Australians trust in their rural communities has reached an all-time high in the five years Agrifutures has been running its annual survey. 

While just 3.5 million out of Australia's 26 million live in rural Australia, the rest of the population has a deep-seated trust in what we do the latest survey has found. 

In 2023, 91.4% of respondents agreed that rural industries are important to our way of life in Australia, marking a notable increase from 88.2% in 2022.

Additionally, community acceptance of rural industries rose by 12%, matching the highest level recorded since the program started. 

"Australians believe fishers, farmers and foresters play an important role in society and are a vital part of Australia’s history, however there are areas of community uncertainty that present risks and opportunities for the sector" 

Image: Australian Ageing Agenda. 

 3028 survey respondents put management of environmental performance by rural industries was the strongest driver of trust in 2023. 

"Similar to 2021, other influential drivers of trust included animal welfare, industry responsiveness, distributional fairness (i.e. the extent to which Australians feel like they get a fair share of the benefits created by rural industries), and confidence in regulation of rural industries," the report said. 

Image: realestate.com.aju 

The report also warned that "younger Australians hold less positive views about rural industries" and there is a decline in people who feel "connected to farmers" and who agree that "rural industries are part of my heritage". 

Most Australians get their information about rural Australian from TV news and current affairs followed by social media. 

The Agrifutures research commenced in 2019 canvassing almost 20,000 Australians over three years. 

It showed again this year that Australians are worried about a rising set of issues in rural Australia – water security, use of chemicals