Darwin company recognised in global Social Responsibility Awards

Leading international media and public relations publication PR Daily has recognised Darwin’s Creative Territory in its Corporate Social Responsibility Awards.

Creative Territory has been selected as a finalist for the Grand Prize Campaign of the Year as well as the CSR on a Shoestring category.

The US-based awards recognise the use of public relations for the good of the community and attract entries from around the world.

Creative Territory has been recognised for research it conducted during and after Cyclone Carlos in February 2011. The research has led to improvements in how several organisations provide information in emergencies.

Managing director Tracy Jones said it was an honor to be selected among the world’s top public relations campaigns for CSR.

Entries come from a wide range of industries and organisations, from multi-national corporations, local governmental agencies and communication companies in industries as broad as energy, finance, entertainment, insurance, mining and healthcare.

PR Daily is a web-based publication read by more than 800,000 communication professionals in every country in the world.

 

Read more about the awards at PR Daily's website.

Six top online and social sources for Top End cyclone information

By Tracy Jones

With the cyclone season now upon us, all of us in the Top End need to be prepared. With your cyclone kit packed, your insurance updated and your family emergency plan updated, you need to think about how you will access the information you need to get through.

Our research at Creative Territory has shown us that up to 90 per cent of Top Enders are now using the web and social media to find out what is going on. The problem is, the social media space is now so overcrowded with “experts” it is hard to know who to trust.

Here’s our advice on where to go, depending on the type of information you are looking for:

1.       For official weather information go to www.bom.gov.au The Bureau of Meteorology issues all official cyclone watches and warnings. It is also the place to watch the latest radar information. You can also see radar images by downloading the Rain? app on your mobile phone or tablet device.

2.       For official updates on government information and services, go to www.secureNT.nt.gov.au This site aggregates information from all NT Government agencies in one place. It also includes useful tips to help you get ready for the season. You can also like secureNT on Facebook (www.facebook.com/secureNT) or follow them on Twitter (www.twitter.com/@secureterritory). This is a trusted source for official information.

3.       If you are looking for more colour and interest but still want to have a reasonable level of trust in the information, use local traditional media outlets. ABC regularly updates its website with the latest information. ABC Darwin, The NT News and Nine News Darwin have very active social media channels through both Facebook and Twitter.

4.       A number of websites provide great professional and para-professional commentary on weather conditions as they change. Try www.northauschasers.com , the Weather Channel or Weather Zone.

5.       In Twitter, do a search for hashtags that will help you sift through information. For example, in the Top End, search for #topend which is used by many locals to help index their Tweets. Once a cyclone is declared, many Tweets will use the appropriate hashtag – for example, during Cyclone Carlos in Darwin many people used #Carlos or #TCCarlos  Just be aware that not all this information can be trusted – not because people are trying to fool you, but because not everyone has accurate information.

6.       Watch out for what your friends are saying and see what people you follow are saying. They’ll provide you with a very local weather forecast right from their own home.

Creative Territory shortlisted for international social media award

Creative Territory has been shortlisted for an international award for social media.

The Darwin-based company has been named as one of three shortlisted entries in the Public Affairs Asia Gold Standard Awards, which recognise excellence in public affairs throughout the Asia Pacific region.

The company is up against campaigns by global companies Adidas and IBM in the Social Media Communications category, the winner of which will be announced in Hong Kong on December 6.

Creative Territory has been recognised for its use of social media during Cyclone Carlos in February 2011, including the provision of information through Facebook and Twitter during the storm and its research into community information sources afterwards.

Managing director and social media commentator Tracy Jones said her company’s work has led to a greater understanding of how people in the Top End access information during emergencies in the social media age.
 

“Our research has shown that Territorians are increasingly switching to their smartphones and computers in an emergency,” Tracy said.

“When Cyclone Carlos hit Darwin, Territorians were looking to Facebook and Twitter to find out what was going on but few local organisations were there with them.

