More than half of Australians think government is “the most broken institution” in the country, if you believe the Edelman Trust Barometer, which was probably the most popular reference at last year’s Institute of Public Administration Australia national conference on the subject of how public confidence might be restored.
Trust in government has dropped two points to 35% in the 2018 update and 22% of Australians think government is “the institution most likely to lead them to a better future” compared to a worldwide average of 30%.
Just 6% of Australian respondents nominated business as “the most broken” compared to 56% who chose government.
Edelman’s spokesperson says Australia’s overall position is now only four points above Russia, the “least trusting” country on the list. Our government, media, not-for-profit, and private business sectors are now all classified as “distrusted” on the whole, although they have simultaneously been there before, in 2013:
“Australia’s overall Trust Index score is now in the bottom third globally, while together with Singapore, Australia is one of just two nations to register consecutive declines across all four key institutions.”
In Australia, all sectors apart from the media enjoy more trust than government. According to Edelman, the Australian media is sitting on 31% this year and only its Turkish counterparts scored lower, with 30%.
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