Governance Institute of Australia, a national membership association advocating for better governance, is calling on NSW voters to consider the ethical actions and the integrity of candidates standing for Parliament in this weekend’s State Election.

In Governance Institute’s most recent Ethics Index, it was found that state politicians were perceived as the least ethical occupation, falling 12 points in the past year. Federal and local politicians were also in the bottom five.

CEO Megan Motto said that given recent scandals from across the political divide, it’s not surprising that trust in state politicians remains low.

“These results reflect the fact that in recent times, the NSW electorate has been asked by senior political leaders to accept that pork barrelling, branch stacking, corruption, poor behaviour, conflicts of interest and jobs for mates is simply standard practice for those in the corridors of power.” Ms Motto said.

Check out: Megan Motto of the Governance Institute on improving public sector governance

The Ethics Index also found that the gap between society’s expectations of good ethical conduct and reality is growing, indicating that institutions are failing to live up to community standards.

“Good governance and an understanding of ethics and integrity from our leaders should set the bar for organisations across the nation, leading from the top to influence the public and private sectors and the institutions we rely on,” Ms Motto said.

“Instead, it can appear that politicians are the ones dragging their heels to keep up with community expectations.”

Check out: Governance Institute releases report on public sector governance

Ms Motto is urging NSW voters to make the best use of their democratic rights to ensure that turning up at the ballot box is more than just a ‘tick and flick’ exercise.

“The standard that we walk past is the standard we accept. We have the power to close the ethical gap and force change. The citizens of NSW deserve nothing less.”

Governance Institute’s Ethics Index 2022 is in its seventh year, continuing the trend of revealing the most and least ethical occupations, organisations and sectors, and checking the nation’s temperature on current ethical dilemmas and difficult questions.

Eliza Sayon

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Eliza is a content producer and editor at Public Spectrum. She is an experienced writer on topics related to the government and to the public, as well as stories that uplift and improve the community.

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