“We’ve seen an amazing turnaround since then, with authorities and the media now providing a complete social media service that not only provides information but engages Territorians in the recovery process.

“The use of Facebook and Twitter during Cyclone Carlos was 22 per cent. Just 10 months later during Cyclone Grant that had jumped to 38 per cent. More importantly, Territorians feel much better informed about what is going on as the use of social media grows.”

Creative Territory has shared its research with the local community, media and government as well as interstate and international colleagues. This work has contributed to creating a better understanding about how people access and use information during emergencies and recovery.

For more information about the awards: http://www.publicaffairsasia.net/goldstandard/index.html.

Facebook just keeps growing in the NT

By Tracy Jones

Following a dip in Northern TerritoryFacebook membership post Christmas, membership has surged again to increase by 32 per cent over the past 12 months.

There are 95,320 Territorians on Facebook, up from around 72,000 on 30 September last year and well ahead of the previous peak in December of 84,580.

Most interesting is where that growth is coming from. While teens and those in their thirties and forties have left Facebook since June, people in their twenties and those aged 50 and over have flocked to the social media network.

The green and red bars in the graph below shows the current break-up by age and gender of Facebook users as at 30 September 2012. The blue line shows total Facebook members in each age bracket as at 30 June 2012.

Perhaps it's all the new parents in their twenties sharing baby photos with their parents.

While the number of LinkedIn members remains relatively small, it has maintained its place as the fastest-growing social media platform in the Northern Territory with an annual growth rate of almost 60 per cent over the past 12 months. In Katherine, growth was 72 per cent as shown in the graph below.

It's a shame we are unable to produce reasonably reliable statistics for Twitter. Anecdotally, it appears to have experienced steadt growth, particularly among opinion makers and shapers.

Lesson from Wivenhoe Dam - emergency response only as good as the manual

As someone involved in emergency and crisis communication, I often have to work with company emergency manuals.

Some of them are great and provide a logical and easy-to-follow guide to how to cope with the emerging situation.

But some of these manuals have been written simply to comply with legislation or policy then promptly placed on the shelf.

When something goes awry they are pulled out, dusted off and handed out to the team specified in Chapter 3, Section 2, Subsection 11.4. And that’s when everyone realises that something is very wrong.

Today’s report by the Crime and Misconduct Commission into the failure of processes surrounding the Wivenhoe Dam water release and subsequent downstream flooding in Queensland is a clear and compelling example of how bad the consequences can be.

Put simply, the Commission found conflicting information and flowcharts in the manual for a series of failures and cleared the three engineers involved.

In other words, the people putting the plan in place are only as good as the plan itself (read the ABC online story about the case here).

This is a timely reminder than emergency plans are not documents designed to simply tick a box – they are living, breathing manuals that should provide a guide to those professionals at the coal face when the worst comes to pass.

Whatever your business and whatever the risk, your emergency manual will only get you through if you observe the following:

1.  Write your manual based on best practice. Allocate the task to someone who knows what they are doing, not the person with the most time to spare.

2.  Test and test again. Only through testing will you discover if the thing actually works.

3.   Train your team. Make sure everyone knows what to do and has the skills and experience to do it.

4.  Practice, practice, practice. Handling an emergency is not something most people do every day. People need to practice to gain experience.

5.  Learn and grow. Practice and testing on a regular basis will also allow you to adapt your manual for changing circumstance.

6.  Update contact lists. When an emergency happens you need to be able to contact people. If you can’t reach them, you need to contact the next person in line. That’s pretty hard when your contact list is two years old. Make it someone’s responsibility to review contact lists monthly.

NT Social Media Statistics for September Quarter

The growth of LinkedIn throughout the Territory continues to outstrip that of Facebook although still has a long way to reach the same number of users, according to statistics compiled for the September quarter by Creative Territory.

LinkedIn Northern Territory membership grew 18 per cent over the past three months. If this growth rate continues, LinkedIn will have almost 17,000 members in the NT a year from now.

