Ethics Advisory Services P/L was created by Professor Melinda Edwards – an internationally experienced Law Professor and development adviser, Dr Mark Harvey - a Senior Law Enforcement Officer and Ethics adviser, and Dr Alistair Ping PhD – an internationally recognised expert in the field of Applied Ethics. We each have over 25 years of experience in Australia and Internationally in our chosen fields and began working together in 2019 on an Ethics Masterclass series for QUT Graduate School of Business.

 

We soon recognised that our unique perspectives on human behaviour and ethics was leveraged when we worked together – as a result we established Ethics Advisory Services P/L to provide strategic advice and training to public and private sector organisations based on the practical application of inter-disciplinary ethics research.

We are the sole provider of Ethics Training Services in Australia using the Causal Factor Model which explains ‘Why Good People Do Bad Things’. This model was developed by Dr Alistair Ping PhD in his doctoral research and is based on inter-disciplinary research from the fields of social psychology, neuro-cognitive science, moral philosophy and criminology. The model was developed due to the calls from international academics and practitioners to find a new way of addressing behavioural ethics issues. The key element in the model is the recognition that ethical decision making is not often a rational logical process and that situational and contextual factors can lead good people to make bad decisions that unintentionally create unethical outcomes. These small initial bad decisions then lead a person down the slippery slope which they struggle to get off.

Ethics Advisory Services P/L is also the sole provider of ethical infrastructure analysis using the Raise the Bar systems methodology developed by Dr Mark Harvey. This methodology recognises that ethics is not something that you ‘fix’ – but rather a complex issue that requires a systems approach to developing strategic and sustainable ethical infrastructure.
Since we began working together we have created methodologies to disrupt the process that leads to the unethical outcomes. We have delivered face to face and online presentations, webinars, workshops and courses. At all times we use academically validated feedback loops to asses the impact of our work and to refine and improve our services.
Examples of our work over the past 5 years include:-

Workshops and presentations  in ‘Why Good People Do Bad Things’

• These have been delivered as short 1 hour presentations, 3 hour workshops and full day workshops.

 
Workshops and presentations on ‘Leading with Integrity’

• Similarly these have been delivered as both face to face and online presentations and workshops.

Ethics and Leadership – 2 day workshop

• Delivered both face to face and virtually.

​

Ethics Masterclass Series – 6 workshop series

• Delivered to Senior Executives at QUT Ex in Brisbane

• Topics included:- How to lead ethically in complex environments, A systems approach to ethics, Skills and techniques for addressing unethical behaviour.

We have unique capabilities and experiences that enable us to address Ethics and Integrity issues strategically including:-

Design and Development of Training Programs

• We have extensive experience in the design and development of training programs. Professor Melinda Edwards has been nationally recognised for her expertise in this field.

 

Consultation and Co-design

• We work collaboratively with our clients to customise programs to meet their needs.

 

Behavioural Ethics

• Our training programs are based on the inter-disciplinary research of Dr Alistair Ping PhD which has been peer-reviewed and presented at conferences in Australia and Internationally- including the Australian Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference 2019 & 2022, the IAFOR International Ethics and Philosophy Conference in Japan 2016 & 2022.

Our workshops and presentations build understanding and capacity through the practical application of the theory.

​