Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten both say the election is about answering the question "who do you trust?", and Vote Compass data suggests Mr Turnbull has the advantage over his opponent.
Vote Compass asked respondents to rate the leaders of the Coalition, Labor and the Greens for trustworthiness and competence, giving each a score out of 10.
Mr Turnbull led on both trust and competence, with an average rating across the two questions of 5, while Bill Shorten (4) ranked behind Greens leader Richard Di Natale (4.5).
All three leaders scored higher than their counterparts from the last federal election in 2013: Tony Abbott, Kevin Rudd and Christine Milne.
There was a much larger gap between Mr Turnbull and Mr Shorten than there was between the major party leaders in 2013, when Mr Abbott and Mr Rudd's ratings were only split by 0.1.
"This year [the election campaign] has started in a far less bitter fashion than the last two elections," said ABC election analyst Antony Green.
"It's been relatively well mannered.
"Given the polls are neck and neck, the one thing that the Liberal Party have going for it is Turnbull's leadership.
"Clearly leadership is not the thing that's working in the Opposition's favour, and we know that from the opinion polls," Green said.
"They'll continue to pursue their traditional party base with policies that they care about."
The leader ratings are sharply split along party lines, with those intending to vote a certain way delivering the highest score to their party's leader.
The findings are based on 149,321 respondents who participated in Vote Compass from May 8 to May 13, 2016. The data has been weighted to ensure the sample reflects the Australian population. [ Read the Vote Compass data FAQ ]
