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In the annual Roy Morgan Image of Professions survey 89% (unchanged in a year) of Australians aged 14 and over rate Nurses as the most ethical and honest profession — the 15th year in a row since Nurses were first included on the survey in 1994.

Pharmacists (84%, down 2%), Doctors (82%, up 3%) and School teachers (76%, down 2%) have been consistently ranked near the top while Dentists (69%, down 1%), Engineers (69%, down 3%), State Supreme Court Judges (68%, up 1%) and High Court Judges (67%, up 1%) also regularly rate highly.

Comparing 2009 results to those of 2008 shows that the image of most professions declined in 2009. Of 29 professions surveyed in both years, 23 saw declines in 2009, while three professions were unchanged over the year. Only three professions, Doctors (82%, up 3%), State Supreme Court Judges (68%, up 1%) and High Court Judges (67%, up 1%), rose over the year.

Financial Planners (25%), included for the first time in 2009, ranked 16th overall, just behind Public Servants (28%, down 1%), Lawyers (30%, down 5%) but marginally ahead of Public opinion pollsters (23%, down 6%), Federal MPs (19%, down 4%) and State MPs (18%, down 2%).

Although Bank Managers (33%, unchanged) were not negatively effected by the global financial crisis, Directors of Public companies (17%, down 5%) and Business executives (16%, down 5%) both had large falls in 2009 as worries about the stability of the world’s financial systems mounted.

As in previous years, journalists are not looked upon too favourably with Television Reporters / Journalists (14%, down 2%) ahead of Newspaper Journalists (9%, down 5%).

At the foot of the table were the ‘familiar suspects’ with Car Salesman (3%, down 1%) being the profession least associated with ‘ethics’ and ‘honesty’ while Advertising people (6%, down 3%) are the lowest they have been since the survey began in 1979. Newspaper Journalists (9%, down 5%), Estate Agents (10%, unchanged) and Insurance brokers (11%, down 4%) are also perceived as the least ethical.

Gary Morgan says:

“Falls in the image of 23 professions in 2009 is the highest number of falls we’ve ever recorded in the annual Roy Morgan Image of Professions survey — exceeding the falls in 21/28 professions in 2000 — after the bursting of the Dotcom bubble.

“Tough economic times invariably result in falls in the Roy Morgan Image of Professions survey. Before 2000, the record number of falls was 14/21 in 1991 — during the middle of Australia’s last recession — although despite these falls, Australian banks have something to cheer about with Bank managers (33%) unchanged despite the global financial crisis.

“As has been consistently shown, Australians have the highest regard for Health professionals. Nurses (89%), Pharmacists (84%), Doctors (82%) have the best ratings for ‘ethics’ and ‘honesty’ while Dentists (69%) are ranked fifth overall.”

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 June 3/4, 2009, with 687 Australian men and women aged 14 and over.

	"Very high" or "High" ratings for Ethics and Honesty:												All Australians 14+                   *Not included in poll
	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	’07	‘08	‘09	Dif
		%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
1	Nurses	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	86	86	87	86	88	89	88	90	90	94	90	89	91	89	89	-
2	Pharmacists	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	76	76	72	76	79	78	78	79	80	80	80	86	83	83	89	87	86	84	85	86	84	-2
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	79	82	+3
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	78	76	-2
5	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	70	69	-1
6	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	72	69	-3
7	State Supreme Court Judges	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	61	61	64	66	72	65	65	68	67	68	+1
8	High Court Judges	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	61	60	63	65	71	63	64	67	66	67	+1
9	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	66	65	-1
10	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	67	61	-6
11	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	54	51	-3
12	Ministers of Religion	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	59	55	56	58	56	54	48	48	53	52	51	50	45	-5
13	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	33	33	-
14	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	35	30	-5
15	Public servants	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	30	29	28	-1
16	Financial planners	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	25	na
17	Public opinion pollsters	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	34	33	29	30	35	35	27	29	38	31	31	27	29	23	-6
18	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	23	19	-4
19	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	20	18	-2
20	Directors of public companies	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	20	18	20	20	17	18	17	20	18	17	16	17	23	18	21	22	17	-5
21	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	21	16	-5
22	Stock brokers	*	*	*	*	*	19	20	18	18	15	14	15	15	15	13	16	15	15	19	16	18	14	17	19	14	17	18	15	-3
23	Talk-back radio announcers	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	18	14	17	17	21	17	19	17	18	15	-3
24	TV reporters	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	16	17	15	14	15	16	13	12	11	12	14	12	18	18	17	19	17	13	16	14	-2
25	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	17	14	-3
26	Insurance brokers	*	*	*	*	*	13	15	13	13	12	10	12	10	11	10	9	12	11	14	11	14	10	15	15	13	11	15	11	-4
27	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	10	10	-
28	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	14	9	-5
29	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	9	6	-3
30	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	4	3	-1

For further information:

Gary Morgan:                Office +61 3 9224 5213    Mobile +61 411 129 094

Michele Levine:             Office + 61 3 9224 5215    Mobile +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.

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

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