Opinion: Banking on trust – what the property industry can learn from Australia’s banking crisis
Trust is indeed a dirty word these days. Media headlines are dominated with stories of its misuse by brands and leaders – and Australians are fed up. Just keeping up with technology alone means trust is now even harder to maintain than the integrity of the Australian cricket team and our politicians, while just seven per cent of Aussies rank real estate agents highly for their ethics and honesty, and developers are in the firing line again due to sunset clause controversies.
And now the industry that every Australian engages with is under fire – our banks are amid their biggest crisis since the GFC. Industry-wide figures published earlier this year reveal only one in three people trust our banks while the continual revelations of extensive breaches uncovered during the Banking Royal Commission means those finance institutions are now faced with their biggest battle yet – how to regain our trust. And the flow-on effect to industries like property cannot be underestimated.
John Cucka writes exclusively for the Australian and New Zealand Property Journal about what the property industry can learn from Australia’s banking crisis.