2025 Opinion Poll on Health and Medical Research and Innovation

Research Australia’s 2025 Public Opinion Poll, the latest in a series that began in 2003, reports Australians’ views on health and medical research and innovation. Roy Morgan Research conducted an online survey of 1,048 Australians aged 18 years and older, drawn from its proprietary online panel, between 30 July and 6 August 2025; results were weighted by age, sex and area, with a margin of error of ±3.0%. More funding for health and medical research ranked sixth of 19 Australian Government spending priorities, rated highly by 78.2% of respondents, and 76.9% considered a strong health and medical research industry important. Most agreed that Australia should be less reliant on foreign medical products (79.2%), and giving Australian companies preference in government purchasing was the most supported form of assistance (82.2%). Willingness to participate in a clinical trial rose to 59.4%, from 52.6% in 2024, and a doctor’s recommendation was the most influential pathway (83.2%). Nearly three quarters (73.9%) would use genetic testing to identify the best treatment, and 92.9% would allow their results to be used for research. New questions on artificial intelligence found that 83.8% wanted strong government regulation of synthetic data and 63.9% were comfortable with AI-enabled transcription of consultations, while 51.1% were worried about the security of their health data. A large majority (81.3%) agreed governments should prioritise funding for health services research, with timely access to care the leading priority.