The Struggles of Ethical Reform: How Public Outrage has United Australia

Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Advanced Studies student David Wang is a joint winner of the 2024 Natoli Student Ethics Competition for an undergraduate student.

House brands, barcodes, and online purchases. These commonplace technologies were spurred on by the infamous rivalry between Coles and Woolworths, a battle which has shaped Australian lifestyles since the 1950s. In 2014, these titans were pioneers of consumer relations, with customers citing value-equity and a sense of community as the drivers of their loyalty. 

 

With the recent advent of Corporate Social Responsibility, over 60% of the ASX100 corporations in 2023 have reported improvements in UN SDGs (‘Decent Work and  Economic Growth’, ‘Gender Equality’ and ‘Climate Action’ being the most common). In this ethically conscious status quo, most would expect the supermarket duopoly to have garnered a stellar reputation. Contrarily, these retail giants have been under such public scrutiny that the Labor, Greens and Nationals have collectively urged for increased competition in the industry.  

 

Last year, Coles and Woolworths recorded profits of $1.1bn and $1.6bn respectively, using pricing mechanisms which increase profit margins whilst passing a smaller share onto suppliers. Furthermore, up to 40% of harvests are entering landfills due to alleged overstatements of suggested production volumes to producers. Considering the cost of living surged to record highs in 2022, and inflationary impacts became the ‘top ethical challenge’ for Australia in 2023, is the negative shift in public sentiment really surprising? 

 

The societal welfare slogans of ‘Better Together’ (Coles) and ‘Caring for all Australians’ (Woolworths) seem vacuous, as SDGs including ‘Responsible Production’, are consistently violated. The disparity between messages and actions accentuates the rationale behind the public’s wariness of treating the corporate and banking sectors as ethical. However, the recent resignation of Woolworth’s Brad Banducci denotes that public backlash can invoke social change. 

 

As Australians look onwards to a brighter future they ask, “Are the ethical reforms of corporations truly praiseworthy if millions have to voice their complaints first?”