ABEN

Mid-Year Conversation 2026
2026-06-04 09:00 - 11:00 (Australia/Melbourne) | Online webinars, Online, Australia
Mid-Year Conversation – 4 June, 9.00-11.00am AEST
Topic: ‘Where is it going to end?’: The ethics of leadership in the tech sector – from Steve Jobs to Elon Musk
Speaker: Dr Scott Taylor, Professor of Leadership & Organisation Studies, University of Birmingham
Link: https://charlessturt.zoom.us/j/65677811058?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 656 7781 1058
Passcode: [REDACTED]
Contact: Alain Neher (aneher@csu.edu.au)

Overview
Business leadership is increasingly intertwined with socio-political leadership, as high-profile corporate leaders leverage their wealth, power, and celebrity status to intervene in state governance, including to the benefit of authoritarian state leaders. Such CEO activism raises significant ethical questions about their role in leading organisations and in democratic societies, including the possibility that the paradigmatic contemporary leadership of the tech sector is based on fascism’s core philosophical tenets (Matten, 2025). To explore this proposal, this research focuses on the most prominent corporate leader of this moment, Elon Musk, the companies he owns or leads, and two protest movements problematising his current political beliefs and management practices: the ‘Tesla Takedown’ grassroots movement, and Tesla mechanics currently striking in Sweden.

The presentation draws on research published with Emma Bell (Stockholm School of Economics, Sweden) and research in progress with Emma and German Bender (Stockholm School of Economics, Sweden).

SIG Accounting and Finance: 'Fraud in Aged Care’
2026-04-28 16:00 - 17:30 | Online webinars, Online, Australia
Join the Accounting and Finance Ethics Special Interest Group on Tuesday 28 April, 16.00-17.30 AEST for a Panel Discussion on ‘Fraud in Aged Care’.

Panellists:

Dr Michelle Cull – Associate Professor, Accounting & Financial Planning, Western Sydney University
Dr Helen Black – Aged Care Advocate; Accounting Educator & Researcher, Western Sydney University
Greg Cunningham CFP – Practitioner; PhD Researcher & Financial Planning Educator, Western Sydney University
Assyat David – Practitioner and Co‑founder of Aged Care Steps
Consumer representative
Dr Clare Burns — Facilitator and Researcher, Bond University

SIG Qualitative Research: Listening for Meaning
2026-04-21 16:00 - 17:00 | Online webinars, Online, Australia
Join the Qualitative Research Special Interest Group on Tuesday 21 April, 16.00-17.00 AEST for ‘Listening for Meaning: Why Interviews Matter’ with Guest Speaker: Dr Scott Taylor, Professor of Leadership & Organization Studies, University of Birmingham

SIG Ethics Education- The challenge of Ethical Blindspots
2026-04-14 16:00 - 17:00 | Online webinars, Online, Australia
How do you teach people to see their ethical blindspot?
Join the discussion on ethical blindness, and ways to help students see their true reflection.

Annual Conference and HDR workshop
2025-11-26 12:30 - 2025-11-28 15:00 | Charles Sturt University Bathurst, Panorama Avenue, South Bathurst, New South Wales, 2795, Australia
The conference theme is On the Road: Making Ethical and Sustainable Decisions, but we welcome submissions on all aspects of business ethics. Don’t miss the opportunity to share your research with our supportive network.
We are delighted to have joining us as keynote speakers Prof Clive Hamilton and Prof Isabel Rimanoczy.
Conference Registrations – Now Open
The conference will be held 26–28 November 2025 at Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, NSW.
Register today via Eventbrite and take advantage of our early bird rates (until 31 October):

In-person: $250
Virtual: $100
In-person student: $90
Virtual student: $40

More details, including on accommodation options, can be found on the website here.

