Australia’s Most Trusted People and Professions 2011

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has slipped to 97th on the annual list of Australia’s 100 Most Trusted People. But the news isn’t all bad for our PM as she is still leading Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, albeit by the slimmest of margins.

The seventh annual Australian Reader’s Digest Trust Survey has been released and six Australians Of The Year dominate the Top 15, which also includes a Nobel Prize winner, a VC recipient, and leading scientists and medical experts.

The seventh annual Australian Reader’s Digest Trust Survey carries the findings from a poll which asked a representative sample of more than 1,000 Australians, to rate how much they trusted 100 well-known people, on a scale of one-to-ten. As in previous years, the 2011 Top Ten is dominated by people who ‘care and protect’, while the tail end of the field is made up of politicians, businessmen, and controversial sports figures.

Top Ten Most Trusted People of 2011:
1. Public Health Specialist & former Australian Of The Year – Fiona Stanley
2. Australia’s first female Nobel Laureate – Elizabeth Blackburn
3. Cancer vaccine immunologist – Ian Frazer
4. Neurosurgeon & founder of Cure For Life Foundation – Charlie Teo
5. VC recipient – Mark Donaldson
6. Burns specialist – Fiona Wood
7. CSIRO Chairman & 2011 Australian Of The Year – Simon McKeon
8. Founder of Youth Off The Streets – Father Chris Riley
9. Chief Justice of the High Court – Robert French
10. Science commentator – Dr Karl Kruszelnicki

And at the tail end of the field:
90.  Businessman – Rupert Murdoch
91.  Businessman – James Packer
92.  Politician – Kevin Rudd
93.  Sports agent – Ricky Nixon
94.  Politician – Malcolm Turnbull
95.  Politician – Wayne Swan
96.  Actor – Mel Gibson
97.  Politician – Julia Gillard
98.  Politician – Tony Abbott
99.  AFL player – Brendan Fevola
100. Cricketer – Shane Warne.

For the eighth year in a row, Paramedics take out the top spot as the most trusted profession, while journalists find themselves ranked behind sex workers, lawyers, bankers and tow-truck drivers. But the news is even worse for politicians, taxi drivers, real estate agents, car salesmen and telemarketers.

The job you hold can influence whether people trust you, and in Australia we tend to place our faith in the people who save our lives, care for us, protect us, and give back to us.

As part of its annual Trust Survey, Australian Reader’s Digest ranks a list of 45 professions.

Top Ten Most Trusted Professions 2011:
1. Paramedics
2. Firefighters
3. Pilots
4. Rescue volunteers
5. Nurses
6. Pharmacists
7. Farmers
8. Medical specialists
9. GPs
10. Veterinarians

Least Trusted Professions are:
33. Lawyers
34. Bankers
35. Council Workers
36. Tow truck drivers
37. CEOs
38. Celebrities
39. Sex workers
40. Journalists
41. Taxi drivers
42. Real estate agents
43. Car salesmen
44. Politicians
45. Telemarketers

The full list of Australia’s Most Trusted People can be viewed online at: www.readersdigest.com.au/australias-most-trusted-people-2011