We cannot assume ‘doing good’ is enough

As the Royal Commission into Banking heads into another month and we hear and read more stories of the behaviour that seemed to dominate the industry, we have to wonder where the next time bomb is?

Having already had one’s faith questioned after the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, the Banking Royal Commission has left two of the three institutional pillars that many Australians held up so firmly, decidedly wobbly. So what is next….. could it be health or community care?

If so, as a sector, how would we respond if the spotlight was shone on us? What we do know is that we cannot assume ‘doing good’ is enough. We know for a fact that doing good does not protect, nor should it protect an entire industry, however good your intentions. The care sector must learn from the previous demise of confidence in the abovementioned institutions and focus on the things that people expect from the institutions that we as a society, have held up in high regard. Honesty, fairness, transparency and accountability; the four most commonly used words in vision statements and corporate values but the four things that are least often followed. People need to trust those in the care system to ‘do the right thing’ and to provide honest and impartial information. Without that, we run the risk of being the last pillar that brings the house down.