Trust is critically important before an election. Everybody understands the importance of trust, especially close to polling day, but it is not trust that will determine the result. The election will be won or lost on distrust. If we actively distrust our politicians, how can we vote for them to run our state?

This report outlines a recent Roy Morgan Webinar, conducted in March 2023. The results and insights are based on analysis of Roy Morgan’s Risk Monitor, which surveys around 25,000 Australians each year, as well as a deep dive NSW Election Trust Survey conducted in March 2023. This includes New South Wales’ most trusted, and importantly most distrusted, political leaders and parties and ongoing measurements of the level of trust and confidence in the Government and Government services – both Australia wide and in New South Wales. The results may surprise you:

Is Dominic Perrottet more trusted or distrusted than Chris Minns?
What worries NSW voters about the L-NP or the ALP winning the upcoming state election?
What are the biggest issues on NSW voters’ minds before the coming state election?

Additional Information

The recent Roy Morgan SMS Poll asked Australians to name, without prompting, who they trust and distrust, and to give detailed, open-ended reasons for their selections. Only politicians with a minimum of 20 unaided mentions were included in the analysis.
Roy Morgan’s ongoing Risk Monitor also measures trust and distrust, instead focusing on the brands Australians interact with and their feelings towards them. Each year around 25,000 Australians provide us with a detailed list of brands they trust or distrust and the reasons they feel that way.
From a base of around 900 different brands mentioned each year, we track around 200 brands across 26 industries that are mentioned with regularity. For brands or industries with less mentions, we also conduct deep-dive surveys to understand Australians' perceptions and drivers of these at a deeper level.