Australian lawyers are deemed less ethical than accountants, tax advisors, financial planners and bank managers, a new poll has revealed.The Governance Institute's 2017 Australian Ethics Index Survey rated occupations for their ethics - and accountants were rated far ahead of lawyers with a score of 34. Lawyers received -3, a marginal improvement from last year but well below many other occupations. They did however beat politicans who received a score of -23 and estate agents who were -29.

Ethical behaviour

The criteria for ethical behaviour was deemed to be accountability, transparency, highly ethical leaders, whistleblower protection and a strong legal framework. The top five aspects of unethical behaviour was viewed as: corruption, company tax avoidance, misleading and deceptive advertising, executive pay and discrimination.