Trust and ethics drop nationally: Governance Institute of Australia

Australia’s ethical score has fallen for the second year in a row according to new research from the Governance Institute of Australia (GIA).

GIA’s Ethics Index 2022 reveals a downward trend in trust nationally, falling from a score of 45 last year to 42 in 2022.

Megan Motto, CEO at the Governance Institute of Australia said, "We are now seeing a distinct downward trend in trust and ethics. Given strong ethics are an indicator of a strong, well-functioning society, this is a major concern and this year’s results must serve as a red flag reminder of the importance of trust and ethics at all levels of our society.”

The biggest perception of ethical decline lies in the public service and government sectors, dropping from 46 to 38, and the media and banking sectors also see softening.

“The Index found the media industry to be Australia’s least ethical sector, sitting below large corporations and resource companies. State politicians fell to the very bottom of the ethical pile for occupations. TikTok has fallen below payday lenders to register in last place for ethical behaviour of particular organisations,” said Motto.

The sectors seen as most ethical continue to be education and health.

“We continue to have strong trust in the health sector which has secured the top spot for ethical behaviour. However, that trust is falling with a dip in the net ethical score to 65 from 72 last year. Education stands firm in second place. Groups such as Choice, the AMA and Engineers Australia are shining brightly from a trust perspective,” she said.

The pandemic presented a number of ethical dilemmas including the appropriateness of return to office mandates.

According to the report, employees find work from office mandates highly unethical when the government recommends working from home due to spikes in Covid cases.

Finally, the ethical obligation to act on climate change is said to fall with the federal government, multi-national corporations, the state government and Australian businesses, while the survey reveals that individuals have the least urgent ethical obligation to take action for the climate.

Motto suggests that these results reveal an inclination to pass the buck.

“As a nation, we have high ethical expectations for action on climate change – but we seem to think it’s a task for everyone else,” said Motto.

“Let's hope these findings help act as a wake-up call that we all have a role to play on this urgent issue.”