Drivers of Trust in Public Institutions in Australia

Australia participated in the inaugural 2021 and the 2023 OECD Survey of Drivers of Trust in Public Institutions (OECD Trust Survey). The OECD Trust Survey was administered by the OECD Directorate for Public Governance in 22 and 30 OECD countries in 2021 and 2023, respectively. These countries were Australia, Austria (2021 only), Belgium, Canada, Chile (2023 only), Colombia, Costa Rica (2023 only), Czechia (2023 only), Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany (2023 only), Greece (2023 only), Iceland, Italy (2023 only), Ireland, Japan (2021 only), Korea, Latvia, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Slovak Republic (2023 only), Slovenia (2023 only), Spain (2023 only), Sweden, Switzerland (2023 only), and the United Kingdom. In Australia, the survey data were collected between November 26^th to December 15^th 2021 and October 25^th and November 26^th 2023.

In Australia and 15 and 23 other countries in 2021 and 2023 respectively, the surveys were conducted online by the polling firms YouGov (2021) and Ipsos (2023). The OECD Secretariat co-ordinated with the OECD procurement office to establish an agreement with the respective firm following an open and transparent market competition. For other countries, survey responses were collected by national statistical offices (in the cases of Finland, Ireland, Mexico, and the United Kingdom), research institutes (Iceland), or survey companies selected by the respective country (Norway).

The two survey waves used non-probability sampling frames with volunteer-based online access panels. The adoption of non-probability sampling offered cost-effective and time-efficient way to design and execute the survey. This process also involved setting country-level demographic quotas to achieve representative samples of adults living in Australia for age, gender, education and regional distribution (referred to as hard quotas), along with income (referred to as a soft quota). OECD population statistics as well as the Census of Population and Housing and ABS Household Income data were consulted to set the appropriate quotas for Australia.

The 2021 and 2023 Trust Survey waves in Australia had a total sample of valid responses of 2 014 (2021) and 2 020 (2023). The detailed sample composition is provided in Table A ‎A.1.

To facilitate comparisons across years, most of the 2021 survey questions were preserved. However, some questions were revised or deleted, and a few new topics were introduced. In addition to the core 2023 Trust Survey questionnaire, additional country-specific questions were asked in Australia. These questions pertained to the perception of the integrity and orientation towards the long-term interests of society of the Australian Public Service (see Box 2.1 in Chapter 2). For an in-depth overview of the OECD Trust Survey's methodology for the 2021 and 2023 wave, including the respective year’s core questionnaire, please refer to the methodological and technical documentation (OECD, 2024[2]; Nguyen et al., 2022[1]).

[1] Nguyen, D. et al. (2022), “Survey design and technical documentation supporting the 2021 OECD Survey on Drivers of Trust in Government Institutions”, OECD Working Papers on Public Governance, No. 53, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/6f6093c5-en.

[2] OECD (2024), OECD Trust Survey Design and Technical Documentation: Annex to the OECD Survey on Drivers of Trust in Public Institutions - 2024 Results, https://www.oecd.org/content/dam/oecd/en/publications/support-materials/2024/07/oecd-survey-on-drivers-of-trust-in-public-institutions-2024-results_eeb36452/2023%20Trust%20Survey%20-%20Technical%20annex.pdf.