Is Trust in Crisis?

Is Trust in Crisis?

Our two speakers will explore the nature of trust and its dramatic shift across the globe in these turbulent times. Public disillusionment and distrust of our politicians, government, and key established institutions in society (ranging from banks to the media) continue to grow. The Edelman Trust Barometer in recent years has highlighted the deepening trust divide between government and citizens in numerous liberal democracies including Australia. In comparison, China (its informed public as well as the mass population) has emerged at the top of the Edelman survey in 2018 and 2019.

Reverend Tim Costello, a distinguished Australian community leader and social justice advocate, will reflect on the levels of political and social trust in Australia in recent times and the implications for its system of democratic governance. Dr Mimi Zou, an expert on Chinese law, economy, and technology, will analyse the complexities of political and social trust in contemporary China, as illustrated by its controversial social credit system.

Speakers bio

Reverend Tim Costello AO is the Chief Advocate of World Vision Australia, Australia’s largest international development NGO. He is a Baptist Minister and one of the country’s most recognised voices on social justice, global poverty, leadership and ethics. Tim was the Victorian nominee for the Australian of the Year award in 2006 and has been listed by the National Trust as a ‘National Living Treasure’.

Dr Mimi Zou is the Fangda CDF in Chinese Commercial Law at St Hugh’s College and Faculty of Law, the first academic appointment in Chinese law at the University of Oxford. She obtained her DPhil and BCL degrees from Oxford and her law and economics honours degrees from Sydney University. She is a qualified lawyer in Australia (NSW) and England & Wales. Mimi was a finalist in the 2009 Young Australian of the Year award.

This event is co-hosted with Oxford University Australia and New Zealand Society