Australia’s Most Trusted Charity Revealed

For the third year in a row, Guide Dogs Australia has been voted Australia’s Most Trusted Charity in a poll of more than 2,400 people.

The Australian Reader’s Digest Magazine’s Most Trusted Brand survey asked people to vote for the most trustworthy charities, with RSPCA and Australian Red Cross coming in second and third place respectively.

In its 13th year, the survey is undertaken by Catalyst Research and Reader’s Digest said it was not a poll of its own readers.

Guide Dogs Australia was recognised for its services, including providing guide dogs to Australians who are blind or vision impaired for over 60 years.

CEO of Guide Dogs Queensland, Barb Tasker, said the organisations was honoured to be recognised.

“The public’s generosity and loyalty towards Guide Dogs is truly humbling,” Tasker said.

“It is an honour that people have placed their trust in our services and believe Guide Dogs is an organisation they want to support.

“To have this acknowledgement and public recognition of our work over the past two years is an outstanding honour, but to be voted as Australia’s most trusted charity for the third year in a row is truly heart-warming and a true testimony to the integrity of the work we do in the community.”

Tasker said vision loss brings unique challenges to the people who live with the impairment, but through services, including guide dogs, long canes, and new technologies, Guide Dogs Associations across Australia were working to help people realise their freedom does not need to be limited.

“Never before has our work been as important as it is now,” she said.

“With our ageing population and statistics showing that 28 Australians are diagnosed with vision loss that cannot be corrected every day, our work will touch the lives of so many more as they seek support to build their confidence, mobility and independence.

“Our work is about supporting people to achieve independence and their goals in life, whether it be participating in their local community, accessing further education or finding employment.

“On behalf of Guide Dogs, I thank everyone for their trust and ongoing support – we simply couldn’t do it without you.”

Tasker said over the next 10 years it is predicted that more than 2,000 guide dogs will need to be trained to keep up with growing demand from Australians who are blind or vision impaired, at a “staggering” cost of over $60 million.

Guide Dogs will accept the Most Trusted Charity award at a ceremony in Sydney tonight.

In the private sector Dettol was recognised as the most trusted brand while Dulux and Colgate came in second and third place.