ABEN 'On the Road' Mid Year Conversation
2025-06-13 09:30 - 12:30 | Online webinars, Online, Australia
To Join us on the day, please see the Zoom details below
Join Zoom Meeting
https://notredame-au.zoom.us/j/85422028625
Meeting ID: 854 2202 8625
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Critical Writing Workshop for HDR Students/Early Career Researcher
2025-06-12 11:30 - 12:30 | Online webinars, Online, Australia
You are invited to a hands-on Critical Writing Workshop facilitated by Professor Edward Wray-Bliss. This session will help sharpen your critical thinking and writing skills, with a particular focus on critical business ethics—a theme aligned with the ABEN Jan Schapper Scholarship.
This annual scholarship supports emerging scholars engaging in thoughtful, critical approaches to business ethics. The winning paper receives an opportunity to present at the ABEN Conference in 2025 and a $1000 bursary and the waiving of the ABEN conference registration fee. For further information see https://aben.org.au/jan-schapper-scholarships/
Whether you’re early in your candidature, an early career researcher, or deep into writing, this workshop will offer practical strategies and inspiration for high-impact academic work.
Save the date for Thursday 12th June (11:30 am – 12:30 pm (AEST))
Please join us via Zoom- https://utas.zoom.us/j/88144648166?from=addon
Professor Edward Wray-Bliss
Professor Edward Wray-Bliss has pursued a fascination with ethics – with the deepest values that make us who we are and with questions of how these sit in tension with our professional and organisational lives – over an academic career spanning more than 25 years. Since receiving his Doctorate from the University of Manchester in 1998, Edward has held academic positions at universities across Australia and the UK, including those of Macquarie University, Deakin University, University of Technology Sydney, Essex University, Nottingham University, Salford University, Stirling University, and Edge Hill University. He was appointed the Stan Perron Professorial Chair of Business Ethics at Edith Cowan University in 2023.
Edward’s business ethics research is explicitly Critical. It is strongly informed by the intellectual traditions of Critical Theory and Twentieth Century Continental Philosophy, is methodologically reflexive and qualitative, and is concerned with denaturalising ethically problematic business and academic practices, discourses, and debates. He has written upon a range of topics including modern slavery, workplace sex discrimination, leadership practice, the legacies of religion for business, drug testing and drug and alcohol policy in the workplace, research ethics, evil and organisational practice, and the intersections of love and capitalism. He has been closely involved with the ABEN conference and community since 2010.

Qualitative Research SIG- Qualitative Research in Ethics and Contemporary Technology (AI, Big Data, Blockchain)
2025-04-15 15:30 - 16:30 | Online webinars, Online, Australia
Tuesday 15 April, 3.30pm AEST: Qualitative Research SIG
Qualitative Research in Ethics and Contemporary Technology (AI, Big Data, Blockchain)
In recent years, contemporary technology has expanded rapidly across all industries, profoundly affecting sectors such as finance, accounting, IT, and management, among others. While research in these domains is increasing, numerous opportunities remain unexplored. Notably, qualitative research focused on technology and ethics is somewhat limited. In this Special Interest Group (SIG) discussion, we will deliberate optimal approaches for conducting research in these areas and identifying promising topics to investigate. We invite discussion and eagerly welcome your insights while sharing our perspectives. We look forward to your participation in our SIG 2025.
Join the Teams-based conversation using this link.
Meeting ID: 437 019 021 814
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Accounting and Finance SIG: Free webinar on anti-modern slavery with Professor Maria Kapardis
2025-04-08 15:30 - 16:30 | Online webinars, Online, Australia
Date: Tuesday 8th April 2025
Time: 3.30 pm (Brisbane time)
RSVP link: for Microsoft Teams webinar: https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/d1543798-ce13-4f60-b869-a760417e75d8@feaef260-82c9-49b0-9550-e0b702e6b36b
If you have any queries please contact Clare Burns: clburns@bond.edu.au or 07 5595 2657
Hear accounting Professor Maria Kapardis, editor of The Palgrave Handbook on Modern Slavery, share her insights on the manifestation of 50 million modern slaves across the globe. There will also be time for Q&A.
Professor Kapardis’ research interests are corruption and anti-corruption, ethical behaviour, fraud detection, investigation and prevention, ethical leadership and modern slavery. Maria served as the country expert on corruption for the European Commission for a number of years and she has been awarded a number of prizes for her academic publications as well as community outreach.

SIG: Education and Ethics- Embedded vs. standalone ethics education: two sides of the same coin?
2025-04-01 15:30 - 16:30 | Online webinars, Online, Australia
Embedded vs. standalone ethics education: two sides of the same coin?
In the same way that the skills vs. knowledge debate continuously swirls around business education, ethics education has its own iteration: whether ethics should be taught as a standalone subject or embedded within all subjects.
This SIG aims to bring together academic expertise to discuss this problem, and potentially plan a pathway ahead for cross-institutional collaboration around the efficacy of ethics education on student perceptions of morality.
Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android:
https://uow-au.zoom.us/j/81169231813?pwd=[REDACTED]
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Annual ABEN Conference
2024-11-28 - 2024-11-29 | University of Adelaide, University in Adelaide city centre,, Adelaide, South Australia, 5005, Australia
Our 2024 Annual conference theme is:
Governance, People and Ethical Decision-making
Our Hybrid Annual Conference & HDR Workshop will be held in Adelaide and hosted by the University of Adelaide.
Register via Eventbrite

Annual HDR workshop 27th November
2024-11-27 09:30 - 12:30 | University of Adelaide, University in Adelaide city centre,, Adelaide, South Australia, 5005, Australia
Join us at the HDR workshop to learn from Melissa Wheeler and Zairul Nurshazana Zainuddin.
Melissa has a PhD in social psychology from the University of Melbourne, which explored how people persuade others to agree with their moral beliefs. She has an ongoing interest in the field of moral psychology and applied ethics, including workplace flexibility, gender roles in work and care, ethical climates, and responsible leadership. Melissa’s research has been published in top tier journals, including Leadership Quarterly, Journal of Business Ethics, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Cities, European Review of Social Psychology, and Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. She regularly contributes to Forbes, Psychology Today, and the Conversation on the topics of leadership strategy, the future of work, and applied ethics.

