Bunnings has once again claimed the title of Australia’s most trusted brand ruling the DIY hearts of Aussies, marking its eighth consecutive quarterly throne in Roy Morgan’s Trust & Distrust rankings for the twelve months to September 2025.
The top of the leaderboard remains steady. Aldi holds second place, Kmart sits in third, and Apple rounds out the familiar top four unchanged for the fourth straight quarter.
Source: Roy Morgan Single Source (Australia). Risk Monitor, 12-month average to Sep. 2025.
Banks surge into net trust territory
While the top four brands barely moved, the biggest shake-up came from the banking sector.
Four of the five biggest risers in the top 20 were banks, and, for the first time, the banking industry as a whole has entered net trust territory, climbing ten places to become Australia’s eighth most trusted industry.
Commonwealth Bank has jumped two spots into fifth place, its highest-ever ranking. Westpac rose five places to 14th, NAB moved up to 19th, and ING re-entered the top 20 at number 20. Bendigo Bank remains steady in 15th place.
Elsewhere in the top 20, several brands slipped slightly, including Toyota, Big W, Australia Post and NRMA.
Outside the top tier, GIO (+27 places), Priceline Pharmacy (+23), and Wesfarmers (+21) were the standout improvers in net trust.
Temu, Shein and Amazon face rising consumer distrust
At the other end of the spectrum, Australia’s most distrusted brands remain dominated by the supermarket giants.
Woolworths and Coles again rank first and second, respectively.
Source: Roy Morgan Single Source (Australia). Risk Monitor, 12-month average to Sep. 2025.
But the sharpest deterioration is coming from online retail.
Temu’s reputational slide continues at pace. Although the fifth-most distrusted in the 12-month rankings, it became the most distrusted brand in Australia in September.
Shein and Amazon have also worsened, slipping further down the distrust ladder.
Other brands losing ground include Tesla (now 7th most distrusted), McDonald’s (up to 16th), Jetstar (18th) and Shell (19th).
Among the improvers were Qantas, Telstra, News Corp, Rio Tinto and BP, each making modest gains.
Why online marketplaces are losing trust
According to Roy Morgan, the rapid surge in Temu and Shein’s usage is directly linked to increased distrust.
As more Australians try the platforms, negative real-world experiences appear to be accelerating distrust rather than stabilising it.
The key drivers include:
- Poor product quality
- Perceived unethical behaviour
- Concerns around data privacy
- Lack of transparency
- Overall unreliability
For Amazon, distrust linked to perceptions of profit-driven behaviour remains elevated since the pandemic and has not meaningfully recovered.
While cost-of-living pressures continue, price is no longer the dominant concern in online retail. Ethical conduct, reliability and data security have overtaken affordability as the key drivers shaping trust.
Temu’s net distrust score has deteriorated every month since it was first tracked in 2023. Roy Morgan notes that no primary negative driver is easing, and most are getting worse.
The result is a unique pattern: the more the platform grows, the faster distrust accelerates.
Roy Morgan CEO Comments
Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine said the rankings show two clear trends: banks rebuilding consumer confidence and online marketplaces declining sharply.
“Bunnings has topped the rankings as Australia’s most trusted brand for an eighth consecutive quarter, and there are some familiar faces at the top with Aldi, Kmart and Apple filling places second to fourth – as they have for a fourth straight quarter.
“However, there have been significant moves from other major brands – especially the big banks. Commonwealth Bank has increased two spots to fifth overall – its highest ever ranking, Westpac is up five spots to 14th, NAB has improved one place to 19th, and ING is back in the top 20 – up two spots.
“Perhaps even more consequential is what’s happening at the other end of the rankings among Australia’s most distrusted brands… especially Chinese-based online retailer Temu.”
Levine said Temu’s trust decline shows no sign of slowing.
“As more Australians trial the platform, distrust is accelerating rather than stabilising, a sign real-world experience is feeding the decline. The biggest drivers of Temu’s distrust are poor quality, a lack of ethics, dishonesty, a lack of data privacy, and overall unreliability.”