A study conducted by market research and public opinion statistics company Roy Morgan has revealed that Australians’ distrust of corporations and the entire economy has reached a new high. The study, which surveyed 25,662 Australians aged 14 and above, showed that Australians have never been more distrusting of corporate Australia since the research began in 2017. The poor behavior of companies during and after the COVID-19 pandemic is believed to be the main factor contributing to this heightened distrust.
Recent incidents involving large corporations have further fueled the distrust among Australians. The PwC tax scandal, data breaches at Optus and Medibank, and Qantas’ refusal to refund $2 billion worth of cancelled flight credit were cited as examples that have caused distrust to soar. In the PwC tax scandal, a partner leaked confidential information to create a system that allowed large companies to avoid tax in Australia. Hackers also targeted the databases of Optus and Medibank, compromising the personal information of their customers.
The opinions of respondents reflected a belief that greed and corruption were at the core of the poor behavior exhibited by Australian corporations in recent years. Many respondents criticized the excessive greed, arrogance, and lack of professional integrity among corporate leaders. Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine expressed concern over the rise in distrust and emphasized the importance of ethical conduct in business. Levine called on Australian companies to regain trust by prioritizing morality and integrity.
Roy Morgan also released the lists of the most trusted and distrusted Australian brands for the June quarter. Supermarket giants Woolworths and Coles maintained their positions as the most trusted brands. Bunnings, Aldi, and Kmart followed closely behind. The supermarket and convenience store sector was identified as the most trusted sector. Apple remained in fifth place, while Samsung dropped three places. Toyota was the only car brand in the top 20 most trusted brands.
On the other hand, Optus surpassed Facebook to become the most distrusted company in Australia. The fallout from its data breach and the company’s handling of the incident contributed to this negative perception. Telecommunication and social media industries were identified as the most distrusted industries in Australia, followed by mining and petroleum and media (excluding social media). Resource companies such as Rio Tinto, Shell, BP, and AGL were also among the top 20 distrusted brands due to public disapproval of their business practices.