To assess public perceptions of Australia’s doctors, hospitals and health care systems.

A cross-sectional national telephone survey of a random sample of 800 Australian adults in August 2007.

Ratings of subjective trust in health care providers, public and private hospitals, private health insurers and Medicare; attitudinal ratings for the current health care system, and public and private health care systems.

Australians reported high trust in doctors (general practitioners more than specialists), low trust in alternative practitioners, moderate trust in hospitals (private more than public), and greater trust in Medicare than in private health insurers. Older adults had the greatest trust in physicians, hospitals and Medicare, but all age groups held similar attitudes toward public and private health care systems. Support for the current health care system with its mix of public and private funding was moderately strong, but all respondents reported weak pro-private attitudes and very strong pro-public attitudes.

Public perceptions of Australian medical professionals, institutions and systems are generally positive. This sample did not endorse an individual user-pays private health system, but strongly favoured a universal public health system that is collectively funded by the public purse.