From fair trade fashion to eco-friendly packaging and game-changing renewables, these companies champion ethical business practices and meaningful change for a more sustainable future.
Below, we showcase the Australian ethical organisations making waves worldwide and explore how you can step up your game when it comes to doing better business.
Our pick of Australia’s most ethical businesses
Here is our list of top performers who walk the talk through mission-driven policies, procedures and company culture to have a real-world impact in their spaces.
These companies are B Corp certified and we’ve chosen them due to their proven ability to meet high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability.
Let’s dive in.
Hepburn Energy
Home to Australia’s first community-owned wind farm, Hepburn Energy has been driving change in the energy and renewables sector for over a decade. Its iconic wind turbines in regional Victoria provide electricity to over 2,000 local homes that once relied heavily on coal-fired power.
A powerhouse by name and nature, Hepburn Energy has been consistently recognised in B Corp’s Best for the World list every year since its certification in 2016. It can hang its hat on:
- generating 127,654 megawatt-hours of energy in 2024, abating 130,813 tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere
- supporting local zero-net emissions projects like the Hepburn Solar Buy-Back and Hepburn EV Bulk Buy programs
- winning the World Wind Energy Award 2012
- maintaining a social enterprise certification
Now a member-owned co-operative, the company continues to advance its solar energy and battery storage efforts.
Etiko
Etiko, derived from the Greek word for ‘ethical’, leads the way in feel-good fashion and footwear that is fair trade, organic and vegan.
The first brand of its kind in Australia, the company is respected for its unwavering commitment to minimising waste and reducing its environmental impact while flying the flag for fair trade fashion.
The company’s mantle is overflowing with accolades, including the highest-ranking brand from 2013–2024 in the Australian Ethical Fashion Report, along with:
- first fashion brand to win the 2016 Human Rights Awards
- Fairtrade Product of the Year at Australian Fairtrade Awards
- multiple sustainability and social responsibility awards
Etiko runs a used fashion Take Back Program and continues to support worthwhile charities like Save The Children, Sea Shepherd and The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre.
Australian Ethical Investment
Aptly named, Australian Ethical Investment (AE) puts its money where its mouth is to pursue a ‘world where money is a force for good’. Driven by purpose and not just profit, the company says no to investing in animal testing, human rights abuses, uranium mines, gambling and big tobacco.
According to their 2024 annual report, AE’s portfolio boasts 75 per cent lower CO2 intensity for listed companies and 5.2 times more investment in renewables and energy solutions than the industry benchmark.
The company won the SuperRatings Infinity Award for Best Sustainable Super Fund and was crowned as a Best for the World honouree for customer and governance by B Corp in 2022.
BioPak
Catering to environmentally conscious consumers, BioPak is a market leader in eco-friendly food packaging that ‘puts the planet first’.
Chances are, you’ve nibbled salad from one of their innovative BioBowls or sipped freshly roasted coffee from a takeaway cup designed to be commercially composted as part of the circular economy.
While BioPak has met its fair share of composting and recycling challenges, it remains a trailblazer for sustainable packaging made from mostly renewable materials.
In 2024, BioPak’s efforts:
- diverted 24,455 tonnes of plastic from landfill
- planted 51,129 greenhouse-gas-busting trees
- launched Australia's first biodegradable PHA-lined cups
The company has won a raft of packaging and stewardship awards and donated over $5.2 million to community partners via its Give Back Fund since 2012.
Outland Denim
Outland Denim is an Australian fashion brand focused on creating premium-quality denim products to support survivors of human trafficking and help break the cycle of modern slavery.
The brand, which has established a cult following and is worn by celebrities, employs a small team in Australia and more than 126 team members in Cambodia who produce denim products that:
- are made with up to 96 per cent less energy and 86 per cent less water
- are manufactured with 100 per cent traceable organic cotton denim
- pay a living wage and create opportunities for people in need
- tackle the global problem of textile waste in the fashion industry
As one of only 10 businesses honoured in the 2019 CO Leadership Awards, the brand continues investing in research, waste management and education programs for the greater good.
The importance of business ethics
Ethics are the driving force for impactful change that guides behaviour and decision-making for individuals and organisations. So, what makes a company ethical?
Ethical companies consider the impact of their actions and decisions to ensure they can generate profit while doing good for stakeholders and society.
“A lot of people think about ethics as a philosophy, but the word ‘ethics’ is actually a verb — it’s what we do that matters,” says David Penglase, author and corporate ethics educator.
“Everything we say and do sends a clear message about who we are and what we represent. And for that reason, understanding ethical or moral behaviour has become important for leaders and everyone within the organisation.”
A 2024 report by the Governance Institute of Australia showed that Australians hold high ethical expectations for action, with climate change as one of the major concerns, and that trust in business is trending downwards. Paired with research revealing that 70 per cent of Aussie consumers are interested in changing their shopping habits to be more ethical, it’s easy to see why companies need to prioritise ethics to win back trust.
