What The Ethics Centre does

The Ethics Centre is an independent Australian non-profit founded in 1991 (operating as The Ethics Centre, headquartered in heritage-listed Legion House, Sydney) that delivers applied ethics services across consumer, enterprise, education and public-sector audiences. Its core programmes include Ethi-call — a free confidential helpline staffed by trained ethics counsellors operating since 1991 — and Primary Ethics, a volunteer-led curriculum reaching over 40,000 children weekly across more than 450 NSW primary schools. The organisation also runs the Festival of Dangerous Ideas (launched 2009; 418 sessions, 194,000 tickets sold cumulatively and 50,000+ in-person attendees) and consults to enterprises through proprietary instruments including the EVEREST culture diagnostic, Shadow Values Assessment, ViewFinder executive profile and customised leadership workshops; banking and finance sector engagement is anchored by the Banking and Financial Services Oath (BFSO), established in 2012 with 6,230+ signatories.

Revenue is generated through a diversified, non-profit mix: tax-deductible donations (it is a registered Deductible Gift Recipient), an annual membership programme, ticket sales and event partnerships, quote-based consulting engagements, and grants from foundations such as the Manos Foundation, Third Link Investment Managers, Menzies Foundation and Multicultural NSW. Distribution is direct — through the helpline, online courses (Ethics Reboot, Ethics Unboxed), a NSW school volunteer network, and direct consulting sales to corporates and government — with no intermediary resellers. Marketing leans on thought leadership: email newsletters, podcasts (Life and Shares, Little Bad Thing, FODI), explanatory video content, regular press in major Australian outlets, and the annual FODI event as a flagship brand-building platform. A 2025 co-development with Miroma Project Factory produced HI, an AI prototype for ethical decision-support in finance, currently in R&D. The Centre has no parent company, no subsidiaries and no venture or private-equity backing; it is governed by an independent board chaired by Peter Joseph AM, with Dr Simon Longstaff AO serving as Executive Director since founding.

Name

The Ethics Centre

Legal name

The Ethics Centre

Website

https://ethics.org.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

1991

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Ethics Centre is an independent Australian non-profit founded in 1991 that delivers applied ethics counselling (Ethi-call helpline), consulting, education (Primary Ethics in 450+ NSW schools) and thought-leadership programmes for individuals, corporates, schools and government.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Ethics Consulting & Education

NAICS

Professional Organizations (81392), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813), All Other Schools and Instruction (61169), Business Associations (813910)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)

akta.pro primary industry

Ethics, Integrity & Whistleblowing Program Advisory (BPAHAFAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Code of Conduct & Business Ethics (EDABADAB), Human Oversight, Review & Content Moderation Tooling (HDAAAMAH), Business Law, Ethics & Compliance (Contracts, IP Basics) (EDAMAHAL), Teacher Standards, Ethics & Professional Conduct Boards (EDADAJAE)

Keywords

• Business ethics consulting
• Ethics education programs
• Organizational culture assessment
• Decision-making frameworks
• Ethics counselling services

Headquarters

HQ city

Sydney

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations: Tax-deductible donations from individuals and organizations. The Ethics Centre is registered as a Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) with the Australian Taxation Office. Donations support ongoing projects, pilots, and research.
2. Membership Fees: Annual membership program offering access to community, resources, and benefits for individuals committed to ethics.
3. Event Revenue: Ticket sales from Festival of Dangerous Ideas, Ethics Tune Up workshops, and other public events. Multi-pack tickets and various attendance tiers available.
4. Consulting Services: Customized consulting and leadership programs for organizations, including culture assessments (Everest, Shadow Values), workshops, and executive coaching.
5. Grants: Funding from foundations and grant-making organizations supporting specific programs and initiatives.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

The Ethics Centre is an independent Australian not-for-profit that delivers ethics counselling, education, and consulting. Its core offerings include the free Ethi-call helpline, online ethics courses (Ethics Reboot, Ethics Unboxed), the volunteer-led Primary Ethics program in NSW schools, organizational culture diagnostics and leadership consulting (EVEREST, Shadow Values, ViewFinder, Ethics Workshops), the annual Festival of Dangerous Ideas public event, the Banking and Financial Services Oath, and The Ethics Alliance corporate membership.

