Australia’s perception of itself as an ethical society has fallen in 2021 as Australians struggled to balance freedom of movement and individual liberties with efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19.
A report by the Governance Institute shows that although ethical questions have never been so front of mind for most Australians, attitudes to how “ethical” we believe we are is declining.
“Last year we placed vast amounts of trust in our governments, scientists and health and emergency service workers during the initial waves of lockdown – and our trust was rewarded as we saw, in many cases, COVID-19 numbers settling,” chief executive Megan Motto said.
“However, 2021 has been a very different year. We have seen major fluctuations in approaches to managing the virus, stronger debate around when to lock down and when to open up, and we were all thrown by a new variant of the virus.”
Ethics on the brain
The findings come in a year in which integrity and accountability have dominated political discourse. In 2021 alone, a state premier was taken down by a corruption inquiry, the prime minister was called a liar by the French president (and, earlier, in Crikey), and pork-barrelling has become a political norm.
Calls to establish a federal integrity commission have never been louder.
Cris Parker, head of the ethics alliance at the Ethics Centre, tells Crikey how during the pandemic ethics have been on the minds of Australians more than usual, with daily decisions to wear masks, get vaccinated and engage in debate.
“In being more aware of what is good and what is right, the ethics index shows we are more aware of behaviour that does not align with our values and principles,” she said. “Our government sets the ethical benchmark for our society, so maintaining trust is dependent on the leadership of our government and its ability to uphold high ethical standards.”
COVID-19, the great unifier?
Trust in the federal government was low before the pandemic, but rebounded enormously in 2020. However, the latest Mapping Social Cohesion Report from the Scanlon Foundation Research Institute, out today, shows the rebound hasn’t lasted — relevant trust measurement is down 10 percentage points to 44% (still above average).
The ethics index also indicated that there was widespread agreement among Australians that COVID was the top ethical challenge facing Australians, with local manufacturing and climate change coming in at a distant second and third.
The Scanlon survey came to the same conclusion, reporting a dramatic spike in agreement that COVID was the most pressing problem facing Australia in July 2020; 63% of respondents agreed, representing a hugely consistent response for an open-ended question.
While the pandemic may be in its dying days, the impacts it has had on ethics and our beliefs are evident, and Australians may never come together on an issue in the same way again.
Try looking at housing affordability since Covid if you want a glaring example of us and them.
The pandemic is not in its dying days (unless you are one of the dying). Also, while people may think the pandemic is a greater threat than climate change, they have been misinformed, and have come to the wrong conclusion, unfortunately.
covid has opened the eyes in a number of nations of what has been going on in the background for a long time, now it is up to the people to push their governments into fixing the problems but i will not hold my breath waiting for it to happen as there are others with their own personal agendas that will still push for their own interests.