Two-thirds of Australians have little faith in political leaders: survey

Two-thirds of Australians don't trust their political leaders and believe they only serve self- interest, according to a new survey released on Tuesday.

But community leaders are far more highly thought of than other categories of leaders in both trust and competence.

They are also seen as the most concerned about the wider needs of society and to take a long term perspective on problems.

The Swinburne University report into public perceptions of leadership has also found a lack of faith in union, business and religious leaders.

Swinburne Leadership Institute executive director John Fien said the results showed there was disillusionment with politicians.

"This first survey provides a baseline 'snapshot' of perceptions of leadership in Australiaand the results are both surprising and disturbing," he said in a statement.

"Australians have nuanced and sophisticated perceptions of the leadership they experience in Australian society. They can and do distinguish between the capabilities of leaders in different sectors, and their expectations of these leaders. This gives added weight to the judgments they make about leadership."

The study found that trustworthiness was closely linked to caring about the long-term future and the public interest.

Australian Labor Party voters were the most disillusioned, only 24 percent believing politicians were somewhat or very trustworthy, compared with 54 percent for Coalition voters. Endi