Product overview

The Ethics Centre operates as a not-for-profit organization offering a diverse portfolio of ethics-related products, services, and programs. The core offerings include Ethi-call (a free decision-making helpline), ethics education courses (Ethics Reboot, Ethics Unboxed), and Primary Ethics (volunteer-led ethics classes for primary school students reaching 40,000+ children weekly). Consulting services encompass organizational culture programs (EVEREST, Shadow Values Assessment), decision-making tools (ViewFinder profiles, Ethics Workshops), and the Ethics & Decision Making education program. Event-based offerings include the Festival of Dangerous Ideas (Australia's premier disruptive ideas festival), alongside podcasts (Little Bad Thing, Life and Shares, FODI podcast series) and video explainers. Research publications cover AI ethics (Ethical by Design for AI), board governance, workplace ethics, and financial services ethics. Membership programs include The Ethics Alliance (corporate community) and the Banking and Financial Services Oath. Youth-focused programs span Primary Ethics, Secondary Ethics, Moral Courage, Common Ground, Ethics by Design: Leading New Futures, and the Young Ambassadors Program. The organization has also launched HI, an AI prototype for ethical decision-making in finance developed in partnership with Miroma Project Factory.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Ethi-call Free, independent helpline service offering decision-making support from trained ethics counsellors. Provides confidential one-hour calls to help individuals navigate personal or professional ethical dilemmas using a structured decision-making framework. Operates 24/7 messaging and phone support.
• Ethics Reboot Free online 21-day course designed to build meaningful, lasting habits for a better life. Delivers daily emails with practical guidance, motivation, and activities to help participants develop 21 positive qualities. Targeted at the general public.
• Ethics Unboxed Free online introductory course explaining ethics in bite-sized chunks. Delivered over 10 sessions in 5 weeks, helping participants understand why they do what they do and make decisions aligned with their values.
• Primary Ethics Volunteer-led program of discussion-based ethics classes for primary school students in NSW. Teaches over 40,000 children each week in over 450 schools to foster critical thinking and ethical decision-making. Provided free to participating schools.
• Festival of Dangerous Ideas (FODI) Australia's original disruptive ideas festival featuring international and local thinkers exploring topics at the boundary of conventional thought. Includes talks, art, film, music and excursions over 10 days in Sydney. Ticket sales fund event operations.
• EVEREST Organizational culture diagnostic program that enables organisations to understand their current culture, identify gaps between ideal and lived values, highlight misaligned systems and behaviors, and provides a practical path for improvement. Delivered to enterprise clients.
• ViewFinder Executive-level decision-making profile providing insight into an individual's dominant ethical decision-making style. Builds self-awareness, understanding of decision drivers, and team values to generate heightened awareness and better decision-making strategies.
• Ethics Workshops Facilitated workshops teaching participants to apply practical frameworks for quality decision-making using common organisational dilemmas. Explores what drives choices and how to slow down thinking in complex decisions.
• Shadow Values Assessment Assessment identifying unstated operating culture (shadow values and principles) within an organisation. Provides recommendations to align purpose and strategic ambitions.
• Ethics & Decision Making Customised learning experience refining decision-making capabilities. Provides practical frameworks for quality decisions, helps understand decision drivers, and teaches participants to slow down thinking when facing complex decisions.
• Moral Courage Program for secondary school students provided in partnership with Relationships Australia NSW. Develops skills and capabilities to navigate challenging situations including decision-making, identifying values, perspective-taking, and seeking help.
• Common Ground School-based program for Year 9 and 10 students funded by Multicultural NSW, in partnership with Courage to Care. Builds awareness of prejudice and discrimination and empowers young people with practical skills to recognise and challenge discrimination.
• Ethics by Design: Leading New Futures Free one-term leadership program for Stage 5 students building ethical leadership, systems thinking and innovation skills. Students tackle real-world issues through inquiry-based group projects with a $20,000 prize for the winning school.
• HI AI Assistant AI prototype designed to support ethical decision-making in finance, providing real-time, context-aware prompts to aid ethical reflection for finance professionals, particularly targeting young employees facing daily ethical dilemmas. Currently in R&D phase.
• The Ethics Alliance Corporate community of businesses committed to raising standards of business practice in Australia, offering ethical frameworks and peer networking through corporate membership.
• Banking and Financial Services Oath (BFSO) Initiative fostering ethical practice in banking and finance through individual commitment, events, and valuable conversations. Created in 2012 with 6,230+ members since inception including Chairman and CEO of every major bank.
• Speaking Engagements Expert speakers available for webinars, conferences, online events, and media appearances covering ethics, leadership and decision-making topics.
• Event Space Hire Hire of heritage-listed Legion House event space with 75 seated/120 standing capacity, audio systems, live streaming, and meeting facilities.

