For the advice industry to graduate to professional status in the eyes of lawmakers, clients and the broader community, it needs to move on from its tick-a-box approach to compliance and take on a higher-level principals approach to considering ethical situations. Richard Jackson points out the broader industry has a responsibility to support advisers to meet their obligations.

Reading the Code of Ethics will require another level of thinking from advisers if practitioners are still getting hung up on being prescriptive about certain aspects of the Code of Ethics, Dr Simon Longstaff explains. David Graham empathises with advisers in more corporatised structures than his own but suggests all advisers need to stand up for what they believe is right.

Reading the Code of Ethics through the eyes of a lawyer won’t work. Dr Katherine Hunt gives insight into how advisers can use the principals of the Code to guide and strengthen their decision-making. Felicity Cooper describes how her independently-owned business model enables a better ethical outcome than brokerage models she’s worked in previously.

Advisers have been pushed towards professionalism, something Dr Deen Sanders argues will work against the industry; Sanders says we have not yet seen a collective voice representing clients, participants and broader stakeholders. Michael Carmody believes there is still time for advisers to come together.

Over compliance and an overt focus on following the rules can work against businesses trying to promote an ethical environment. Dr Michael Collins considers the structural and environmental factors that lead to poor ethical outcomes. Jeff Thurecht highlights the need for advisers to be confident in the service they deliver to clients.

The moral philosopher who was a central figure in the global animal liberation movement in the 1970s, Dr Peter Singer goes back to the building blocks of ethics before turning his attention to the new FASEA Code. Marisa Broome emphasises the practical challenges practitioners face advising clients without conflict of interest.