And our feeling of mental wellbeing is better now than it was before the lockdowns and social distancing, according to the researchers.

But they do point out that one in six Australians said that "in the last three months they have 'not been able to pay the mortgage or rent on time because of a shortage of money'."

The results come from the latest of a regular, detailed scientific survey.

The latest involved 3286 people to form a representative cross-section of Australia.

The researchers were keen to see the effect of the end of two of the government's extra measures to stop the economy tanking.

JobKeeper which was paid to employers to keep their staff working, and a supplement to JobSeeker were removed at the end of March.

Some feared that taking away the props would cause a collapse - but it hasn't happened, according to the ANU researchers.

"The real story here is that there hasn't been a dramatic decline in employment," one of the authors, Professor Matthew Gray, said.

"This is good news for many Australians, the economy and our economic activity, particularly as we look to rebuild in the wake of the COVID recession."

"While unemployment increased substantially and GDP declined during the early months of the pandemic in Australia, much of the losses in employment and economic production seem to have been recovered by early 2021."

The director of the ANU's Centre for Social Research and Methods added, though, that without the measures in the first place, there could have been a "catastrophic" decline in economic activity.

Instead, there has been a steady rise from the worst: the number of hours worked in a week by an average Australian fell steeply in May last year as the pandemic hit - but has risen steadily since.

On the down side, the research shows that a significant proportion of Australians have trouble paying mortgages or rent - but the proportion is falling.

In March, 2017, one in five Australians said they were having a constant struggle or falling behind with payments. The latest survey indicates that this proportion in financial difficulty has fallen to one in six.

On top of what the academics feel is good news, it seems that levels of "psychological distress" have fallen.

The survey asks a series of questions so they can gauge the level of serious worry in people.

"Average psychological distress is now lower than it was pre-pandemic," Professor Nick Biddle said.

"This is also very good news, considering the pandemic and its related social, economic and psychological impacts, has now entered its second year."

But the picture is nuanced. It seems that stress among older people has fallen with the epidemic but risen for younger people.

"Young Australians are still very vulnerable. We found they continue to have worse mental health outcomes than prior to the pandemic, and compared to older Australians," according to Professor Biddle.

Professor Gray reckoned that this was because older people may have actually found more human contact during the lockdowns.

"What we found is that older age groups have significantly lower levels of psychological stress," he said.

"Older ages have been pretty protected financially.

"I think that also in a time of crisis, people have pulled together. It's social cohesiveness. People have found social connection."

Younger people, on the other hand, have had worries about interrupted education.

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