At the beginning of the twenty-first century, and well before the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), Beck (2002) argued that fundamental concepts of ‘modern society’ must be reexamined. Household, family, class, social inequality, democracy, power, state, commerce, public, community, justice, law, history, politics must be released from fetters of methodological nationalism and must be reconceptualised and empirically established within the framework of a cosmopolitan social and political science, which remain to be developed (Beck 2002: p. 39). Almost a decade later this call continues to be relevant and necessary, and needs to be pursued.

Though Australia is a resource rich country, it is facing significant challenges. For example, Australia suffers from skills shortages (e.g. medical and information technology specialists). In order to keep up with the overseas demand for resources underpinned by mineral wealth, Australia attracts individuals from diverse backgrounds who enhance Australia’s position to meet its demands in the international markets. According to Australian Bureau of Statistics, the preliminary estimated resident population of Australia at 30 June 2012 was 22,683,600 people. This reflects an increase of 359,600 people since 31 June 2011 and 87,100 people since 31 March 2012. While the natural increase was on 0.5% or 800 people, the preliminary net overseas migration recorded for the year ended 30 June 2012 (208,300 people) was 22.3%. In April the population reached another landmark figure of 23,000,000 people. Migration is welcomed, and is considered necessary for meeting the needs of skills shortages in Australia. However, although migrants would be vetted prior to being allowed in Australia, this rapid and instant increase influences and modifies the social tapestry, bringing to the forefront several challenges, not only to governments, but also businesses. Some of these challenges might be in the form of creating tensions within society that might lead to socioethnic problems. Other challenges that relate to the Australian economy have been recorded by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC, 2013); the number of companies entering insolvency had increased by 158% since 1999-2000. This might be as a result of lack of knowledge by new comers of the Australian way of doing business, or the fact that those new comers might bring in their own ways of business dealings which might cause harm not only to the new comers but to the Australian society and economy.

Certainly, there are moves to tackle these different challenges. There are attempts by different government departments (e.g. Australian Public Service Commission ‘APSC’)—yet these seem inadequate. APSC identifies behaving ethically as being critical in the public sector, where the public servants exercise authority on behalf of the Australian Government, with their actions directly affecting the lives and wellbeing of the public, who demand high standards. While The Australian Public Service (APS) Values and Code of Conduct apply to all APS employees supported by necessary legislative frameworks, as public servants they must use their judgement and discretion when making decisions (APSC, 2012). These employees need to take into account four aspects: (1) what are the rules? (2) what is their role? (3) what are their responsibilities? and, (4) what is the right thing to do? (APSC, 2012). The rules are clear, the roles and responsibilities are defined and identified in the job descriptions of these employees, with support provided in the form of legislative framework, and ethics advisory services. However, there continue to be immoral decisions being taken by not only ordinary employees or public servants, but rather high profile personalities and politicians.

These incidents occur despite the existence of a clear legislative framework and ethics advisory services that include the types of questions employees in the services sector, for example, need to ask themselves prior to taking a decision. Certainly, there might be a fault somewhere. Is it lack of proper training of ethical ways of thinking, or is it the clash of cultures? Taking a closer look at the questions proposed by APSC for staff to establish their judgment and take decisions, the fourth question ‘what is the right thing to do?’ might be interpreted differently by different individuals in isolation from the Code of Conduct or Legislative Frameworks. Instead, it might depend on the specific department or organizational culture, coupled and intertwined with the employee’s individual values and their ethical mindsets.

We are in desperate need of conducting research on the development of a framework to examine the fundamental concepts of the Australian ‘modern society’, a society that has seen a wideranging change on the economic, societal and environmental levels. This study will later extend to include the Asia Pacific region, where the transformation of the Asian region into the economic powerhouse of the world is not only unstoppable, it is gathering pace (Australian Government 2012). There are also great social and cultural benefits to be had from broadening and deepening our people-to-people links across the region. One of the changes that the Australian Government’s October 2012 white paper anticipates has to do with the growing empowerment of individuals and nonstate actors. This change will by no means be completely, or even predominantly, negative. There is a growing capacity for groups in society to organise within countries and across national boundaries. And in some regions and nations there are changing demands for better governance and more transparency from individuals who have better access to information and can share their views more easily (Australian Government 2012). Embarking on such an ambitious agenda, Australia needs to be well qualified. Our economy is strong, we survived the GFC, avoiding recession, we enjoy good relationships with China, India, Indonesia, Japan and others in the region, our institutional regional engagements are strong, and our people-to-people links are expanding as business, travel, communications and study relationships in our region continue to grow. However, we must build on all these strengths combined if we are to seize the opportunities of the Asian century (Australian Government 2012: p. iii). Indeed, we need to look at our backyard, and strengthen our governance, prior to embarking on such an ambitious agenda. This is very ambitious, especially with the anticipated changes between now and 2025 and 2050. While in 2010 Australia had made it to the top ten countries in the Gross Domestic Product per capita, for 2050, Australia disappears from the top ten list, giving way to Asian countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and South Korea.

Enriched by earlier literature, this research is a step toward enhancing better governance in Australia. It can act as the catalyst in assisting Australia lead the way in the Asia-Pacific region, which is known for its diverse religions, ideologies and cultures. This can be achieved by developing and testing a framework that incorporates individual level variables (e.g. age, gender, education, origin), organizational level variables (e.g. ethical climate, organizational culture), with an interest in different levels at the organization and societal level variables (e.g. increased migration to Australia, skills shortages, Australian investments in the region, the region’s investments in Australia) through the application of six pillars of ethical mindsets (i.e. Aesthetic spirituality, religious spirituality, optimism, contentment, making a difference, interconnectedness) identified by Issa (2009) as a moderating variable to examine individual and organizational value congruence. This research needs to address the current problems, recommending methods and ways that will assist in enhancing morality in businesses and societies.

While the ethical challenges in Australia are caused by its prosperity, there is an urgent need to go beyond the traditional theories, frameworks and models in relation to business ethics. Thus, this new research would be building on Issa’s (2009) findings on the existence and components of ‘ethical mindsets’. It aims to examine and evaluate the impact of ‘ethical mindsets’ on ‘ethical climates’ in an attempt to safeguard Australia from corporate fraud and contribute to the ‘sustainable development’ of Australian organizations. This assessment is anticipated to provide an understanding of how to develop a more sustainable organization, enhancing due diligence towards people, planet and profit in Australia and the Asia Pacific Region. The findings of this project will have several theoretical, practical and methodological implications.