The Professional Standards Councils hosted a round table discussion led by UNSW on professionalism in the 21st century at its head office in Sydney on Thursday 6 August.
The event saw academics, professionals and the Councils present the research they’ve conducted with funding from an Australian Research Council Linkage Project for discussion.
The aim of the discussion was to canvas a broad range of views regarding the questions raised by the research, which explores whether professionalising financial services could provide a strategy to improve the conduct of and trust in the institutions of finance.
Using the more established professions as reference points, the round table explored whether the structures, practices, beliefs and expectations of professions could make a difference given the state of the professions in the 21st century – particularly in light of the recent recommendations of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services.
The following papers were presented:
- What does the concept of Profession have to offer in the 21st century? by Thomas Clarke, Justine Rogers, John Chellew and Dimity Kingsford Smith
- Professional indemnity insurance as a regulatory and compensation mechanism for professions by John Morgan and Pamela Hanrahan.
- The Exam as Panacea: Examinations, Training and Competence in the Professions by Charles Sampford and Hugh Breakey.
- On Culture, Ethics and the Extending Perimeter of Financial Regulation by Justin O’Brien.
