Women are placing less trust in the federal government than men in Australia, new international research has revealed.
A report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has laid bare a growing “gender trust gap” in Australia: while men are trusting more than they did previously, women’s trust in the government is on the decline.
The OECD Survey on Drivers of Trust in Public Institutions collects data from the 30 member countries, and survey respondents are asked how much they trust in the government based on how it manages emergencies, the climate crisis, new technologies and more.
Between October and November last year, just over 2000 people were surveyed in Australia as part of the OECD’s most recent survey.
The results showed 38 per cent of Australian women trusted the government, compared to 54 per cent of men. The 16 per cent gender trust gap is more than double the OECD average gender trust gap of 7 per cent.
How much do you trust your government?
— OECD ➡️ Better Policies for Better Lives (@OECD) July 10, 2024
The 2024 results of the #OECDTrustSurvey are in:
44% had no or low trust
39% had high or moderately high trust
16% were neutral
1% Don't know
Read the latest report: https://t.co/RFn2Lfaqzm pic.twitter.com/WvUp9kSjoK
The gap was especially pronounced in younger women: the gender trust gap in the 18-29 age category is double the gap in the over 50 age group.
Since 2021, men’s trust in the federal government has increased by almost 15 percentage points, which pushed Australia’s overall trust up by 8 percentage points in this year’s survey results. Meanwhile, the level of trust in governments across the OECD overall declined by 2 percentage points between 2021’s survey and the most recent report.
Although general trust in institutions in Australia was higher than the OECD average, the least trusted institutions in Australia were political parties (34 per cent) and news media (41 per cent).
Across the board in the OECD, women hold less trust in the government than men, as do younger people. In fact, there was an 8 per cent increase in the OECD average gender trust gap for the 18-29 age category: in 2021, the gender trust gap was 3 per cent, but in 2024, it was 11 per cent.
At the report’s launch earlier this month, OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann said he hopes this latest report will help governments respond to the identified challenges and trends.
“The results of this latest edition of our Trust Survey shows citizens’ want a greater voice in decision making – to ensure it is fair, evidence-based, accountable, and clearly communicated,” Cormann said.
“Ensuring citizen engagement is meaningful and inclusive, supporting open information and transparent communications, fostering information integrity and transparency standards in policymaking processes, and reliable and fair public services, will help enhance the democratic process, and ultimately, strengthen trust in government.”
Clare O’Neil: ‘We need collective action.’
The OECD survey results come at a time of increasing political uncertainty around the world. Some leaders are particularly concerned about the threats against democracy, including Australia’s Minister for Home Affairs, Clare O’Neil.
Speaking at a Museum of Australian Democracy event at Old Parliament House in Canberra earlier this week, Minister O’Neil issued a stern warning to Australia on the spread of populism, attacks on diversity and the decline of democracy globally.
“We can’t let Australia become an island of democracy in a sea of autocracy,” she said.
“Many democratic countries are becoming less democratic. Like a virus, populists are replicating at an exponential rate. They are personalising political power, strangling free speech, attacking diversity and adopting ‘strongman’ authoritarian measures – all in the name of saving the soul of a nation.”
Minister O’Neil said the “democratic project is backsliding” around the world, even in countries that are considered “democracy’s heartland”.
“We need to work together to inoculate democracy against emerging threats,” she said.
“We need collective action, not only from governments but from society as a whole.”