002	0.894	-0.9%
2003	0.894	+0.0%
2004	0.894	+0.0%
2005	0.894	+0.0%
2006	0.894	+0.0%
2007	0.895	+0.1%
2008	0.898	+0.3%
2009	0.898	+0.0%
2010	0.903	+0.6%
2011	0.903	+0.0%
2012	0.903	+0.0%
2013	0.869	-3.8%
2014	0.869	+0.0%
2015	0.886	+2.0%
2016	0.885	-0.1%
2017	0.884	-0.1%
2018	0.884	+0.0%
2019	0.867	-1.9%
2020	0.88	+1.5%
2021	0.88	+0.0%
2022	0.881	+0.1%
2023	0.875	-0.7%
2024	0.875	+0.0%
2025	0.876	+0.1%

Australia compared with similar countries

Australia's 0.876 is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.868, 1.0× the median. (55 countries reporting)
Australia's 0.876 is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 0.708, 1.2× the median. (22 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

Decade	Average	Lowest	Highest	Years
1780s	0.611	0.611	0.611	1
1790s	0.611	0.611	0.611	10
1800s	0.611	0.611	0.611	10
1810s	0.611	0.611	0.611	10
1820s	0.7363	0.611	0.79	10
1830s	0.79	0.79	0.79	10
1840s	0.8388	0.79	0.865	10
1850s	0.8756	0.862	0.896	10
1860s	0.8938	0.893	0.895	10
1870s	0.8965	0.895	0.897	10
1880s	0.8946	0.893	0.897	10
1890s	0.8908	0.88	0.895	10
1900s	0.9021	0.88	0.907	10
1910s	0.8793	0.858	0.89	10
1920s	0.8915	0.89	0.893	10
1930s	0.892	0.859	0.897	10
1940s	0.8692	0.833	0.887	10
1950s	0.8939	0.864	0.906	10
1960s	0.9016	0.898	0.906	10
1970s	0.9045	0.902	0.907	10
1980s	0.9056	0.903	0.909	10
1990s	0.9074	0.897	0.914	10
2000s	0.8972	0.894	0.909	10
2010s	0.8853	0.867	0.903	10
2020s	0.8778	0.875	0.881	6

Countries ranked near Australia

See the full ranking of 176 places →

More social development data for Australia

Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 33,415 (2025)
Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 41 (2025)
Political Rights Rating 1 (2025)
Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 1 (2025)
Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 units per person (2025)
Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 41 (2025)
Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0012 units per person (2025)
Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)

All data for Australia →

Frequently asked questions

What is freedom of association index in Australia?: Freedom of association index in Australia was 0.876 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest freedom of association index recorded in Australia?: The highest recorded value was 0.914 in 1996.
What is the lowest freedom of association index recorded in Australia?: The lowest recorded value was 0.611 in 1789.
How does Australia rank for freedom of association index?: Australia ranks 32nd out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
Is freedom of association index rising or falling in Australia?: Over the last ten years it is down 1.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Australia data come from?: The figures come from V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Freedom of Association Index. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Freedom of Association Index in Australia. Statizoid, drawing on V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Retrieved 08 October 2026, from https://social-development.statizoid.com/stat/freedom-of-association-index/australia/

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About this data

Indicator: Freedom of Association Index
Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage: 176 places, 30,011 data points, 1789–2025
Last refreshed: 18 September 2026

Central estimate of the extent to which parties, including opposition parties, are allowed to form and participate in elections and the extent to which civil society organizations are allowed to form and operate freely.