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Smart Water Research Centre’s Dr Vicki Ross was recently awarded her PhD in psychology from the University of Queensland. Vicki’s research examined the impact of trust in authorities on public acceptance of recycled water, and involved developing a psychological model of the characteristics and drivers of trust and acceptance. The research comprised three large-scale Australian studies that tested the model across three different risk contexts (low, medium and high perceived risk). Analysis through path modelling showed that in all three contexts trust in the water authority was a significant predictor of acceptance of the water management scheme. Also across the three contexts, greater trust was associated with lower risk perceptions, which in turn produced greater acceptance. In the high perceived risk setting (the proposed indirect potable reuse scheme in Toowoomba), perceptions of risk had the strongest direct effect on acceptance of the scheme. The findings highlighted the importance of community engagement programs in establishing ongoing public support for water supply schemes. The results also demonstrate that establishing trusting relationships between communities and water authorities is crucial to public acceptance of higher perceived risk schemes such as indirect potable reuse.
