Essential Report
Trust in institutions
Q. How much trust do you have in the following institutions and organisations?
TOTAL: Trust | Oct’21 | Change since Mar’21 | Mar’21 | Aug’20 | |
Scientific bodies (e.g. CSRIO) | 68% | n/a | n/a | ||
State & federal health authorities | 64% | -4% | 70% | 69% | |
Police, courts and the justice system | 61% | -3% | 64% | 64% | |
Universities | 59% | n/a | n/a | ||
State or territory government | 55% | -11% | 66% | 60% | |
The Commonwealth public service | 52% | -5% | 57% | 56% | |
Federal government | 48% | -6% | 54% | 55% |
TOTAL:
Trust |
TOTAL:
Don’t trust |
Have a lot of trust | Have some trust | Have little trust | Have no trust at all | Unsure | |
Scientific bodies (e.g. CSRIO) | 68% | 25% | 30% | 38% | 18% | 7% | 7% |
State & federal health authorities | 64% | 31% | 21% | 43% | 21% | 11% | 5% |
Police, courts and the justice system | 61% | 35% | 18% | 43% | 23% | 12% | 4% |
Universities | 59% | 34% | 19% | 41% | 26% | 9% | 7% |
State or territory government | 55% | 41% | 16% | 39% | 25% | 16% | 4% |
The Commonwealth public service | 52% | 41% | 12% | 40% | 29% | 12% | 7% |
Federal government | 48% | 47% | 13% | 35% | 29% | 18% | 5% |
- Trust in the state/territory government and federal government has decreased since Mar’21. Trust in state/territory government has dropped from 66% to 55%, and trust in the federal government from 54% to 48%.
- People have the most trust in scientific bodies (68%) and health authorities (64%).

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Essential Report
In this week's report:
- Performance of Scott Morrison
- Performance of Anthony Albanese
- Preferred Prime Minister
- Views towards re-electing the federal Coalition government
- Party trust to handle issues
- Importance of Australia’s international reputation
- Scott Morrison’s impact on Australia’s international reputation
- Views towards Australia’s international reputation
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