Australians' political opinions have room to shift before election day, prompting some to urge caution over fresh polls.
The latest Newspoll in The Australian newspaper on Monday shows the coalition has a 51-49 lead over Labor in the two-party preferred stakes while the federal government's primary vote is languishing at 31, compared to the opposition's 38.
The data is the latest in a series of unfavourable results for the Labor party, but election analyst Kevin Bonham says this may not reflect the election outcome.
"The polls are all getting very much the same thing and that's actually a bit of a worry, because that can sometimes be a sign that they're paying too much attention to what the other polls are doing," he told AAP.
Ahead of the 2019 contest many polls showed Labor's two-party preferred result was ahead by a few percentage points, but this fell within the margin of error and the coalition eventually won government.
The latest results show the opposition are ahead by a similar margin.
"The overall picture in polling is that, at the moment, someone might be slightly ahead or someone might be slightly behind, but it's very, very close," Mr Bonham said.
It takes a lot to boot a first-term government due to their significant seat buffers.
At the 1998 election, John Howard's government lost 14 seats, but the composition of parliament still favoured his administration as the coalition won the previous vote with a total of 94 seats.
Even Labor prime minister Gough Whitlam who, according to Mr Bonham, was polling relatively poorly in the lead-up to his second election campaign, managed to eke out a win at the 1974 vote.
However, concerns over the economy, a global turn against incumbents and Labor's relatively small seat margin indicates this government is at greater risk than other first-term administrations.
The Newspoll found 53 per cent of those surveyed believed the Albanese government did not deserve to be re-elected, while 34 per cent were happy to give it another term.
About 45 per cent believed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese would be the better PM, compared to Mr Dutton's 40 per cent.
Federal MPs linked the result to cost-of-living pressures faced by voters, with independent Jacqui Lambie telling Nine's Today show "it's very scary out there".
This means the federal election campaign could play a more significant role in the results than previous years.
"There's plenty of room in this current position for the polls to move," election analyst Ben Raue told AAP.
"Even a small amount would make a big difference, so in that sense, campaigns can make a difference."
Though the election must be held by May 17, Mr Albanese has yet to set a date, which has fuelled speculation.
An earlier election would allow the government to take advantage of current momentum, like a possible rate cut decision on Tuesday, but a later polling date could provide more time for Labor's fortunes to turn around.
Senior Labor minister Clare O'Neil said Labor had spent the last three years working to help Australians with cost-of-living issues.
"I've got my fingers and toes crossed for homeowners around the country that we start to see some relief," she told Nine's Today show.
However, Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce said Labor was "rubbing salt into the wound of people" doing tough.
"It is a debacle and part of our plan (to address the cost of living) is to remove you," he told Seven.
The Newspoll surveyed 1244 voters nationally last week.
Meanwhile, modelling from pollster YouGov projected the coalition to win 73 seats at the election - putting Mr Dutton in pole position to form government.
Polls show voters consider Mr Dutton a stronger leader on matters of law and order than Mr Albanese, who voters consider the weakest party leader in decades.
