Australia's Most Trusted

Look up “trust” in the  Macquarie Dictionary and you’ll find no fewer than 22 definitions. They range from “reliance on the integrity of a person” to a “confident expectation of something; hope”. Trust is clearly a multifunctional word.

But what does the term mean to Australians? Who are the people and professions in your community you trust the most? What are your most trusted brands?

These are questions that we set out to answer in “Australia’s Most Trusted” – an exclusive Reader’s Digest survey that we’ve been conducting annually for the past six years. In this year’s nationwide poll, we ask people to tell us the brands, occupations and well-known Australians they trust the most. In 2006, we also gauged the extent to which respondents trust people they know personally – their partner, boss, parents, neighbours.

A representative sample of 750 adult Australians took part in this year’s survey*. In each category, we asked them to rate from one to ten how much they trust certain people, professions or brands – with one being not at all and ten being completely. Then we calculated an average score for each subject, and ranked them in order of perceived trustworthiness. For many, we were also able to see if their score has climbed or dropped since 2005.

As always, the results are absolutely fascinating. For example, although we tested more than 30 new names in our list of 100 well-known Australians, the top spot for the second year in a row went to Dr Fiona Wood. The Western Australian plastic surgeon – and 2005 Australian of the Year – is best known for co-inventing a spray-on skin treatment for burns victims.

Medical research is a recurring theme in the top echelon of our survey. Queenslander Professor Ian Frazer, 2006 Australian of the Year and the developer of a vaccine to prevent cervical cancer, takes second place, while Dr Barry Marshall, who last year won a Nobel Prize for co-discovering a bacterium that causes stomach ulcers, came third. But what is it about Wood that has kept her in first place? “Her work produces an immediate, positive result,” suggests Allan Pease, who is a Queensland-based expert in body language and human behaviour. “She sprays on the skin and people get better. This may have nudged her ahead of medical research that is just as worthy but not as tangible.”

In our top ten again this year are Princess Mary of Denmark, celebrity vet Dr Harry Cooper and singer Olivia Newton-John. But some entrants are a complete surprise.

At number nine, for instance, are children’s entertainers The Wiggles. “They effectively reach their target audience and people just love it – adults and children alike,” says consumer-trends specialist Amanda Young, executive director of the Australian Centre for Retail Studies at Melbourne’s Monash University.

Others didn’t rate as highly as we had anticipated. Wholesome singer and actress Delta Goodrem managed a placing of only 37, and popular TV presenter Jessica Rowe languished at number 51. And given Australia’s World Cup qualification in November 2005, we expected a better result for soccer player Harry Kewell. He placed 64th in our poll, well behind swimmer Grant Hackett (14th) and cricket captain Ricky Ponting (27th).

There were some surprises at the bottom end of our list as well, with 100th place going to former federal Labor Party leader Mark Latham. (Last year’s wooden-spooner, Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs Amanda Vanstone, has moved up to 97th.) This seems a harsh result for a man who positioned himself as a straight-talking representative of blue-collar Australia, and who is no longer even in public life. So what went wrong? “He comes across as aggressive,” says Pease, “and with the release of his book last year, there’s a perception that he’s cashing in on his time in politics.”

Shane Warne’s ranking of 99 represents a slip of seven spots since last year’s survey. But of more interest is the fact that Warne’s estranged wife Simone scored a respectable 68th place. Her recent appearance on TV’s Dancing With the Stars no doubt helped this result, although one respondent had a different take: “Simone . . . has been through tough times. I don’t think she could stab someone in the back.”

Our results show that Australians are generally less trusting towards people in positions of authority.

Murray Gleeson, Chief Justice of the High Court, ranked 59th, just one point ahead of Crocodile Hunter presenter Steve Irwin. And Graeme Samuel, chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, trailed Gleeson by seven places at 66 – some 20 places behind singer Kylie Minogue, TV host Rove McManus and model Elle Macpherson. Also in the bottom third of our poll were Reserve Bank governor Ian MacFarlane (74th), Catholic Archbishop of Sydney George Pell (77th), and Telstra’s new CEO Sol Trujillo (98th).

One of the biggest movers in this year’s survey is Queen Elizabeth II. In 2005, Her Majesty ranked at number 55 in our most-trusted list; this year, she took a royal leap forward into 16th place – possibly due to her Australian visit around the time the poll was conducted (mid-March). 

And Shane Warne wasn’t the only person whose rank slipped. Singer John Farnham, for example, dipped out of the top ten to 17th.

Australians can be equally fickle about their trust in brands, our survey suggests. This year, respondents voted Qantas as the fourth most trusted brand out of the 137 tested in our poll. In 2005, the airline was much further down the list at number 20. Notes Young: “Qantas has made a bigger effort recently to engage in a positive way with consumers, especially through its website.”

Other companies, meanwhile, perform consistently well. For the third year in a row, Cadbury has been voted the most trusted brand – “I have grown up with it,” wrote one poll respondent of the chocolate manufacturer – and it is followed closely by Panadol, Colgate and Nokia.

Less trusted brands include banks, credit-card providers and telecommunications companies. Last-placed in this category is Diners Club.

When it comes to their everyday relationships, the person Australians trust most is their partner, according to our poll. No surprises there, but we were stunned to learn who they trust the least. With an average score of only 5.5 out of 10, “Your Neighbours” ranked rock bottom out of the 12 choices in this category. This gives a whole new meaning to the term neighbourhood watch, says Pease.

Sometimes, however, the biggest revelations in our survey can be found in the smallest results. For example, while respondents again voted ambulance officers, firefighters and pilots as Australia’s most-trusted occupations, politicians moved from last place to second-to-last – for the first time ever in the history of our poll. It’s a minor victory for them, but a victory still.

And the deadset loser profession of 2006, outdoing politicians, psychics car salesmen and real estate agents as lacking credibility? Telemarketers.



* Independent market-research company The Leading Edge conducted the online survey on behalf of Reader’s Digest. The brands section was conducted between January 24 and February 5, 2006. The remainder of the survey took place between March 16 and 21.