Business leaders tasked with healing polarisation

Edelman’s 2023 Trust Barometer revealed Australia is on a path to polarisation, driven by a series of macro forces that are weakening the country’s social fabric and creating increasing division in society. This year’s report found that almost half of Australians (45 per cent) said the nation is more divided today than in the past. The rich and powerful are identified as the major dividing force (72 per cent), followed by hostile foreign governments (69 per cent), journalists (51 per cent), and government leaders (49 per cent).  

The report found that people have an expectation for business leaders to take a stand on social issues and are putting even greater onus on chief executives to lead the change and be visible in doing so.

In Australia, CEOs are expected to publicly take a stand on the treatment of employees (91 per cent), climate change (78 per cent), discrimination (75 per cent), the wealth gap (74 per cent), and immigration (66 per cent).

In line with the 2022 Trust Barometer, business remains the only institution seen as both ethical and competent, with ‘my employer’ ranking as more trusted than government, media, business in general, and NGOs in 23 of 28 countries surveyed. In Australia, 75 per cent said they trust their employer to ‘do what is right’ — more than business, government, NGOs, and media. Among those who feel their country is polarised, their employer is the only institution of those five that scored as trusted — creating a significant burden of responsibility for business leaders to navigate the way forward in their ability to be a source of truth, restore economic optimism, and address world issues.  

The report’s authors said to achieve this, the importance of being a reliable source of trustworthy information cannot be overstated.

“It was found to be the number one trust builder in the 2022 Trust Barometer and is seen as the top way for business to address societal issues without being seen as political — something that 46 per cent of Australians still believe is possible,” the report stated.

In addition, 72 per cent of people expect CEOs to defend facts and expose questionable science used to justify bad social policy.  

The majority of Australians said CEOs are obligated to pay a fair wage (89 per cent), pay fair corporate taxes (83 per cent), retrain employees (79 per cent), and ensure their home community is safe and thriving (79 per cent), indicating that the path forward starts with business looking after their own backyard and those within it.  

Polarisation is a central theme globally in this year’s Trust Barometer, with Australia currently straddling the boundary between ‘moderately polarised’ and ‘in danger of severe polarisation’ alongside Canada.

Further illustrating the concerning polarisation trend, the data revealed the majority of Australians (54 per cent) think the nation’s social fabric has become too weak to serve as a foundation for unity and common purpose.

More than half (61 per cent) thought the lack of civility and mutual respect today is the worst they have ever seen. Only a quarter of Australians (24 per cent) would help a person in need who strongly disagreed with their own strong view on a societal issue, only 21 per cent would be willing to live in the same neighbourhood as them, and only 19 per cent would be willing to work alongside them.  

“This year’s Barometer reveals that Australia is heading down an alarmingly divisive path, but there is still opportunity to correct course before we end up in severely polarised territory like some of our Western counterparts,” said Tom Robinson, CEO Australia at Edelman.

“Distrust in government and media, combined with a lack of shared identity and fears around what the future might hold have led us to this place. As a direct result, business is under heightened pressure to lead the way back to unity and trust.” 

Government joins media in the realm of ‘distrust’ for the first time since 2020, declining seven points in just the last year to 45 per cent. To mirror this, trust continues to slide for Australia’s institutional leaders, with journalists (36 per cent), CEOs (39 per cent), and government leaders (41 per cent) all declining for a second consecutive year.  

“The data is clear in calling out the imbalance between trust in business and government, however the Barometer does indicate that if the two entities work together, we are significantly more likely to see constructive action taken to address these divisions,” said Mr Robinson. 

Additionally, the report found that amid the rising cost of living, interest rates, and energy prices, only 30 per cent of Australians believe they will be better off financially in five years, down 13 points from 2021 (43 per cent).

A staggering 83 per cent of employed Australians are worried about job loss and 69 per cent of the general population are concerned about inflation.