Facebook membership also continues to grow, with now 72,240 members in the NT. Growth across the Territory was 4 per cent in the three months to 30 September, with biggest growth in Tennant Creek at 12.8 per cent. Around 46 per cent of people in Darwin and Katherine are on Facebook, with a total Territorian Facebook population of around 33 per cent.

Facebook

Tennant Creek and Nhulunbuy led the growth in Facebook members this quarter, up 12.8 and 7.8 per cent respectively. The number of members in Alice Springs recovered from dip in August to reach 10,260 members.

Source: These statistics were sourced using Facebook’s advertising tool, setting parameters for state and town and includes all age groups. Be aware that while Facebook works hard to understand the true demographics of its users as its advertising model depends on it, it still relies on individual account owners to name their home town. Many users do not.

LinkedIn

Around 4.4 per cent of Territorians in major centres are now connected via LinkedIn, with Nhulunbuy continuing to lead the pack.

Source: These figures were prepared by using LinkedIn’s advanced search tool. We searched for accounts within 80km of each major centre in the Northern Territory. Tennant Creek is not shown in this table, as our search did not reveal any users. Again, we need to remember that account holders self-identify their location and research shows a large number of people never visit their profile again after the initial rush of excitement.

Twitter

We have to wonder about the accuracy of search tools when Twitter numbers remain exactly the same as the previous month at 642 members. Instead, here is a snapshot of where Territory Twitter users live.

 

5 ways to improve your Twittercue to get your message out

By Tracy Jones

Since I wrote about the Twittercue back in April, we’ve seen an amazing take-up of this idea by social media-savvy PR professionals. (read the original post)

A Google search of the term “twittercue” pulls down more than 2400 results, a far cry from the first time we searched the term and got just 12. Our blog posts have been tweeted hundreds of times by converts and about 10 other blogs have carried posts on the topic.

Thanks everyone for spreading the word, although we’re still working on getting Wikipedia to accept Twittercue as a new term.

From watching the words spread, we’ve picked up a few more suggestions on how to make a Twittercue work better for you:

1. Tweet your own Twittercue. PRs who do are more likely to see their post retweeted, sometimes hundreds of times.
2. Keep your Twittercue to 120 characters or less, otherwise Tweeps have to edit your original post before retweeting. Remember: you want them to Tweet your exact words.
3. Make sure you have a link back to your online media release so people can get the full story.
4. If you are writing a Twittercue in an emergency situation, make sure your tweet is self-explanatory. People don’t always switch between Twitter and a web page if they are on their smart phone in the aftermath of an earthquake.
5. Add appropriate hashtags.

We’d love to hear about your experience with Twittercues and find out if they have been successful for you, so please post your comments to allow us to pass your success on to others.


Twittercue: 5 ways to improve your Twittercue to get your message out #PRtips #socialmedia http://tiny.cc/e1csq 

7 tips for communicating when the electricity goes out

By Tracy Jones 

Anyone who has ever been through a natural disaster will tell you that one of the first things to go is the electricity. 

While mobile phone towers amazingly kept working following recent cyclones, floods, earthquakes and tsunamis across the world, power went out for prolonged periods.

For communicators used to having all the latest tools at our disposal, planning for how to get messages across in a blackout is critical.

Here are 7 tips to help:

1.      Rely on radio.

Even if people don’t have battery-powered radios, the one in their car probably still works. Use radio stations to get important messages out.

2.      Make every message self-contained.

People relying on their mobile phone for the internet don’t switch between Twitter, Facebook and the web during a crisis. They tend to stick with one application. There’s nothing worse than a Tweet that only tells you to “check our website for the latest update”. See our post on Twittercues for some hints on better tweeting. 

3.      Stay charged

Always keep your mobile and your laptop fully charged.

4.      Host your website in another city.

Or at least make sure your local provider is really, really ready for any risk.

5.      Use blogs and twitter to feed your content.

You can use blogs and twitter to feed content onto your website and facebook accounts. That way if everything else fails you can easily upload content via your mobile phone.

