Theme: Cohesive
Dimension: Trust in institutions
Metric
Proportion of the population that express confidence in the national government
Why does this matter
Trust in government is linked to political participation, social cohesion and collaboration in tackling societal challenges.
Has there been progress
Trust in government measures the share of people aged 15 and over who report having confidence in the national government.
Australia is ranked 16 out of 38 and is above the OECD average (43 per cent in 2020).1 Performance has slightly worsened over time — from 53.2 per cent to 49.9 per cent between 2006 to 2022. However, confidence has improved compared to pre‑COVID-19 levels, from 46.9 per cent in 2019.2
1 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, (2020) ’16. Social Capital’, How’s life 2020 Measuring Well-being, OECD, accessed 11 July 2023.
2 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2023), Trust in government (indicator), doi: 10.1787/1de9675e-en, accessed on 16 July 2023