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Maintaining high ethical standards

Strong ethical standards play a critical role in establishing trust and confidence in any professional discipline and public relations is no exception.

Like many professions, there are no laws that require public relations practitioners to be registered, licensed or accredited. Consequently there are no statutory penalties for misconduct or professional negligence as a public relations practitioner.

As the national industry body, PRIA plays an essential role in industry self-regulation, with a series of codes and standards governing members' professional and ethical practice.

Individual code of ethics

All PRIA members are required to make a personal, written commitment to PRIA's code of ethics, governed by a senior group of practitioners known as the College of Fellows.

Consultancy code of practice

Consultancy members are also bound by an additional consultancy code of practice covering client relations, fees and income and general practice.To be eligible for Registered Consultancy status, the public relations agency principal must be a full professional member of PRIA.

Complaints procedure

PRIA has a national procedure for dealing with allegations of code of ethics breaches. Complaints will be dealt with in a professional, rigorous and fair manner, with requests for investigation of dubious practices and with proven complaints.

Ethics counselling service

A confidential ethics counselling service is available to members of PRIA, free of charge, through the St James Ethics Centre.

Last Updated: December 21, 2010