Quantifiable outcome

• 96% of Ethi-call callers reported positive impact on emotional and mental wellbeing
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core, key and major.

• Miroma Project FactorycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 October 2025Co-development partner for HI AI assistant prototype designed to support ethical decision-making in finance. The Ethics Centre and Miroma Project Factory developed the AI tool providing real-time, context-aware prompts for ethical reflection, currently in R&D phase.
• Menzies FoundationkeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in Secondary Ethics program development, collaborating with AIME, Federation University and Good Wolf to develop resources for teachers to better teach the Ethical Understanding general capability.
• Multicultural NSWkeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerFunder of Common Ground school-based program for Year 9 and 10 students, partnered with Courage to Care, building awareness of prejudice and discrimination.
• Relationships Australia NSWkeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Relationships Australia NSW for Moral Courage program delivering skills and capabilities to secondary school students for navigating challenging situations.
• CarriageworksmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrimary venue partner for Festival of Dangerous Ideas in Sydney, hosting the annual flagship event featuring international and local thinkers.
• Australian Institute of Company DirectorsmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for Ethics in the Boardroom research publication, presenting a guide for making ethical decisions in the boardroom for directors.
• Deloitte Access EconomicskeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerEconomic modelling partner for The Ethical Advantage and Productivity and Ethics reports, quantifying benefits of ethics for individuals and the nation.
• The Gradient InstitutekeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated with Banking and Finance Oath Young Ambassadors on AI-driven marketing ethics research for financial services industry.
• University of New South WaleskeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner; Dr Simon Longstaff is Adjunct Professor at Australian Graduate School of Management, UNSW.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• The Josephson Institute / Character.org: US non-profit promoting ethics and character education. Comparable in ethics education programs, school-based curriculum, and the ethics framework approach.
• Character Lab: US non-profit advancing character development in youth. Comparable in educational mission, K-12 ethics curriculum development, and research on ethical development.

Direct peers

• Institute of Business Ethics: UK-based charity promoting business ethics through research, training, and advisory services. Direct peer in ethics consulting, ethics-at-work surveys, and corporate training programs.
• Ethics & Compliance Initiative (ECI): US non-profit providing ethics research, benchmarking, and consulting services to organizations. Comparable in research publications, culture assessments, and ethics advisory.
• Markkula Center for Applied Ethics: Santa Clara University ethics center offering ethics education, consulting, and bioethics/technology ethics frameworks. Comparable in applied ethics focus, frameworks, and consulting.

Broad incumbents

• Ethisphere Institute: Global leader in defining and advancing standards of ethical business practices; offers the World's Most Ethical Companies recognition, ethics ratings, and benchmarking. Comparable in defining ethics standards and consulting for enterprises.
• Australian Institute of Company Directors: Australia's peak body for directors offering governance education and research. Direct partner of The Ethics Centre; comparable member-based model and boardroom ethics focus.
• Governance Institute of Australia: Australian peak body for governance, risk, and compliance professionals. Comparable Australian membership-based ethics/governance organization with research and corporate training.
• BSR (Business for Social Responsibility): Global non-profit consultancy working with businesses on sustainability and ethics. Comparable in providing corporate advisory, sustainability consulting, and industry collaboration.

Regional players

• Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding: US-based non-profit tackling religious prejudice and workplace equity. Comparable in education programs, organizational training, and public events on ethical issues.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ethics_centre

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Ethics Centre