Anthony Albanese has been revealed as the most popular party leader since Kevin Rudd.
But that didn't stop almost one in three voters casting their ballot for minor parties or independent candidates in the 2022 federal election, the highest number in almost a century.
Australia's largest election study, by the Australian National University and Griffith University, found Scott Morrison to be the least popular major party leader in the study's 35-year history.
Greens leader Adam Bandt was rated more favourably than the former prime minister and Liberal leader.
Study co-author Ian McAllister said the 2022 federal election, won by Mr Albanese's Labor team, saw a "large-scale abandonment" of major political parties.
"The vote for the two major parties fell to historic lows in the 2022 election. The key beneficiaries of this seismic shift in voting behaviour were the Greens and independent candidates," Professor McAllister said.
He said Australian voters were now less rusted on to the major parties and the trend was likely to grow.
In 1967, 72 per cent of voters said they always voted for the same party.
This year, the figure dropped to a record low of 37 per cent.
Study co-author Sarah Cameron from Griffith University said the advent of the so-called "teal independents", who ran a well-funded and organised campaign, had given disgruntled voters a viable alternative to the major parties.
"These (teal) campaigns tapped into frustrations with the incumbent coalition government on issues where they were perceived as weak, including climate change, political integrity, and gender equality," she said.
But Dr Cameron noted the ongoing success of the teals would depend on how much they could create a "distinct political identity" to carry to the 2025 federal election.
The study found most teal voters were tactical Labor and Greens voters, with fewer than one in five having previously voted for the coalition.
Mr Albanese was rated more favourably than Mr Morrison in eight of nine leader characteristics, with the biggest differences in perceptions of honesty, trustworthiness and compassion.
Over the past three decades, the survey has found an average of 13 per cent of voters casting their ballots based on party leadership, rather than policies.
This year, the figure was 15 per cent for Labor voters, well above the four to six per cent recorded for former leader Bill Shorten at the 2016 and 2019 elections.
The full report will be launched in Canberra on Monday.
