Ethics - the professions and business - who do people trust ?

Extract Table from Governance Institute Ethics Index 2016

The release of research commissioned by the Governance Institute of Australia confirms the distrust which the wider community have with a number of key sectors of society. Overall, according to the survey sample, 84% rate ethics as important to a well functioning society however Australian society was rated as being only 'somewhat ethical' showing that there is an perceived ethical deficit.

The survey had a number of key findings of note -

• The ethical score by broad sector is shown in the extract Table (above) demonstrating a high level of confidence in health and education while at the opposite end of the measurement, a very low confidence in the ethical behaviour of large corporations and the media.
• Within the key business sectors, real estate agents have the lowest ethical score with 1 in every 2 people stating that they are unethical. In contrast farmers and agricultural businesses are perceived as being the most ethical.
• Australians rate the ABC as the most ethical media platform.
• The banking, finance and insurance sector has the lowest ethics score amongst all sectors with a particular focus on executive salaries and bonuses, followed by bribery/corruption and poor treatment of customers.
• The top 5 ethical issues in business were rated as: corruption (69%), company tax avoidance (61%), misleading and deceptive advertising (59%), workplace bullying (50%) and discrimination and executive pay (both at 49%).

How was this sample constructed ? 

• n= 1,001
• Gender: 50% male and 50% female
• Work status: 15% were students, 59% working, 9% home duties, 9% retired, 6% not employed
• Location:  21% from Sydney, 19% from Melbourne, 10% from Brisbane, 8% from Perth, 6% from Adelaide with the rest from around Australia
• Age: mainly 22-35yrs: 22%, 36-45 yrs: 22%, 46-55 yrs: 22%, 56-65 yrs: 18%,
• Education: mainly trade certificate: 28%, Bachelor degree: 23% and Post graduate: 11% 
• Household status: mainly single 35% couple with children: 25%  couple without children: 25%  

This survey dovetails with similar research by the Lowy Institute which rates public perception about the professions - on a consistent annual basis it shows an almost identical set of results. The fact that there is a continuing trend of distrust with the same sectors year-by-year should send a clear message that change is needed. Yet, none appears to occur.

An executive summary of the Governance Institute's research can be found at this link:

Governance Institute of NSW - Ethics Index