Optometry has performed the best of all health disciplines in a national snapshot of consumer satisfaction with healthcare in Australia.
It performed well in a number of other areas as well, including access, affordability, communication and use of easy-to-understand language, and the quality of the practice environment.
That meant that clients were less likely to switch optometrists, with just 4% of those surveyed saying they had done that in the past few years.
That is despite a downturn in attitudes towards the health system in general, as revealed in the 2025-26 Health Insights Special Report (Part 2), the 14th annual survey commissioned by NAB bank.
In his introduction to the survey results, NAB Health and Medfin Australia executive Mr John Avent said the country’s health system was “widely regarded as one of the world’s best, supported by a range of highly qualified health practitioners who provide safe, reliable and quality care”.
He said that while there were some ongoing areas of concern, including access to services in rural and remote areas, there were also a number of encouraging ‘green shoots’ in this year’s report, suggesting real improvements had been made in the patient experience.
Those included wait times for mental health support falling, visitation up for many practitioner groups, particularly GPs, and ‘value’ being scored higher for almost all groups.
Also, patients were reporting it was easier to see most health practitioners and they felt more listened to and better understood, which meant switching rates had eased a little.
Despite those improvements, the survey revealed that overall levels of dissatisfaction with healthcare were up.
It showed that Australians rated their satisfaction with the health-system at an average of around 6.4 out of 10, slightly down from 6.5 in both 2023 and 2024.
Only 34% of respondents rated their satisfaction as “very high” (score 8+). That too was a drop from 36-37% in the two years previously.
That satisfaction varied by geography, age, gender and income.
Those living in capital cities rated the healthcare system at 6.5, while it was 6.4 for regional residents and 6.2 for those living in Australia’s rural centres.
Older Australians (65+) tended to rate the system higher at 6.8, with those aged 25-34 giving it 6.6 and 45 to 54-year-olds just 6.0.
Lower-income groups’ satisfaction improved to 6.4, but it fell to 6.5 for those on higher incomes.
The results showed that men tended to be happier with the system than women. On average, men gave it 6.6, with women landing on 6.3.
Concerns remained about access to healthcare.
The survey demonstrated that Australians still broadly report being able to access care, but waiting times and difficulties seeing certain practitioners (especially in rural/remote areas) remain.
Optometrists scored highly on access. Their 8.5 out of 10 was up on 2024’s 8.3 and second only to pharmacists, whose score was unchanged on 8.7.
The ease of seeing a specialist doctor, including ophthalmologists, was rated at 6.9, up on the 6.5 in the previous year.
Optometry scored highly in other areas as well.
It scored the highest in general satisfaction of all health disciplines at 8.4, although that was a slight drop on the 8.5 scored last year.
The survey said 35% of Australians had visited an optometrist in the survey period, which was up from 28% in 2022.
And those who visited were largely happy with the affordability of the interaction, with the average rating being 7.5.
Of the people surveyed, 54% said they had noticed price increases at their optometrist practice, compared with 49% the year before. Only public hospitals scored lower.
Three-quarters of those using a vet reported price increases, with psychiatrists and psychologists next at 68%, followed by osteopaths, physios and chiropractors on 65%.
All of that meant optometrists were seen as value for money, even more so than public hospitals.
They came out on top of the health disciplines covered at 8.2, a jump on the previous year’s 8.0, with pharmacies second on 8 and public hospitals on 7.7. Specialist doctors also scored 7.7.
Optometrists excelled in other areas, with the rating of 8.5 for their communication and use of language easily understood by patients up on the previous year’s 8.2 and second only to chiropractors, osteopaths and physios on 8.6.
Specialist doctors performed well, with their rating at 8.
Optometrists were second again to chiropractors, osteopaths and physios in the rating of their practice environments. The former improved from 7.9 the previous year to 8.1, with the latter just ahead on 8.2 in 2025.
Those positive numbers meant few clients were likely to switch optometrists, with only about 4% of patients changing practices in the past two to three years.
That compared favourably to other disciplines, including pharmacies and specialist doctors.
GPs were the most impacted by patients switching, with 17% reporting they had made the move in the past two to three years.
For the first time, respondents were also asked how likely they were to recommend the health practitioner they visited most frequently to a friend or colleague.
That was used to devise a net promoter score (NPS), with 0 considered good, above 20 being favourable, more than 50 excellent and above 80 world-class.
Chiropractors, osteopaths and physiotherapists came out on top with an NPS of 31, followed by vets (28), specialists including ophthalmologists (27), optometrists (25), pharmacy and private hospitals (21), dentists (19), GPs (17), public hospitals (10) and psychologists/psychiatrists (9).
In 2025, the survey also revealed that almost one in two (45%) Australians were extremely likely to recommend their specialist doctor, and around four in 10 their vet (42%), chiropractor, osteopath or physiotherapist (41%), optometrist (39%), dentist (39%), GP (38%), private hospital (38%).
This fell to around one in three for psychologists or psychiatrists (32%) and public hospitals (35%).
