Roy Morgan Image of Professions Survey 2013 Nurses still Most Highly Regarded – Closely followed by Doctors & Pharmacists

A large majority, 90% (unchanged in three years) of Australians aged 14 and over rate Nurses as the most ethical and honest profession — the 19th year in a row since Nurses were first included on the survey in 1994.

Of all 30 professions surveyed in 2013 a large majority, twenty-one, increased while only four professions declined and five professions were unchanged.

Other professions that also gained high ratings for ethics and honesty in 2013, including Doctors (88%, up 5%), Pharmacists (84%, down 4%), Engineers (76%, up 6%), School Teachers (76%, unchanged), Dentists (74%, down 1%), High Court Judges (73%, up 3%), State Supreme Court Judges (70%, up 1%), Police (69%, unchanged) and University Lecturers (68%, up 3%).

Federal MPs (14%, up 4%) and State MPs (13%, up 3%) both gained after last year recording their lowest ratings for ethics and honesty since 1998. Ministers of Religion (44%, up 1%) recovered slightly from recording their lowest ever rating for ethics and honesty since being included on the survey in 1996.

The lowest ranked profession is once again Car Salesmen (4%, up 2%) — a position they have held for over 30 years. The next lowest were Advertising people (9%, up 1%) and Real Estate Agents (12%, up 3% - their highest rating since the survey began in 1979).

Gary Morgan says:

"Roy Morgan's annual Image of Professions survey for 2013 shows a majority of professions (21) recorded rises in their ratings for 'ethics and honesty' over the past year with Nurses (90%, unchanged from 2012) still leading the way as Australia's most respected profession for very high or high 'ethics and honesty'.

"Other professions in the medical field once again scored well with high ratings for 'ethics and honesty' including Doctors (88%, up 5%) Pharmacists (84%, down 4%), and Dentists (74%, down 1%). Engineers (76%, up 6%) scored their highest ever rating alongside School teachers (76%, unchanged) while High Court Judges (73%, up 3%) were the only other profession to rate above 70%.

"Once again Car Salesman (4%, up 2%) rank at the bottom of the list — a position they have held for over 30 years. The only other profession in single digits for 'ethics and honesty' is Advertising people (9%, up 1%) just behind Real Estate Agents (12%, up 3%) — which despite the low rating is a record high."

These are the main findings of a Roy Morgan telephone survey conducted on the nights of April 16-18, 2013, with 645 Australian men and women aged 14 and over.
 
Respondents were asked: "As I say different occupations, could you please say — from what you know or have heard - which rating best describes how you, yourself, would rate or score people in various occupations for honesty and ethical standards (Very High, High, Average, Low, Very Low)?"

		"Very high" or "High"  ratings for Ethics and Honesty:  All Australians 14+  *Not included in poll
	Occupations	'89	'90	'91	'92	'93	'94	'95	'96	'97	'98	'99	'00	'01	'02	'03	'04	'05	'07	'08	'09	'10	'11	'12	'13	Dif
		%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
1	Nurses	*	*	*	*	*	86	86	87	86	88	89	88	90	90	94	90	89	91	89	89	89	90	90	90	-
2	Doctors	62	70	69	69	65	66	69	72	66	69	74	71	75	80	80	80	79	81	79	82	79	87	83	88	+5
3	Pharmacists	76	72	76	79	78	78	79	80	80	80	86	83	83	89	87	86	84	85	86	84	85	87	88	84	-4
4	Engineers	56	55	57	58	56	57	59	56	54	57	57	59	64	67	69	69	68	71	72	69	69	71	70	76	+6
5	School teachers	57	61	59	62	61	65	69	68	64	71	71	70	74	79	79	77	74	78	78	76	73	76	76	76	-
6	Dentists	65	62	64	66	62	60	65	65	60	61	65	64	65	67	71	71	67	69	70	69	68	76	75	74	-1
7	High Court Judges	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	61	60	63	65	71	63	64	67	66	67	63	75	70	73	+3
8	State Supreme Court Judges	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	61	61	64	66	72	65	65	68	67	68	64	75	69	70	+1
9	Police	53	54	54	53	54	56	59	55	55	60	62	62	58	65	64	64	65	65	66	65	62	69	69	69	-
10	University lecturers	52	53	56	55	53	54	52	50	52	57	56	54	64	66	64	66	64	67	67	61	60	61	65	68	+3
11	Accountants	46	47	46	47	46	42	45	46	43	43	49	45	51	45	50	51	50	48	54	51	50	54	49	49	-
12	Ministers of Religion	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	59	55	56	58	56	54	48	48	53	52	51	50	45	44	51	43	44	+1
13	Bank managers	50	49	40	44	41	37	39	37	32	36	33	26	30	29	35	35	35	33	33	33	33	40	37	38	+1
14	Lawyers	41	37	38	34	32	30	32	29	29	26	34	29	32	30	31	33	32	36	35	30	32	38	30	36	+6
15	Public servants	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	30	29	28	28	30	33	36	+3
16	Public opinion pollsters	*	*	*	*	*	*	34	33	29	30	35	35	27	29	38	31	31	27	29	23	27	34	28	33	+5
17	Directors of Public Companies	*	*	*	20	18	20	20	17	18	17	20	18	17	16	17	23	18	21	22	17	19	24	20	26	+6
18	Financial planners	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	25	25	28	26	25	-1
19	Business executives	20	19	15	17	16	17	17	17	16	18	22	17	19	17	19	23	15	18	21	16	16	18	18	22	+4
20	Newspaper Journalists	9	10	8	7	8	8	8	7	7	9	9	7	13	9	12	12	11	12	14	9	11	11	12	19	+7
21	TV Reporters	16	17	15	14	15	16	13	12	11	12	14	12	18	18	17	19	17	13	16	14	16	14	14	18	+4
22	Talk-back radio announcers	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	18	14	17	17	21	17	19	17	18	15	19	17	17	16	-1
23	Stock brokers	18	15	14	15	15	15	13	16	15	15	19	16	18	14	17	19	14	17	18	15	12	14	13	15	+2
24	Union leaders	9	8	7	8	9	9	10	9	12	13	11	12	14	11	15	17	19	16	17	14	15	18	15	15	-
25	Federal MPs	15	13	10	10	11	10	9	13	9	7	13	11	16	16	17	20	15	16	23	19	16	14	10	14	+4
26	Insurance brokers	13	12	10	12	10	11	10	9	12	11	14	11	14	10	15	15	13	11	15	11	14	12	10	13	+3
27	State MPs	15	11	10	10	11	10	12	12	9	7	13	12	14	17	17	19	13	16	20	18	16	12	10	13	+3
28	Real Estate Agents	11	11	9	9	10	9	11	10	10	8	11	10	8	8	11	10	10	9	10	10	10	7	9	12	+3
29	Advertising people	9	7	8	9	9	8	10	7	8	7	9	10	8	10	13	12	10	9	9	6	8	5	8	9	+1
30	Car Salesmen	4	4	3	3	2	3	3	3	3	2	3	3	2	3	5	4	3	4	4	3	5	3	2	4	+2

Download the full table and a copy of this release

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Gary Morgan:	+ 61 3 9224 5213	+ 61 411 129 094
Michele Levine:	+ 61 3 9224 5215	+ 61 411 129 093

Margin of Error The margin of error to be allowed for in any estimate depends mainly on the number of interviews on which it is based. The following table gives indications of the likely range within which estimates would be 95% likely to fall, expressed as the number of percentage points above or below the actual estimate. The figures are approximate and for general guidance only, and assume a simple random sample. Allowance for design effects (such as stratification and weighting) should be made as appropriate.