ABC survey is dividing Australians by social class based on their habits

IF you dig a bit of Barnesy, Eddie McGuire or a Stephen King novel, you are clearly a “working class’’ man or woman, according to the ABC.

Jimmy Barnes: He’ll tell you he’s a working-class maaaan.

DO you listen to Jimmy Barnes, watch Eddie McGuire and enjoy a good Stephen King novel? If so, you are clearly a “working class’’ man, or woman, according to the ABC.

But those of us who would rather listen to a bit of Pavarotti, watch Jennifer Byrne talk about books and — of course — tune into the national broadcaster are clearly “upper class’’.

The publicly funded ABC — just weeks after an internal audit found it was out of touch with ordinary Australians — is running an online survey about respondents’ likes and dislikes in music, television and books and uses the answers to decide ­people’s social status.

Among the findings were that if you enjoy watching Australian Story more than The Block, you are higher up the social order.

The Block appeals to “good old-fashioned Aussies”, according to host Scott Cam.

Stephen King fans are down the order, and NRL followers are “working class,” with people who like Paul “Fatty” Vautin and AFL club president McGuire considered of the lowest ranking.

But knowledge of opera and classical music such as Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, and reading books by Jane Austen and Haruki Murakami rank you higher on the social order. And ABC viewers and listeners are considered elite.

The survey divides Australians into four classes, from “working class” as the lowest to “lower middle”, “middle” and “upper” class based on things such as which celebrity names they know. Working class is defined as waitresses, cleaners, bus drivers, labourers and factory workers. Police officers and firefighters are considered lower middle class along with clerks and small business owners, while teachers and scientists are among those in the middle class.

Company CEOs, judges, lawyers and professors are in the upper class.

British author Jane Austen.

Media figure Eddie McGuire.

The late Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti.

Yesterday host of The Block Scott Cam slammed the survey for being elitist and said people who watched the show were just “good old-fashioned Aussies”.

“It’s not always a good idea to divide Australians into classes but if you do, the working class is the best one,” he told The Daily Telegraph.

TV game show host and sports presenter McGuire said he was proud of his working-class roots, and while identifying people by class was not a “bad thing”, Australia must remain an egalitarian society.

“The great thing about Australia is that there is a something for everyone. For every person sipping French wine, there is someone with a stubby of beer,” he said.

Demographer Simon Kuestenmacher criticised the survey’s divisive class concept as “un-Australian’’ while social researcher Mark McCrindle said the way the quiz’s questions were written appears to favour people who listen to or watch the ABC.

The broadcaster defended the quiz, saying it was presented in the context of a series of stories on class in Australia broadcast on Radio National and that more than 680,000 people had “interacted” with the survey.

“It was based on research by a team at the University of Western Sydney and intended to stimulate discussion,” an ABC spokeswoman said.

“It is also a bit of fun, and not to be taken too seriously.”