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As the Federal election looms closer, a special telephone Morgan Poll finds that just 16% (up 1% in a year) of Australians aged 14 and over rate Federal Members of Parliament as having “high” or “very high” standards of ethics and honesty.  State Members of Parliament recorded the same result (16%, up 3%).

The Nursing profession (91%, up 2%) is still seen as the most ethical and honest profession, as it has been every year since being included on the survey in 1994.  Pharmacists (85%, up 1%) and Doctors (81%, up 2%) have been consistently named in second and third place, with School Teachers (78%, up 4%), Engineers (71%, up 3%) and Dentists (69%, up 2%) also regularly rating highly.

State Supreme Court Judges (68%, up 3%), High Court Judges (67%, up 3%), University Lecturers (67%, up 3%) and Police (65%, unchanged) made up the top ten professions for perceived high levels of ethics and honesty.

As in previous years, journalists are not looked upon too favourably with Television Reporters / Journalists (13%, down 4%) marginally ahead of Newspaper Journalists (12%, up 1%).

Talk-back Radio Announcers (17%, down 2%) and Union Leaders (16%, down 3%) both saw a decrease from the previous year.

Public Opinion Pollsters fell 4% to 27% (16th overall).

Eighteen per cent (up 3%) view Business Executives as having “high” or “very high” standards of ethics and honesty, according to the Roy Morgan survey of professional ethics and honesty.  There was a similar rise in the image of Directors of Public Companies (21%, up 3%).

Car Salesmen (up 1% to 4%) were once again the lowest ranked profession for honesty and ethics, as they have been since the survey began in 1976.  Joining them at the foot of the table were Estate Agents (9%, down 1%), Advertising People (9%, down 1%) and Insurance Brokers (11%, down 2%).

Gary Morgan says:

“The result of professions such as politicians and journalists is unsurprising — these professions have always been towards the bottom in our annual Image of Professions survey. This year just 16% of Australians rate both Federal and State MPs as having either ‘high’ or ‘very high’ ethics and honesty — in 1998, the result for State and Federal MPs was 7%.

“These results reaffirm that the upcoming Federal election will be fought in an environment where there is not a lot of trust in politicians and journalists.”

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)?”

These are the main findings of a Roy Morgan telephone survey conducted on the nights of March 28/29, 2007, with 670 Australian men and women aged 14 and over.

For further information:  

Michele Levine :   Office + 61 3 9224 5215   Mobile +61 411 129 093 Home + 61 3 9817 3066

"Very high" or "High" ratings for Ethics and Honesty (All Australians 14+):

	Occupations	‘79	‘81	‘83	‘84	‘85	‘86	‘87	‘88	‘89	‘90	‘91	‘92	‘93	‘94	‘95	‘96	‘97	‘98	‘99	‘00	‘01	'02	'03	‘04	‘05	‘06/’07	Dif.
		%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
1	Nurses	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	86	86	87	86	88	89	88	90	90	94	90	89	91	+2
2	Pharmacists	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	76	76	72	76	79	78	78	79	80	80	80	86	83	83	89	87	86	84	85	+1
3	Doctors	62	63	64	64	64	63	65	67	62	70	69	69	65	66	69	72	66	69	74	71	75	80	80	80	79	81	+2
4	School teachers	54	55	55	55	54	57	56	55	57	61	59	62	61	65	69	68	64	71	71	70	74	79	79	77	74	78	+4
5	Engineers	53	56	53	53	53	56	56	56	56	55	57	58	56	57	59	56	54	57	57	59	64	67	69	69	68	71	+3
6	Dentists	61	62	61	62	65	63	65	68	65	62	64	66	62	60	65	65	60	61	65	64	65	67	71	71	67	69	+2
7	State Supreme Court Judges	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	61	61	64	66	72	65	65	68	+3
8	High Court Judges	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	61	60	63	65	71	63	64	67	+3
9	University lecturers	51	51	52	51	51	51	51	53	52	53	56	55	53	54	52	50	52	57	56	54	64	66	64	66	64	67	+3
10	Police	48	56	53	53	53	56	56	53	53	54	54	53	54	56	59	55	55	60	62	62	58	65	64	64	65	65	0
11	Ministers of Religion	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	59	55	56	58	56	54	48	48	53	52	51	-1
12	Accountants	*	51	47	48	47	50	50	47	46	47	46	47	46	42	45	46	43	43	49	45	51	45	50	51	50	48	-2
13	Lawyers	41	38	41	44	41	39	41	41	41	37	38	34	32	30	32	29	29	26	34	29	32	30	31	33	32	36	+4
14	Bank managers	66	61	62	61	58	60	58	54	50	49	40	44	41	37	39	37	32	36	33	26	30	29	35	35	35	33	-2
15	Public servants	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	30	n/a
16	Public opinion pollsters	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	34	33	29	30	35	35	27	29	38	31	31	27	-4
17	Directors of public companies	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	20	18	20	20	17	18	17	20	18	17	16	17	23	18	21	+3
18	Business executives	22	22	18	22	19	23	24	21	20	19	15	17	16	17	17	17	16	18	22	17	19	17	19	23	15	18	+3
19	Stock brokers	*	*	*	*	*	19	20	18	18	15	14	15	15	15	13	16	15	15	19	16	18	14	17	19	14	17	+3
20	Talk-back radio announcers	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	18	14	17	17	21	17	19	17	-2
21	Federal MPs	16	15	19	19	13	16	13	14	15	13	10	10	11	10	9	13	9	7	13	11	16	16	17	20	15	16	+1
22	State MPs	20	16	20	17	14	17	12	14	15	11	10	10	11	10	12	12	9	7	13	12	14	17	17	19	13	16	+3
23	Union leaders	8	8	8	6	6	5	7	7	9	8	7	8	9	9	10	9	12	13	11	12	14	11	15	17	19	16	-3
24	TV reporters	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	16	17	15	14	15	16	13	12	11	12	14	12	18	18	17	19	17	13	-4
25	Newspaper journalists	14	13	11	11	11	12	11	11	9	10	8	7	8	8	8	7	7	9	9	7	13	9	12	12	11	12	+1
26	Insurance brokers	*	*	*	*	*	13	15	13	13	12	10	12	10	11	10	9	12	11	14	11	14	10	15	15	13	11	-2
27	Advertising people	11	9	9	9	8	11	11	8	9	7	8	9	9	8	10	7	8	7	9	10	8	10	13	12	10	9	-1
28	Estate agents	*	*	11	9	10	10	11	11	11	11	9	9	10	9	11	10	10	8	11	10	8	8	11	10	10	9	-1
29	Car salesmen	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	4	4	4	3	3	2	3	3	3	3	2	3	3	2	3	5	4	3	4	+1

*Not included in poll

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.

Sample Size	Percentage Estimate
	40%-60%	25% or 75%	10% or 90%	5% or 95%
500	±4.5	±3.9	±2.7	±1.9
1,000	±3.2	±2.7	±1.9	±1.4

The Roy Morgan Research Centre conducts the Morgan Poll in Australia and New Zealand and is the Gallup International Association Member.

No other public opinion poll taken in Australia or New Zealand has this qualification.

© 2007 Roy Morgan Research. All Rights Reserved
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