These results are dissimilar to those in prior studies. Although the studies of Lau et al. [11] and De Zwart et al. [12] found that females scored higher on risk perception than males, gender was not a significant risk factor for high-perceived pandemic likelihood or concern for self and family in this study. Similarly, although in prior studies older respondents [12] , those with lower socioeconomic status [10] and lower education [10] reported significantly higher risk perception, in the current study none of these were risk factors for high-perceived pandemic likelihood or concern for self and family. What is common to all these groups is that they represent the groups typically most vulnerable to concern due to a focal threat. The prior studies were conducted on populations responding to a tangible threat as they were conducted around either the time of the avian influenza outbreaks or on populations which were most affected by the avian influenza or the SARS outbreaks. As this study was conducted on an Australian population which was not directly affected by avian influenza or SARS and where influenza was not a media focus, the null findings in this study may indicate that the threat of pandemic influenza was so general and distal that it did not have the capacity to concern even the portion of the population normally most sensitive to threat.