6.      Have a back-up email account

If your own business server goes down, a back up Gmail or hotmail account will see you through a crisis. 

7.      Remember the old tools

Once upon a time we relied on pen and paper and talking to each other. They still work. 

Twittercue: 7 tips for  communicating when the electricity goes out. #prtips #crisiscomms http://tiny.cc/7tipspower

Are you a PR professional planning a visit to the NT, Australia?

PRIA is looking for potential workshop speakers for events in Darwin and Alice Springs.

If you are a PR professional planning to visit Australia's tropical north, the Public Relations Institute of Australia's Northern Territory branch would love to hear from you.

The PRIA is always looking for guest speakers for their various workshops and seminars, although they work on a very limited budget.

So if you are heading our way and would love to give back to your professional community, please let us know by leaving a comment on this post or sending us an email tracy@creativeterritory.com

Twittercue: Searching for PR pros planning to visit #Darwin or #AliceSprings in #Australia. http://tiny.cc/ntvisit

TIO Working to Assess Cyclone and Flood Damage

Media release from TIO

TIO assessors are working in the community to assess claims as ex-Cyclone Carlos moves away from Darwin.

Chief Executive Richard Harding said the full picture on damage is not yet clear as calls continue to come into the claims centre.

"We've obviously had a high volume of calls, so we are asking our customers to be patient as we work through the claims," he said.

"The good news is that we have not seen widespread severe damage to personal property across the city and rural areas.

“As at 11am this morning, we have received around 140 claims at an estimated value of $700 000, but it is still early days and we expect to hear from more customers.

“Around 95 per cent of the claims have been for damage to building and contents, with the remaining being for vehicle damage.

"We know a number of customers have had flood damage and I want to assure them that their TIO policy does cover them. At TIO flood cover means flood cover.

"We have also seen some damage to cars and other property from fallen trees as well as water damage.

hope to have more information later today about the number of claims and the extent of the damage."

For further information please contact:
Chris Thiel Head of Corporate Relations
Telephone: 8946 2651
Mobile: 0407216650

Follow Cyclone Carlos Progress With Us

Creative Territory is making it easier for clients and friends to find out what is happening in Darwin as Tropical Cyclone Carlos lashes our city and its surrounds.

Our home page features a live feed of Twitter posts about the cyclone while are consultants have been busy twittering their own experiences of the cyclone.

We also established the hashtag #NTcyclones2011 to help sort through the twitter feed, which was the leading source for information leading up to the naming of the cyclone this morning.

Our team has been out and about taking photos and gathering stories from people around the city, and we'll post them here as they become available.

To follow our coverage of Cyclone Carlos, visit our website. 

Creative Territory specialises is crisis and recovery communication. As well as providing strategic counsel to executives in times of crisis, we undertake crisis planning for organisations and have developed a a crisis communication training package featuring real scenarios on iPad consoles.

Read more about our workshop and how to book in for one here.

New GPS iPhone application to guide self-drive tourists in Outback Australia

A guided tour through the ancient landscape of Outback Australia is now possible through modern technology with a new iPhone application, which triggers precise GPS points and a map without the need for mobile phone or internet coverage.

Launched today in Alice Springs by DIY Tourguide, the first iPhone application for the Northern Territory offers detailed, location aware audio commentary over a distance of more than 100km and will give self-drive tourists a new appreciation of the region as they travel.

The West MacDonnell Ranges Self-drive Audio Tour departs from Alice Springs and travels through the West MacDonnell National Park, bringing to life stories of early pioneers, Aboriginal culture, flora, fauna, history, geology and more, in areas where there is no mobile or internet access.

DIY Tourguide, who already offer CD and MP3 audio guides between Alice Springs and Uluru, and the West MacDonnell Ranges, have developed the GPS triggered tour and technology to reach the tech-savvy tourist.

Laurelle Halford, Director of DIY Tourguide says that lack of mobile phone and internet coverage in regional Australia no longer needs to be a barrier to accessing latest technology.

