What does it really take to build trust?
Creating Communities has been working with communities in Australia for close to 35 years. Since the very beginning, trust has been critical to the work.
Founder Allan Tranter says that connection and trust go hand in hand, and building it means showing up consistently over time.
“It’s almost impossible to get people to commit to something in a sincere, ongoing manner, if there isn’t heavy emphasis on trust,” he says.
Here are Allan’s five practical steps for building trust in communities.
1. Listen intently
Trust rarely comes from a single, grand act. It’s built through small interactions that show people they are being genuinely heard.
“A lot of people ask questions or pretend to engage, but don’t listen intently,” he says.
“This is more than just listening to the words that are said, it’s about understanding the context in which that person or group of people are existing and talking.”
Allan says this means reading between the lines and getting a sense of what people are truly talking about, rather than just the words being said.
This approach helps our team understand what is really happening beneath the surface, so responses are grounded in what communities are actually experiencing.
2. Do what you say you’ll do
“If you say something, you’ve got to do it, and if there is a big delay in what you say and what happens, then the trust severs, or the connection gets very weak,” Allan says. “However if you do it people go, ‘Oh, they said they’d do that and now they’ve done it’.”
Creating Communities has seen this play out across projects in many different communities.
In Byford, the team helped launch a Cultural Compact with schools and local groups. Early support included funding for an expo and books for graduating students, which helped build confidence and encouraged more groups to come on board.
But it doesn’t always go smoothly.
On another project, Allan recalls showing up at a residents’ meeting every week for two years.
“I got abused every meeting by people yelling and shouting at me, but we kept turning up every week,” he says.
Over time, meetings grew quieter and more constructive as residents began to see that what was promised was being delivered.
3. Choose your partners well
Building trust also means understanding who communities already trust.
“You build your reputation by the company you keep,” Allan says.
“In one instance, we determined that the SES was held in good view, the school was considered to be a leader in the community, and the Bowls Country Club had one of the biggest membership groups in WA.”
Rather than assuming we have all the answers, Creating Communities works alongside local organisations and community groups that already have strong relationships within the community.
Once these connections are established, Allan says the work typically grows through word of mouth.
4. Show up when no one else does
Just showing up is critical to building trust with people, whether you’re working with a regional community or a bustling township.
In Newman, this looked like years of consistent, on-the-ground work.
“Donna, Jess and the team did a huge amount of work in Newman, turning up week after week for nearly six years,” Allan says.
“At first, it was just staff, but people in the whole neighbourhood knew there was something on if they wanted to get involved.”
Now, Train Park is a community hub, with nearly 90 organisations delivering services to people who need support.
5. Be a real human
Showing up consistently and listening intently won’t build trust if people don’t feel respected.
“We’re not more intelligent than anyone else, we’re just with them on a journey,” he says.
“A lot of people think they’re doing community development, but they’re actually in service delivery. They give things to people, rather than walking alongside them and having them blossom.”
Our approach is always to meet people where they’re at and relate on a human level. This means dropping the jargon and respecting that people really do know a lot about what they need.
Why trust matters
Information is constantly coming at us from all angles, and it can sometimes feel impossible to know what to trust.
“We live in a world where trust is so often abused,” Allan says.
“Where do you find a place that’s yours, where you feel comfortable and can be yourself?”
Allan says this is where the real work begins.
“You can make a difference, but you have to do it by building people, building their trust and building connection.”
