Nurses retain top spot as most trusted profession in new survey

A recent Roy Morgan survey of Australians’ perceptions of the professions has once again put nurses at the top of the list.

The Image of Professions Survey 2021 found 88 per cent of Australians rated nurses ‘high’ or ‘very high’ for their ‘ethics and honesty’, continuing a winning run that stretches back nearly 30 years.

Other health professionals were clustered at the top of the list, with doctors following nurses at an 82 per cent rating, pharmacists in third place on 76 per cent and dentists at fifth on 71 per cent.

Only school teachers (74 per cent) prevented a healthcare clean-sweep of the top five positions in the ranking.

Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine said the COVID-19 pandemic had contributed to nurses achieving the top placing for 24 straight surveys.

“Nurses have been front and centre around the world during the last year as we’ve dealt with the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Luckily for local nurses Australia has dealt exceptionally well with the pandemic and we have largely avoided an out of control situation,” Levine said.

The 88 per cent result for Nurses is 6 per cent down on the previous survey from 2017, but reflects an overall slide in ratings across nearly all professional categories. Only one group, union leaders, saw a rise in approval in the 2021 survey.

Despite the drop, nurses have held the position of the most trusted profession in every year of their inclusion in the survey since 1994.

At the other end of the spectrum, the bottom four positions were taken up by insurance brokers (7 per cent), real estate agents (5 per cent), advertising people (4 per cent) and car salesmen (3 per cent) for the fourth year running.

The Roy Morgan online survey was conducted from April 13 to 22 this year and included 1,267 Australian men and women aged 14 and over.

Health professions rated ‘high’ or ‘very high’ for ethics and honesty (% of Australians)

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