Universities trusted more than governments – and schools

Australians’ growing disenchantment with universities has occurred against a backdrop of fading trust in many types of institution, with governments and schools arguably faring worse.

Surveys of thousands of Australians have found that the proportion expressing confidence in universities has plunged steadily, from about 79 per cent before the coronavirus pandemic to 62 per cent by late 2025.

But confidence in schools has experienced a similar decline from about 74 per cent in 2019 to 59 per cent late last year. And faith in the federal government has languished at below 40 per cent for much of that period, despite increases to about 60 per cent in the first year of the pandemic and 50-odd per cent after the Labor Party won the 2022 election.

By September 2025, confidence levels in state governments, the public service and the federal government dawdled at 48 per cent, 47 per cent and 37 per cent respectively.

The figures come from ANUPoll, a quarterly survey of public opinion conducted by the Australian National University’s (ANU’s) Social Research Centre. The statistics appear in a discussion paper published by the Australian Resilient Democracy Network, a collaboration of analysts from academia, government, thinktanks and community organisations.

The paper has emerged as Australian universities endure condemnation over their governance, transparency, commercial arrangements and levels of sexual and racial abuse.

Views that universities have failed on all these fronts have been encouraged by government agencies and politicians, despite evidence suggesting that in some of these areas – racism, for instance – problems are less pronounced in universities than in the broader community.

Lead author Nick Biddle said some people had a “vested interest” in finding very high rates of sexual assault or racism on campus, despite evidence suggesting otherwise.

“I don’t think it’s intentional,” said Biddle, head of ANU’s School of Politics and International Relations. “People genuinely want…a safe campus [with] policies and supports in place, and tend to gravitate to the findings which suit their narratives.”

The survey’s findings suggest that Australians generally view governments and politicians more negatively than universities. Biddle said that while he did not believe politicians were pointing the finger at universities to divert attention from their own image problems, they suffered “no real cost” from not “backing or supporting” the sector.

He said the research’s “key” finding was that the erosion of trust in universities had been most pronounced among people without degrees. By late 2025, they were eight percentage points less likely than their degree-educated peers to express confidence in universities, up from a three percentage-point gap in late 2020.

Biddle said the judiciary and parliament had experienced a similar “widening” of trust levels between more and less educated Australians. “Education is now the key predictor of people’s views towards political parties and other institutions,” he said. “People who have had a positive experience with an institution are far more likely to maintain their trust during times of…general decline,” he added.

Graduates with fond memories of university were more likely to be sceptical of claims that universities were hotbeds of indoctrination or cancel culture, where lecture halls were empty while tutorials were overcrowded, even if those criticisms were based in reality, he said.

Forty-one per cent of the survey respondents said entering university had become harder over the past 10 years, while only 28 per cent thought it had become easier. The difference in attitudes was most pronounced among students from poor families, with 57 per cent saying universities had become more inaccessible – despite a longstanding policy drive to attract more underprivileged people into higher education.

Only about 30 per cent of respondents thought universities had a critical role in civic society, such as fostering informed citizens and holding governments to account, while 50 per cent highlighted universities’ importance in workforce training.

Forty per cent supported more funding for universities, while 65 per cent wanted more money for public vocational colleges and 73 per cent wanted better-funded public schools.

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com