The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) has been named Australia’s Most Trusted Charity in the 2026 Reader’s Digest Trusted Brand Awards, marking the sixth time Australians have awarded this honour to the RFDS.
For the RFDS, trust is built by showing up for rural and remote communities for almost 100 years and solving some of the country’s hardest healthcare challenges.
This includes delivering critical medical care across vast distances, in extreme conditions, and often at the most difficult moments of people’s lives.
Most Australians do not encounter the RFDS in ideal circumstances.
They meet the Service in emergencies, or when they are isolated or afraid, moments when help is urgently needed and there is little margin for error. It is in these situations that trust is tested and earned.
From landing aircraft in remote locations to providing healthcare where access is limited by geography, workforce or infrastructure, the RFDS exists to ensure that where someone lives does not determine the care they receive.
That commitment to health equity remains central to the Service’s purpose.
Trust is sustained because the RFDS is embedded in the communities it serves, working alongside local clinicians, volunteers, first responders and community members to deliver care that is practical, respectful and long-term.
As the RFDS moves toward its centenary in 2028, the organisation acknowledges that public trust has been built over generations, one patient, one flight and one community at a time.
“It is an honour to receive this award. This recognition belongs to the pilots, doctors, nurses, engineers, operational staff and volunteers who uphold these standards every day, as well as those who came before them and laid the foundations of the Service. Above all, it belongs to the Australian public,” said RFDS Federation Chief Executive Emma Buchanan.
The recognition comes on the eve of significant milestones in the RFDS’s history. On 15 May 2026, it will be 98 years since the Service was established in Cloncurry, Queensland.
On 17 May, it will be 98 years since the first RFDS flight from Cloncurry to Julia Creek took place.
The Royal Flying Doctor Service remains committed to continuing to earn the trust of Australians through every service it delivers, wherever it is needed most.
