Australia’s on an ethical backslide thanks to politicians and real estate agents, new index reveals

Australia is on a two-year-straight ethical decline according to data released today by the Governance Institute of Australia. The annual survey of 1000 people saw the nation slide down the morality metric — formally known as The Ethics Index — from a modest 45 last year to a meagre 42 this year. In 2020, the country came in at 52.

The index has been running since 2016 and serves as a stocktake of “ethical issues and conduct” in Australian society. In short, it’s a who’s who of principled and sub-par occupations, organisations and sectors, and a pitch for future challenges.

So who’s dragging us down and propping us up?

At the bottom of the occupation pile are state politicians. Deemed the “least ethical occupation”, they scored -22. That’s a 10-point reduction from last year and a 24-point reduction from 2020. Federal politicians did marginally better with a score of -20, while real estate agents came in third last with -18.  

Other big names in the “bottom 10” include senior executives and mortgage brokers. Clear crowd favourites.

The occupations worth their weight in gold — and stature — are overwhelmingly in health, emergency services and education. Nurses topped the charts with a net score of 77, followed closely by fire services at 75 and ambulance services at 74. The same three occupations scored a podium finish in 2021, but the incumbent (fire services) failed to secure gold a second year running.

From an organisational standpoint, TikTok came in last with a net score of -32. It’s joined by other big tech — Facebook, Twitter, Instagram — in the bottom 10. Note that the survey was conducted between August 29 and September 8 2022, before Elon Musk took over the reins at Twitter.

Pathology services specialists were the organisational winners, coming in with a net score of 66. Hot on their heels were primary schools and medical charities with 65 and 64, respectively.

The sector-wide performance has health, education and charities stealing the show as most ethical, and media, large corporations and resource companies trailing the pack.

So what’s the outlook?

By the index’s estimates, Australia is not tracking for an ethical U-turn. Immigration, euthanasia, Indigenous affairs, government policies and stalled action on climate change are the small-ticket top contenders for ethical dilemmas going forward.