Support for Australian republic unstirred

Support for an Australian republic with a homegrown head of state has barely budged in the past year, with roughly two in five people in favour of the idea.

The long-running republic debate flared up briefly over the summer break when Malcolm Turnbull breathed air into a postal survey thought bubble, only to burst it a day later.

An Essential poll, released on Tuesday, shows 44 per cent of the 1000 people quizzed support Australia becoming a republic with an Australian head of state.

Some 29 per cent of respondents oppose the idea, while another 26 per cent had no opinion.

The results are almost identical to when the same question was posed 12 months ago.

Labor and Greens voters were most likely to support the idea, while more than half of men and university educated people were in favour.

Those most likely to oppose were Liberal/National voters at 37 per cent, other party voters at 46 per cent, and those aged 65 and over at 44 per cent.