A Matter of Trust

Set up as not-for-profit entities, whose profits go back into the community, clubs are a uniquely Australian institution, much-loved and deeply trusted by the people they serve. 

But as with any organisation or industry, public trust can ebb and flow, and at the end of 2023, net public trust in registered clubs had fallen to an all-time low of +37 per cent. 

For those who aren’t familiar with the term, net trust represents the percentage of the public who trust you, minus those who don’t. 

Now, you might consider a net trust score of +37 per cent as pretty reasonable. The NSW Parliament, the casinos or the online bookmakers would kill for a net trust figure in that region. But for registered clubs, it represented a record low. 

This triggered a change in approach from ClubsNSW — both in terms of our media strategy and our marketing activity.

On the media front, we accentuated the positives. Rather than letting sections of the media set the narrative around our industry, we re-doubled our efforts to tell the industry’s good news stories, pumping out more than 250 positive media stories of club community contributions per year over the last two years. And these stories appeared everywhere — be it Channel 9, 2GB or The Daily Telegraph in Sydney, or in regional NSW, from 2HD Newcastle and ABC Broken Hill to Prime TV on the Mid-North Coast and The Central Western Daily in Orange. 

On the marketing front, the Magic Moments campaign represented the single biggest advertising investment from ClubsNSW in more than a decade, highlighting the sense of belonging people feel when visiting their local club. Plus, our ClubGRANTS campaigns have told relevant stories of clubs’ support for their communities in a targeted, localised way. 

Pleasingly, the tactical pivot paid automatic dividends, with our net trust figure moving upward in our quarterly polling since. 

Our net trust result jumped +8 per cent in April 2024 to 45 per cent, before hitting +48 per cent in August 2024 and +52 per cent in December 2024. 

And pleasingly, in the most recent poll in February this year, net trust in the NSW club industry hit an impressive +56 per cent! That’s 72 per cent of people who trust clubs minus 16 per cent who don’t. 

Our net trust figure is now 20 per cent higher than pubs (who are on +36% per cent) and 93 per cent higher than online bookmakers (who are on +37 per cent). 

There will likely be more ebbs and flows in future polls, but trust in NSW clubs has been restored — with the public regularly reminded of the enormous contribution our industry makes to the state of NSW. 

And the good news doesn’t stop with net trust — 66 per cent of people believe clubs provide a net social benefit (up from 53 per cent in December 2023), while 66 per cent agree clubs are providers of save and lawful entertainment (up from 59 per cent in December 2023). And finally, 83 per cent have a positive opinion of clubs in February (up from 68 per cent in December 2023).  

It’s a testament to the great work member clubs across NSW are doing to improve community life. But we have to keep it up!

The next round of public polling is due to be released in July.