Just 32 per cent rated the quality of Australia's broadband fairly or very good which was down 6 percentage points compared with a year ago and much lower than the international average of 56 per cent.

There were only two other nations in the international survey where fewer than four in ten respondents rated broadband as good - Italy (35 per cent) and Brazil (37 per cent).

The share of Australians rating broadband fairly or very poor has climbed 8 percentage points since last year to 61 per cent.

The polling comes amid widespread criticism of the rollout of the National Broadband Network.

Last week a report by Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman report revealed more than 27,000 complaints were lodged about services delivered by the NBN last financial year, up 156 per cent compared with the previous year.

On Monday the Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, said the NBN was a "mistake" and criticised the former Labor government for setting up a new government company to deliver the huge project which is now estimated to have cost about $49 billion.

Even so, Australians rate broadband as a higher priority for investment than any other type of infrastructure. The Ipsos Global Adviser survey found 46 per cent said broadband should be Australia's top infrastructure priority followed by energy generation (44 per cent) and major roads (43 per cent).

The international survey probed public satisfaction with various types of major infrastructure.

Amid debate over rising electricity prices, just 31 per cent of Australian respondents rated the country's energy infrastructure as good, well below the international average of 45 per cent.

Satisfaction was highest for airports and water and sewerage infrastructure - more than two thirds of Australian respondents rated both good.

Motorways and major roads were rated as good by 49 per cent although the share fell to 45 per cent for local roads, close to the international average.

Rail infrastructure was also rated good by 45 per cent which was also similar to the international average. An above average share of Australians rated flood defences as good quality.

But six in ten Australian respondents agreed the country was "not doing enough" to meet demand for infrastructure.

"Australians still think investment in infrastructure is vital to future economic growth and there remains a sense that we are not doing enough to meet needs," Ipsos spokeswoman Jennifer Brook said.

Less than one in three Australians (28 per cent) think their local area received a fair share of infrastructure investment, a proportion below the global average of 31 per cent.

Among the states, the lowest proportion of respondents who felt they were getting a fair share of infrastructure investment was in South Australia (15 per cent) followed by Western Australia (24 per cent).

Among the 28 countries in the survey, Serbia had the largest share of respondents rating broadband as good (74 per cent) followed by South Korea (73 per cent). In the United States 66 per cent rated their broadband as good - more than double the proportion in Australia - while the share in New Zealand was 64 per cent and in Canada 62 per cent.

The Age