According to Roy Morgon, in October 2025 Optus topped the rankings as Australia’s most distrusted telco brand

Peak national communications consumer body, ACCAN, says that this result is a predictable consequence of a self-regulatory system that has enabled industry misconduct and sent public confidence in telecommunications to historic lows.

Recent analysis sends a clear warning: distrust is dangerous. It is not a theoretical concern – its impacts are commercial, measurable, and already visible in the market.

Reliability problems were a major driver of distrust across the sector. The Triple Zero failures, nationwide outages and confusing or insufficient communication during crises have all contributed to a view that essential communications services are not being managed to community expectations.

Notably, business decision-makers recorded 23% higher levels of distrust in Optus compared with the general public, underscoring substantial concern from organisations that rely on stable, responsive telecommunications services every day.

Trust is now every telco’s essential currency, and it cannot be rebuilt through advertising campaigns or corporate messaging. Trust must be engineered into the system itself.

ACCAN CEO Carol Bennett said the findings show the limits of a hands-off, industry-controlled self-regulatory structure.

“Under the current self-regulatory regime, trust in Australia’s major telcos has dropped to all-time lows. This isn’t surprising—because the rules governing the sector have no real teeth,” said Bennett

“We need strong, enforceable consumer protections to rebuild public confidence. Telcos have shown they cannot restore trust on their own – consumers experience of the service must be consistent with what they are being told they should expect.”

“We must see a comprehensive overhaul of consumer protections through the replacement of the Telecommunications Consumer Protections (TCP) Industry Code with direct regulation to reflect the essential nature of modern communications services.” she said.

Optus Remains Australia’s Most Distrusted Telco

Optus continues to sit atop the list of Australia’s most distrusted telecommunications brands, a position it has held since the fallout from its September 2022 data breach. Over the past year, the overall telco trust landscape has remained largely static, but the underlying trends reveal notable shifts.

Aussie Broadband and Amaysim continue to lead in consumer trust, while Vodafone is the only brand to record a meaningful gain. TPG has slipped slightly, reflecting a softening in consumer confidence.

On the other end of the spectrum, Optus and Telstra remain firmly entrenched as the most distrusted, with Dodo and Huawei swapping positions. iiNet has drifted into neutral territory, signalling a decline in its traditional trust advantage.

Amaysim stands out: despite being owned by Optus, it has largely avoided reputational damage from its parent company’s scandals, indicating that consumers do not strongly associate the two brands.

The data highlights two distinct dynamics. Optus is still grappling with long-term reputational fallout from repeated failures, while Telstra’s fluctuations are more short-term, tied to pricing and service issues.

The relative positions within the industry remain stable, but the trends suggest that once distrust takes hold, it is far harder for deeply affected brands to recover compared with those experiencing short-term trust challenges.

Privacy and Security Concerns in Telco Sector Spike Following Optus Breach

Distrust in Australia’s telecommunications sector has been entrenched for more than seven years, but recent incidents have intensified consumer wariness.

The September 2022 Optus data breach, along with breaches at Telstra and TPG Telecom and a nationwide outage in 2023, significantly heightened concerns across the industry.

Although distrust eased slightly through 2024, the September 2025 fatal triple-zero outage involving Optus threatens to erase those gains. In telecoms, every major incident resets the trust clock, with fallout rarely confined to a single brand.

The challenge is no longer just managing distrust—it is breaking a cycle in which one crisis compounds the industry’s reputational damage.

Privacy and security concerns among mobile users surged after the Optus breach, and worry over privacy risks from emerging technologies has now overtaken general security anxieties as the sector’s primary consumer concern.

The Roy Morgan Risk Monitor surveys approximately 1,500-2,000 Australians every month (over 20,000 per year) to measure levels of trust and distrust of around 1,000 brands across 27 industries. Respondents are asked which brands they trust, and why, and which brands they distrust, and why.