Zairul Nurshazana Zainuddin has a PhD in Accounting and Corporate Governance from Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia, emphasised on the corporate response to the Commonwealth Modern Slavery Act 2018 and investigated the Act’s effectiveness after its three years of implementation. Aligned with the fifth key strategic priority of the Australian National Action Plan to Combat Modern Slavery 2020-2025, the opportunity to engage in research and gain insights from an academic perspective motivated her PhD study. Zairul recognised that her research outcome has proven to be pertinent and consequential for decision-makers.
The Postgraduate and HDR Student Workshop will be held at Santos Lecture Theatre, L1 Nexus, the University of Adelaide. There is no cost to attend the Postgraduate and HDR Student Workshop. This will also be offered in hybrid (i.e. face-to-face and online formats).
Expressions of interest, a short biography and/or research summaries should be sent to Chamila Perera at chamilaperera@swin.edu.au by 31 October 2024.
HDR Support for Attending the Conference
To encourage HDR engagement in not only the Postgraduate & HDR Workshop, but also the main conference, ABEN will offer a 50% registration fee subsidy for those students who want to attend the main conference – either in-person or virtually.
Register via Eventbrite

Mid-Year Conversation
2024-06-13 09:30 - 12:30 | Online webinars, Online, Australia
Join us online for our Mid year conversation on Governance, People and Ethical Decision-making.
To join the zoom room, please click here
Meeting ID: 883 1000 0371
Password: [REDACTED]

HDR Presentation: Role of Communication in Bringing Sustainability to Mainstream Fashion Consumption
2024-05-23 10:00 - 11:00 | Online webinars, Online, Australia
Join us to hear a presentation from Nayomi De Silva on her PhD topic: Role of Communication in Bringing Sustainability to Mainstream Fashion Consumption
Join Zoom Meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85443109164?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 854 4310 9164
Passcode: [REDACTED]

HDR Presentation: Advancing Business Ethics Education: Bridging Wellbeing Literacy and Ethical Decision Making
2024-04-17 10:00 - 11:00 | Online webinars, Online, Australia
Nancy An will talk about how Business ethics has become a pivotal focus within AACSB, urging business schools to equip students with robust ethical decision-making skills. Unfortunately, current ethics education falls short, leaving managers dissatisfied with the ethics proficiency of graduating students, and real-world ethical scandals involving business school alumni.
Join us via zoom
Meeting ID: 817 2298 6589
Passcode: [REDACTED]

SIG Education AI and Education: A thought experiment
2024-03-20 14:00 - 15:00 | Online webinars, Online, Australia
What are the ethical challenges facing educators in the advent of AI?
Using John Rawls’s ‘Veil of Ignorance’ as a frame and noting that social justice begins with creating a society that supports the needs of the most vulnerable, this discussion asks us to engage in a thought experiment.
Proposition: A friendly generative AI program, instead of academics, will be adopted to teach undergraduate students.
Meeting ID: 689 972 0287,
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Qualitative Research SIG - What's the problem with Methods Sections?
2024-03-19 14:00 - 15:00 | Online webinars, Online, Australia
What’s the problem with Methods Sections? Discussion led by Sanjukta Choudhury.
In many articles, the methods section is only about 3% of the article word-count; and yet one of the top reasons for article rejection. This discussion will focus on why, and what to be thinking about in writing up qualitative methods sections.
Meeting ID: 689 972 0287, Passcode: [REDACTED]

Free webinar on sustainable finance with Mara Bun, Director Australian Ethical Investment Limited and Australian Ethical Superannuation
2024-03-18 14:00 - 15:00 | Online webinars, Online, Australia
Join us for an online ‘fireside chat’ with Mara Bun who will share her insights on sustainable finance. Dr Clare Burns will ask Mara about the trends, opportunities, and challenges for sustainable finance in Australia. There will also be time for audience Q&A.
Mara Bun has an extensive career in investment banking, having worked for Morgan Stanley and Macquarie Bank. She has also led business development for the CSIRO and non-government-organisations such as Green Cross Australia (CEO) which focuses on climate resilience.
In addition to Mara’s company director roles on finance organisations, she has chaired the Board of Gold Coast Waterways Authority, and the Bowerbird Collective and Greencollar. Additionally, Mara has worked as a strategy consultant for organisations such as the Food Agility Cooperative Research Centre and commercial linen supplier Simba Global.
