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  • Jul, 2014

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    Trust in Institutions

    Q. How much trust do you have in the following institutions and organisations?

     

    Total

    trust

     

    A lot of trust

    Some trust

    A little trust

    No trust

    Don’t know

    % change

     

    Total trust

    12 Jun 12

    Total trust

    18 Mar 13

    The High Court

    57%

    20%

    37%

    27%

    12%

    4%

    -17

    60%

    74%

    The ABC

    54%

    18%

    36%

    29%

    13%

    5%

    -16

    54%

    70%

    The Reserve Bank

    52%

    17%

    35%

    30%

    13%

    5%

    -12

    49%

    64%

    Charitable organisations

    45%

    6%

    39%

    36%

    14%

    4%

    -7

    50%

    52%

    Your local council

    33%

    5%

    28%

    38%

    24%

    4%

    -1

    na

    34%

    TV news media

    32%

    2%

    26%

    47%

    23%

    3%

    +2

    21%

    30%

    Environment groups

    31%

    5%

    26%

    38%

    25%

    5%

    -10

    32%

    41%

    The Commonwealth Public Service

    31%

    5%

    26%

    40%

    19%

    10%

    -5

    30%

    36%

    Newspapers

    30%

    3%

    27%

    46%

    21%

    3%

    26%

    30%

    Religious organisations

    26%

    5%

    21%

    28%

    41%

    4%

    -1

    27%

    27%

    Federal Parliament

    25%

    4%

    21%

    33%

    39%

    3%

    -9

    22%

    34%

    Online news media

    25%

    2%

    23%

    49%

    21%

    4%

    -2

    23%

    27%

    State Parliament

    24%

    3%

    21%

    35%

    37%

    4%

    -6

    na

    30%

    Trade unions

    22%

    4%

    18%

    33%

    39%

    7%

    -3

    22%

    25%

    Business groups

    22%

    1%

    21%

    44%

    27%

    6%

    -4

    22%

    26%

    Political parties

    13%

    2%

    11%

    33%

    50%

    3%

    +1

    12%

    12%

     Note: ‘Total Trust’ is an aggregate figure achieved by adding ‘A lot of trust’ and ‘Some trust’

    Since this question was last asked in March last year, there has been a significant decline in trust in the High Court (-17%), the ABC (-16%), the Reserve Bank (-12%), environment groups (-10) and the Federal Parliament (-9). Trust in the High Court, ABC and Reserve Bank is back to similar levels to that recorded in 2012.

    Respondents had most trust in the High Court (57%), the ABC (54%), the Reserve Bank (52%) and charitable organisations (45%). They had least trust in political parties (13%), trade unions (22%) and business groups (22%).

    Compared to the average, Labor voters had more trust in the ABC (62%), environment groups (41%) and trade unions (34%).

    Liberal/National voters, compared to the average, had a little more trust in the Reserve Bank (62%), Federal Parliament (43%), State Parliament (36%) and business groups (32%).

  • Oct, 2012

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    Trust in organisations and institutions

    Q. How much trust do you have in the following institutions and organisations?

     

    Total

    trust

    26 Sep 11

    Total

    trust

    12 Jun 12

    Total trust

    22 Oct 12

    A lot of trust

    Some trust

    A little trust

    No trust

    Don’t know

    % change

    The High Court

    72%

    60%

    63%

    26%

    37%

    21%

    10%

    6%

    +3

    The ABC

    46%

    54%

    59%

    20%

    39%

    26%

    8%

    6%

    +5

    The Reserve Bank

    67%

    49%

    53%

    16%

    37%

    28%

    12%

    8%

    +4

    Charitable organisations

    61%

    50%

    53%

    9%

    44%

    33%

    10%

    5%

    +3

    Environment groups

    45%

    32%

    36%

    8%

    28%

    35%

    24%

    6%

    +4

    The Commonwealth Public Service

      49%*

    30%

    33%

    6%

    27%

    41%

    16%

    10%

    +3

    Your local council

    na

    na

    32%

    4%

    28%

    39%

    22%

    6%

    na

    Religious organisations

    29%

    27%

    31%

    7%

    24%

    28%

    35%

    6%

    +4

    Newspapers

    na

    26%

    31%

    4%

    27%

    45%

    20%

    4%

    +5

    Online news media

    na

    23%

    28%

    4%

    24%

    45%

    20%

    6%

    +5

    TV news media

    na

    21%

    26%

    5%

    21%

    44%

    26%

    4%

    +5

    Federal Parliament

    55%

    22%

    26%

    4%

    22%

    37%

    32%

    5%

    +4

    State Parliament

    na

    na

    25%

    4%

    21%

    37%

    33%

    5%

    na

    Business groups

    38%

    22%

    25%

    3%

    22%

    45%

    21%

    9%

    +3

    Trade unions

    39%

    22%

    23%

    5%

    18%

    32%

    36%

    9%

    +1

    Political parties

    na

    12%

    16%

    2%

    14%

    36%

    42%

    6%

    +4

    Note: ‘Total Trust’ is an aggregate figure achieved by adding ‘A lot of trust’ and ‘Some trust’.
    * This Commonwealth Public Service figure is from a question asked in 6 Feb 12.

    Overall, there have been small increases in trust across all organisations since this question was last asked in June. However, there has been no significant change in the rankings.

