Rebuild trust

Are Australia’s trust issues holding us back?

The people we find hardest to trust are the people we need to trust the most.

Australians think the media, political parties and business prioritise their own interests, rather than those of the Australian community.

And, while the big players seem to be looking after themselves, Australians feel excluded from the decisions that affect their lives. 

Why trust matters in a democracy.

Less than one in three Australians believe that the system allows them to have a say in what the government does. And three quarters of Australians do not trust that there are enough checks and balances to ensure that those in government cannot abuse their power. 

Without trust, it’s harder for governments to take risks, show vision and bring people together. Without trust, it’s also more difficult for governments to make policies that people want, or explain hard decisions. 

Trusted governments are better equipped to design and implement policies successfully. Successful policies help people trust the government. 

And ‘round and ‘round we go …  

But it might sound worse than it actually is.

If you spend any time watching or reading the news, between wars, riots - not to mention all the think tanks and commentators highlighting declining trust in institutions -  it is easy to imagine that democracy is on its way out. 

And if you’re feeling excluded from the political process, and powerless in the face of vested interests, you’d be forgiven for thinking that all trust is lost.

Here’s the upside, though. Australians trust each other. We also trust experts. We want to be more involved in policy decisions, and we want to see more innovation in our democratic system. 

We want to be properly informed and included. We just need better ways to do it. 

We can build back trust by finding unexpected things in common

Human nature often allows us to be outraged when the status quo works against us, but strangely apathetic when the chance to fix it comes around.

We can’t just expect the change to happen. As a community we need better ways to show up, to disagree and to find (un)common ground. 

And we need it now, because, as a nation, literally and figuratively, we can’t afford to wait. 

So here’s the good news.

Our research shows that the Australian people want to get involved and have more of a say. We trust our fellow Australians more than the government on every policy area, except economic growth. And we want to understand more about why and what we can do about it. 

The Australian community has identified a lack of trust as one of four key problems - along with polarisation, a lack of vision among politicians, and the intergenerational divide - confronting our democracy today, and into the future. 

We encourage you to read about all four to get a deeper understanding of these problems and join the Amplify Community now.