A national survey of 2000 people has revealed trust in politicians, which plummeted after former prime minister Kevin Rudd's backflip on an emissions trading scheme, has yet to recover.
It also found more than one-third of those surveyed thought asylum seekers bound for Australia by boat should either be turned back or detained then deported.
More than a quarter of coalition voters in the survey, conducted before the High Court shot down the government's Malaysia solution, supported turning boats back, compared with almost 18 percent of Labor supporters and 9.8 percent of those intending to vote Green.
Monash University's Professor Andrew Markus said the Mapping Social Cohesion 2011 survey showed people were losing trust in politicians and in others in the community.
Some 48 per cent of people surveyed in 2009 said the federal government could be trusted almost always or most of the time.
That figure dropped to 31 percent the following year and 30 percent in 2011.
Only 46 per cent of respondents felt most people could be trusted, compared with 55 percent two years ago, and those involved in voluntary work at least once a month had declined from 38 percent in 2009 to 31 percent this year.
Prof Markus said the style of politics in Canberra may be eroding our trust in others and community participation.
"Where you have very fierce combative politics and a situation where a government is not really able to either pass legislation or convince people in large number that what they're doing is good, that can have an impact across the community," Prof Markus told AAP.
"What happens in Canberra doesn't stay in Canberra necessarily.
"They're certainly not pushing a message of harmony."
Victorians are the biggest supporters of immigration, with almost three-quarters strongly agreeing or agreeing with the statement that accepting immigrants from many different countries makes Australia stronger.
Only 53 percent of Queenslanders strongly agreed or agreed, while it was 61 percent in Western Australia, 60 percent in South Australia and 65 percent in NSW.
The 18-24 age group offered the highest level of support for immigration, while over 65s recorded the lowest.
Around one-quarter of respondents had negative feelings towards immigrants from Iraq or Lebanon.
But attitudes towards Greek, Italian and Vietnamese migrants had become more accepting.
"There always has been a pattern in Australia that the more recent wave of immigrants will be the ones that will spark most negativity," Prof Markus said.
Thirty per cent of respondents had positive attitudes towards Muslims, while 25 percent were negative and 43 percent were neutral.
The telephone survey was conducted in June and July and funded by the Scanlon Foundation, which aims to support a more cohesive society.
