Telcos have overtaken social media giants as Australia’s least trusted industry sector, following the Optus hack last September, according to Roy Morgan research.

While Facebook remains the least trusted brand in the country, according to the Roy Morgan Industry and Distrust Rankings for February 2023, Optus has fallen to second, and Telstra sits as third least trusted.

“Unfortunately for Optus, it has been proven that brands which suffer major scandals find that once distrust takes hold, it is very difficult to curtail,” Roy Morgan chief executive Michele Levine said.

“In combination with Telstra’s existing position as the third most distrusted brand in the economy, Optus has driven the telecommunications sector to be even more distrusted than the social media industry.

“We know that distrust makes a brand fragile and is a powerful driver in the decisions consumers make. High distrust in any industry’s key players opens the door for trusted brands to take market share.

“Risk assessments and procedures by executives and company directors across all industries need to formally factor-in distrust – indeed distrust should be on the risk register of every board in Australia.”

Aussie Broadband is the country’s most trusted telco, and the 26th most trusted brand overall.