2024 Opinion Poll on Health and Medical Research and Innovation

Research Australia’s 2024 Public Opinion Poll, the latest in a series dating back to 2003, reports Australians’ views on health and medical research and innovation. Roy Morgan Research conducted an online survey of 1,006 Australians aged 18 years and older, drawn from its proprietary online panel, between 28 May and 11 June 2024; results were weighted by age, sex and area, with a margin of error of ±3.0%. More funding for health and medical research ranked tenth among 28 Australian Government spending priorities, rated highly by 78.2% of respondents. Most respondents (90.8%) agreed that Australia needs to do more to monitor and research the health effects of new products, preferring government-funded independent research organisations to undertake this work. Nearly 9 in 10 (88.9%) agreed the Government should support Australian companies developing or manufacturing medical products, and 87.2% supported identifying unmet health system needs and inviting companies to address them. More than half would definitely or probably participate in a clinical trial if they required treatment. A majority (71.3%) supported sharing de-identified health records with researchers, falling to 57.8% for identifiable data under strict confidentiality agreements. Some 56.4% reported making no donation to health and medical research in the previous 12 months, with affordability and uncertainty about how money is spent the main barriers.