Quality of healthcare in Australia finally improving

More than six in 10 Australians rate the quality of the healthcare they have access to as good/very good, ranking fourth in the world, with the proportion giving a positive ranking increasing following a slow decline since before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Since 2018, Ipsos has been tracking the public’s attitudes and perceptions on their healthcare system and its biggest problems. This latest Ipsos Health Service Report shows a mixed picture, in Australia, and across the globe.

Key findings

• Australians among the most likely to think the health care they get is good, with 64% of Australians surveyed rating the quality of the healthcare they have access to as good/very good, we rank 4th (behind Malaysia, Netherlands and Singapore) among the 30 countries surveyed (the global average is 43%). Only one in 10 Aussies (11%) say it is poor.
  • Interestingly, we saw the proportion giving a positive rating increase between 2018 (71%) and 2020 (81%), then decline gradually through to 2024 (60%). This trend was common across many other countries.
• While Australians are relatively positive about the care we receive there is concern the system is overstretched (67% versus the global average of 64%).
• Support for vaccinations falling among Australians. While 60% of Australians support compulsory vaccinations for infectious diseases in 2025, like in many other countries, this figure is lower than it was before the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2018, 70% agreed with this statement.
• When asked about their perceptions of the biggest problems for the healthcare system, Australians had some genuine concerns: ­
  • 52% nominated not enough staff (global average 43%)
  • 46% nominated access to treatment/long waiting times (global average 47%)
  • 41% nominated the cost of accessing treatment (global average 33%)
• Australians also rank highly in relation to trusting our healthcare system to provide the best treatment. With 64% trusting the system, we again ranked 4th behind Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore. Encouragingly our trust in the system has remained relatively steady over the years, with 61% expressing trust back in 2018.
• Mental health seen as the biggest health problem in Australia and across the globe. A little under two thirds of Australians (62%) choose it as one of the biggest health problems people are facing, ahead of cancer (37%), obesity (26%), and stress (23%). While mental health was the top problem globally (45%), Australians are among the most likely to raise it, ranking third behind Chile and Sweden. On the other hand, we are one of the least likely to nominate stress.
• Given the rise of GLP-1s in recent years, this year’s study included a question about awareness of GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic, Wegovy, Zepbound, Rybelsus or Mounjaro. Interestingly, 63% of Australians surveyed had heard of these drugs, placing us in 5th position behind the US, Canada, Netherlands and Great Britain. The global average for awareness of these drugs was a little over one in three (36%).

Jess Elgood, Head of Ipsos Public Affairs Sydney, said: “The findings from the latest Ipsos Health Service Report help put into perspective the current public health challenges in Australia. We recognise the high-quality care that we can access – and the data highlights that we are far more likely to consider our health care good, compared to so many other countries. “But we have concerns about the health system being able to hire enough health care professionals, and our relative ease of access to care comes at a financial cost, that is of greater concern than in many other nations whose public health systems are based on very different funding models.”