    Respondents had most trust in the High Court (63%), the ABC (59%), charitable organisations (53%) and the Reserve Bank (53%). They had least trust in political parties (16%), trade unions (23%), business groups (25%) State Parliaments (25%), Federal Parliament (26%) and TV news media (26%).

    Compared to the average, Labor voters had more trust in Federal Parliament (40%), the High Court (67%), the ABC (68%), the Reserve Bank (61%), the Commonwealth Public Service (42%), trade unions (41%), environment groups (48%) and local councils (39%).

    Liberal/National voters, compared to the average, had more trust in religious organisations (37%) and business groups (32%) but less trust in Federal Parliament (21%), Commonwealth Public Service (28%), trade unions (14%) and environment groups (27%).

  • Jun, 2012

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    Trust in Institutions

    Q. How much trust do you have in the following institutions and organisations?

     

    Total

    trust

    26 Sep 11

    Total

    trust

    12 Jun 12

    A lot of trust

    Some trust

    A little trust

    No trust

    Don’t know

    % change

    The High Court

    72%

    60%

    20%

    40%

    24%

    9%

    7%

    -12

    The ABC

    46%

    54%

    15%

    39%

    31%

    10%

    6%

    +8

    Charitable organisations

    61%

    50%

    8%

    42%

    35%

    10%

    5%

    -9

    The Reserve Bank

    67%

    49%

    13%

    36%

    30%

    14%

    7%

    -18

    Environment groups

    45%

    32%

    6%

    26%

    35%

    25%

    7%

    -13

    The Commonwealth Public Service

      49%*

    30%

    4%

    26%

    42%

    18%

    9%

    -19

    Religious organisations

    29%

    27%

    5%

    22%

    30%

    37%

    6%

    -2

    Newspapers

    na

    26%

    3%

    23%

    46%

    23%

    5%

    na

    Online news media

    na

    23%

    2%

    21%

    45%

    25%

    6%

    na

    Federal Parliament

    55%

    22%

    3%

    19%

    37%

    36%

    6%

    -33

    Trade unions

    39%

    22%

    3%

    19%

    32%

    37%

    9%

    -17

    Business groups

    38%

    22%

    2%

    20%

    46%

    24%

    8%

    -16

    TV news media

    na

    21%

    3%

    18%

    43%

    30%

    5%

    na

    Political parties

    na

    12%

    2%

    10%

    31%

    52%

    5%

    na

    Note: ‘Total Trust’ is an aggregate figure achieved by adding ‘A lot of trust’ and ‘Some trust’.

    * This Commonwealth Public Service figure is from a question asked in 6 Feb 12.

     

    Respondents had most trust in the High Court (60%), the ABC (54%), charitable organisations (50%) and the Reserve bank (49%). They had least trust in political parties (12%), TV news media (21%) Federal Parliament, trade unions and business groups (all 22%).

    Trust in all institutions (except the ABC) declined since this question was asked last year. The major changes were a collapse in trust in Federal Parliament (-33%) and substantial declines in trust in the Commonwealth Public Service (-19%), the Reserve Bank (-18%), trade unions (-17%) and business groups (-16%).

    Compared to the average, Labor voters had more trust in political parties (19%), Federal Parliament (34%), the High Court (67%),  the Reserve Bank (57%), the Commonwealth Public Service (42%), trade unions (36%) and  environment groups (43%).

    Liberal/National voters, compared to the average, had more trust in religious organisations (33%) and business groups (27%) but less trust in Federal parliament (17%), the ABC (46%), trade unions (14%) and environment groups (21%).

  • Sep, 2011

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    Trust in various Australian institutions

    Q. How much trust do you have in the following institutions?

    Total Trust Total No Trust A lot of trust Some trust A little trust No trust Don’t know
    The High Court 72% 19% 33% 39% 13% 6% 10%
    The Reserve Bank 67% 24% 23% 44% 17% 7% 10%
    Courts in general 65% 26% 19% 46% 18% 8% 9%
    Charitable organisations 61% 30% 18% 43% 22% 8% 9%
    Federal Parliament 55% 36% 15% 40% 21% 15% 10%
    The ABC 46% 44% 12% 34% 31% 13% 10%
    Environment groups 45% 46% 11% 34% 28% 18% 9%
    Trade unions 39% 52% 10% 29% 30% 22% 10%
    Business groups 38% 51% 6% 32% 34% 17% 10%
    Religious organisations 29% 62% 9% 20% 27% 35% 9%
    Please note: ‘Total Trust’ is an aggregate figure achieved by adding ‘A lot of trust’ and ‘Some trust’ together.  ‘Total No Trust’ is an aggregate figure achieved by combining ‘A little trust’ and ‘No trust’.

    The institution in which respondents place the most trust is the High Court with 72% of respondents stating that they either have ‘a lot of trust’ or ‘some trust’ in the High Court.  The High Court is followed by the Reserve Bank (67%), Courts in general (65%) and Charitable organisations (61%).

    Federal parliament features below these top four, ranking 5th with 55% of respondents having either ‘a lot of trust’ or ‘some trust’, followed by the ABC which ranked in sixth place (46% total trust).

    The institutions for which respondents had the most distrust were trade unions (52% no trust), business groups (51% no trust) and Religious organisations, which attracted the highest proportion of distrust (62% no trust).

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