A majority of Australians believe Tony Abbott is trying to get his old job back but only 12 per cent think he's in with a chance – and almost two-thirds want him to pull the pin on his political career and leave Parliament now.

A new poll commissioned by The Australia Institute has found 63.4 per cent of Australians want the former prime minister to retire. Just 26.3 per cent believe he should stay on, while the rest are undecided.

More than half of Coalition voters want him to go, while about three-quarters of Labor and Greens voters think he should leave.

Ben Oquist, the executive director of the left-leaning think tank, says the message is clear.

"Across all demographics, gender and voting intentions the electorate think the former prime minister should retire," he said.

"While that is obviously a matter for him it looks like the public has moved on from Abbott-era policies and is looking for something new."

The national poll conducted last month by Research Now – with a representative sample of 1412 people – also asked respondents whether they believe Mr Abbott is staying in politics only because he wants to be prime minister again.

Almost 58 per cent agreed or strongly agreed with this proposition, while only 24.3 per cent disagreed or strongly disagreed.

Even among Coalition voters, almost half – 49 per cent – believe Mr Abbott is angling to get back into the prime minister's office.

Only 5.6 per cent of voters and 8.1 per cent of Coalition voters believe his claim he is staying on to serve the people of Warringah.

But while many people believe he's trying to make a comeback, very few people believe he'll be successful.

Almost 73 per cent of people agree with the proposition that "Tony Abbott will never be prime minister again".

Among Coalition voters, 70.5 per cent agree.

Just 12.5 per cent of voters believe he is in with a shot. That number rises slightly to 17 per cent among Coalition voters.

And more than half of people – 54.1 per cent – agree with the proposition that Mr Abbott's continued presence is doing damage to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Almost half of Coalition voters – 49.9 per cent – also agree.

Mr Abbott has stayed in the public eye since he lost the top job in September, doing regular media interviews, penning op-eds and giving speeches abroad. He has also been vocal in the Coalition party room but said this week he "absolutely" supports Mr Turnbull and is working to help him get re-elected.