The Australian Reputation Index
The largest independent dataset on Australian business reputation — average Google ratings, the best- and worst-reviewed industries, and the highest-rated cities, across 264,403 businesses.
Key findings
- The average Australian business holds a 4.67★ Google rating across 14.7 million reviews from 167,515 rated businesses.
- Photographers are Australia's best-reviewed industry at 4.92★ — while Pharmacies rank lowest at 3.85★.
- Queensland has the highest-rated businesses of any state (4.71★), and Manly tops the city ranking at 4.85★.
- Only 60% of rated Australian businesses link a website on their Google profile — a major discoverability gap.
How Australian businesses are rated
Share of 167,515 rated businesses by Google star rating.
Best-rated industries
Highest average Google rating (min 300 businesses).
Lowest-rated industries
Where reputation is hardest to win — and easiest to stand out.
Most-reviewed industries
Total Google reviews tracked per industry — where customers are most vocal.
States ranked by reputation
Average business rating by state and territory.
Top-rated cities
Highest average rating (min 400 rated businesses).
Cite this report
Journalists and researchers are welcome to cite the Starworks Australian Reputation Index. Please link back to this page.
Methodology
The Starworks Australian Reputation Index is built from the public Google star rating and review count of every business in the Starworks directory — 264,403 Australian businesses, of which 167,515 have at least one Google rating, as of 30 June 2026.
Industry and location averages are weighted by the number of rated businesses in each group (not a simple average of averages), so larger groups carry proportional weight. Only industries with at least 300 rated businesses and cities with at least 400 are ranked, so small samples can't skew the leaderboards. Ratings reflect public Google data and are refreshed regularly as the directory updates.
This is an observational dataset of businesses Starworks tracks, not a census of every Australian business. Figures may shift between updates as new reviews are published.
Frequently asked questions
What is the average Google rating for an Australian business?
Across 167,515 Australian businesses tracked by Starworks, the average Google star rating is 4.67 out of 5, based on 14.7 million reviews.
Which industries have the best reviews in Australia?
Photographers currently have the highest average reputation in Australia at 4.92★ across 5,487 businesses. The full ranking of the best- and worst-rated industries is on the Starworks Reputation Index.
Which industries have the worst reviews in Australia?
Among industries with a meaningful sample size, Pharmacies have the lowest average Google rating at 3.85★, based on 663 businesses. See the Starworks Reputation Index for the full ranking.
Which Australian state has the best-rated businesses?
Based on Starworks data, Queensland (QLD) has the highest average business rating at 4.71★ across 17,374 rated businesses.
How is the Starworks Reputation Index calculated?
The Index aggregates the public Google star rating and review count of every business in the Starworks directory (264,403 Australian businesses). Averages are weighted by the number of rated businesses in each group, and only industries and cities with a meaningful sample size are ranked. The data is refreshed regularly.
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