“If organisations want to raise profitability and overall success by whatever measure,” says Penglase, “they need to build trust across all realms of an organisation. Trust impacts almost every measure of success in our professional and personal lives.”
Ethical issues in business
When moral standards are skewed or not well-considered, several ethical issues can emerge in business:
- Exploitation can cause suffering across the supply chain.
- Discrimination may ostracise employees and customers.
- Corruption can undermine the integrity of business operations.
- Decisions can have a negative, long-term impact on the environment.
- Employee and consumer safety can be compromised.
- Accounts may be ‘cooked’ or falsely reported.
- Data privacy could be breached, resulting in a loss of trust and fines.
- Intellectual property may fall into the wrong hands.
According to Penglase, the biggest issue facing many companies is that often, ethics only come into question when a problem arises.
How can a business be more ethical?
The list of ways a business can become more ethical is endless, but this list serves as a good starting point:
- Develop a code of ethics. Establish clear ethical standards and policies aligned with organisational goals and values, and review them regularly.
- Lead by example. Foster an ethical culture within the workplace by communicating moral codes, supporting ethical design and decision-making, paying fair wages, promoting diversity and remaining transparent.
- Tackle issues head-on. Take swift action to address ethical concerns for a timely resolution. Use what you learn to revise and improve your approach and prevent ethical mishaps in the future.
- Seek further education. Harness the power of training to develop your understanding and approach to business ethics. Pursuing a specialised MBA degree can equip leaders with the knowledge and skills to succeed across all aspects of ethical business practice.
- Consider this question. When it comes time to make an ethical decision, ask yourself: if this decision were to come to light, would it pass the light of day test? In other words, if the decision or action were laid bare for the world to see, would you feel proud of your choice? Behaving ethically in business “really does come down to each of us thinking deeply about what impacts our decisions will have,” says Penglase, “because that’s the bit that most leaders often fail to think about.”
How postgraduate studies can help
You can find plenty of postgraduate courses in Australia that offer ethics-focused units. For example, the Master of Innovation and Entrepreneurship from Curtin University offers the Culture and Ethics in Global Business unit. It explores important cultural and ethical issues in contemporary society and examines their impact on modern business environments. You will also be introduced to global indigenous cultures to expand the range of ethical perspectives.
The Master of Management from Western Sydney University includes a unit on governance, ethics and social entrepreneurship. This unit applies business and entrepreneurial concepts to describe the management of a social venture. It also identifies the essential elements needed for you to lead, scale and expand a social enterprise.
Find out more postgraduate courses that offer an ethics-focused unit below.
If you are an aspiring entrepreneur or corporate innovator, this master's course is for you. In addition to the specialist content, this course also offers opportunities to complete business internships and specialised programs such as the MIT Global Innovation Bootcamp and the Curtin Ignition commercialisation program.
Throughout the course, you will gain the skills of entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship, business creativity and innovation, and international marketing positioning and engagement. You’ll learn to utilise those skills to unlock innovative opportunities and generate competitive solutions to complex international business and entrepreneurship issues.
You’ll explore the relationship between innovation and creativity as a business tool and study the application of design thinking to professional practice and entrepreneurship. You’ll also learn about ICT, analytics and data visualisation and experience business simulations in international business and entrepreneurial communications.
Throughout the course, you’ll develop commercialisation, managerial and stakeholder engagement competencies in international business – including developing industry, executive and startup connections and networks.
The Master of Management is a study of contemporary management theory and practice in a global and Australian context.
Students utilise strategic analysis and examine strategic options, to assess how individuals, systems and procedures, can most effectively operate. This program of learning encourages students to take responsibility for their learning and to engage with the wider community, business and government.
The Master of Business (Strategic Procurement) at UNSW Canberra is a forward-thinking, industry-focused degree purpose-built to advance your understanding of the concepts and principles that underpin effective public sector procurement outcomes. Designed for graduates and young professionals, this program aims to develop excellent procurement managers for the public and not-for-profit sectors including defence, other Commonwealth agencies, and state and local government agencies.
This master's program combines a core set of procurement and business courses with the opportunity to select subjects in line with your academic interests.
Available as a full-time program across 18 months (or the equivalent of part-time study), The Master of Leadership will provide you with the skills necessary to secure a leadership role in your chosen field, profession, or industry.
You will complete nine compulsory courses focusing on leadership, strategy and a project and have the option of specialisation in business, liberal arts or three general elective courses.
Each course is developed and offered by a team of respected leaders, combining a solid academic framework with strong commercial and industry experience in the degree program. The Master of Leadership program is a unique blend of class tutorials, networking, mentoring and interacting with guest lecturers.
Study ethics as part of your postgraduate studies
Taking ethical action isn’t just the right thing to do – it’s also good for business. As an owner, manager or aspiring leader, it’s important to understand the principles of ethical behaviour and how to apply them in the workplace. A postgraduate business degree can help you obtain the skills needed to create a sustainable work environment that can promote business productivity and performance. You can find many postgraduate business courses in Australia offering units on ethics that can complement your business toolkit.