The most and least ethical Aussie jobs

Firefighters were named the most ethical job, while real estate agents were named the least. (Source: AAP)

With many Aussies fed up over rent hikes and failures to fix property issues, it’s perhaps unsurprising that real estate agents have been named the least ethical job in Australia.

The Governance Institute of Australia’s latest Ethics Index ranked occupations from most to least ethical, along with sectors and organisations.

Behind real estate agents, directors of foreign companies in Australia, federal politicians and state politicians were also named among the least ethical occupations.

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Emergency services workers topped the list for the most ethical professionals, the survey of 1,000 Aussies found, with fire service workers taking the top spot, followed by ambulance workers.

For sectors, the media was rated the least ethical, while education and health were named the most ethical.

Governance Institute CEO Megan Motto said the ‘Ethical Expectation Deficit’ - the gap between the value we place on ethical behaviour and the perception of it - was growing wider.

“This indicates that 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,” Motto said.

For organisations, payday lenders were seen as the least ethical, followed by social media platforms TikTok, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram.

The most ethical organisations were pathology services specialists, followed by primary schools, medical charities and social welfare charities.

Top 10 most ethical occupations

1. Fire services

2. Ambulance services

3. Pharmacists

4. Nurses

5. General practitioners

6. Childcare/preschool carers

7. Primary school teachers

8. Veterinarians

9. Dentists

10. Secondary school teachers

Top 10 least ethical occupations

1. Real estate agents

2. Directors of foreign companies operating in Australia

3. Federal politicians

4. State politicians

5. Senior executives

6. Local politicians

7. Chairs of companies

8. Directors of Australian companies

9. CEOs/managing directors

10. Lawyers

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