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Dropping below politicians, real estate agents have been labelled as the least ethical professionals according to the latest Ethics Index.
The 2023 Governance Institute of Australia’s annual report found agents are now viewed as the least ethical workers within Australian society, with the profession recording a -19 score.
While last year they ranked second last, after politicians, it seems that the events of the past 12 months have seen real estate sales professionals drop even lower in the estimation of Australian consumers.
In this index, the top score that organisations and occupations can score is 100.
Anything between 60 and 100 would place individuals and groups into the “very ethical” category, while a negative number indicates that the profession is viewed as acting unethically.
Such is the disdain agents are viewed with that their nearest neighbours – directors of foreign companies operating in Australia and federal politicians – ranked significantly higher on the scale, each receiving a score of -3, highlighting the gulf between perceptions of agents versus any other occupation.
More broadly speaking, the ethical behaviours of Australia’s real estate institutes also ranked lowest in the survey, recording a score of 5 in the index, with the next lowest scoring association scoring 16.
The public perception of real estate agents as acting unethically increased year-on-year, with the occupation scoring -18 in last year’s Ethics Index, and comes as the importance of ethics in Australian society reaches a new all time high of 84, according to the index, with this surge driven largely by the values of Millennials and Gen X.
Governance Institute chief executive officer, Megan Motto, explained the Ethical Expectation Deficit, defined as the gap between the value placed on ethical behaviour and the perception, is “growing wider”.
“This indicates there’s still plenty of work to do by organisations and individuals, both in the public and private spheres, to ensure good, ethical conduct and a positive culture remain top of the agenda,” Ms Motto said.
According to the index’s findings, the rising cost of living, cyber security breaches and the increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) are viewed as this year’s top ethical challenges.
In the eyes of nearly three-quarters (73 per cent) of respondents, there is an urgent ethical obligation for customers to be notified of all data breaches, while over half (54 per cent) listed rising cost of living and inflationary impacts as a top ethical concern for this year.
Additionally, 71 per cent of respondents view ensuring AI companies’ technologies aren’t used by others to mislead or deceive as an urgent ethical obligation, while six in 10 saw users of generative AI must acknowledge their material’s been produced using generative AI.
Ms Motto said these concerns are “clearly playing on the minds of the public, with an overwhelming majority feeling there is an urgent ethical obligation for companies to notify customers of all data breaches – not just serious ones”.
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