“Many tech-savvy tourists are already using GPS guided iPhone applications in cities and towns around the world, but over a smaller area.”

“We wanted to better entertain self-drive tourists and help them to interpret the landscape in precise locations, where they might otherwise see an empty, barren place.”

The app plays audio commentary at predetermined GPS points with the driver’s current position moving along on a map, and is packed with 80 minutes of fascinating information, travel suggestions, and an image gallery.

“The technology is not just unique in its ability to work without mobile or internet access coverage, but it is designed to optimise sample GPS locations to maximise better life of the iPhone over long distances.”

The app, also available for iPad, allows the tour audio to be played anywhere in the world, meaning tourists can re-live and enjoy their trip when they return home.
DIY Tourguide is also developing new tour routes in Outback Australia, and are translating tours into French, German and Italian to give international self-drive tourists a fresh experience of Outback Australia.

Both the iPhone and iPad applications are now available through Apple’s iTunes store. For more information visit http://www.diytourguide.com.au/

Is spin really a bad thing - or does it just have a bad reputation?

By Tracy Jones

As a public relations professional, I’m often accused of being a “spin doctor”. Many of those who use the term do so in a disparaging way, coming from a view that all spin is “bad” and designed to mislead the audience.

But is that right? Is spin in itself a bad thing?

Consider this example:

• From one point of view: You work as a licensing inspector at the motor vehicle registry. You implement rules that make it harder for me to get a license and register my car. Your work costs me time and money.

• And from another: I work as a licensing inspector at the motor vehicle registry. I implement rules that ensure drivers and vehicles on our roads are safe. My work saves lives.

So which is spin and which is the truth?

The fact is, they’re both. Both these points of view tell the facts as they are. But they are overlaid with context that gives meaning to those facts. In the case of a licensed driver, the additional context is that rules and regulations do make it harder to get yourself and your car on the road. As an inspector, you know the job you do contributes to safer roads.

So spin is simply the telling of the truth from the context of your own position. You add meaning to the bare facts by putting them into context. And let’s face it, each of us tells the truth from our own viewpoint.

So why has “spin” attained such a bad reputation? And when is spin wrong?

• When it is designed to hurt or defame
• When it deliberately misleads or omits important parts of the truth
• When it is a lie.

There are ways to ensure your public relations consultant does not take you down the path of unethical spin doctoring.

Choose a professional who is a member of the Public Relations Institute of Australia or related world-wide professional body. They are bound by a Code of Ethics that prohibits them from such behaviour. And the Code is enforceable through the institute.

When choosing a consultancy, check they are a member of the Public Relations Institute of Australia’s Registered Consultancies Group. Not only are these consultancies bound by an additional Code of Conduct, their Managers are also required to ensure all employees act in an ethical manner.

*****************

Tracy Jones is the principal of Creative Territory, a Registered Consultancy Group member of the Public Relations Institute of Australia. She is a Fellow of the institute, a former National President and currently serves on the national board.

Taking Crisis Communication training to a new level with iPad

What do you do when the media is hammering at your door for a comment and all you want to do is hide? How will blogs, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social media networks make your job harder? And is it possible to talk yourself out of trouble?


These are questions Darwin based public relations agency Creative Territory is helping local companies answer through its new crisis communication workshops using iPads.

Recovery was developed by Creative Territory to help organisations work through the steps of a crisis without actually getting their fingers burned.

Creative Territory Managing Director Tracy Jones says the new training module is like a create your own adventure for crisis communication.

“We put participants through a simulated crisis with the iPad, allowing them to make choices about how to deal with the communication challenges that come along,” she said.

Recovery uses expert facilitators and iPad-based consoles to provide a safe environment in which participants can learn about how a crisis develops, grows and can be managed.

Drawing on Creative Territory’s extensive experience in dealing with major issues and crises here in the Territory, Recovery is the only crisis communication simulation that takes the special needs of the Territory into account.

It is an Australian first, using an iPad interface to take you through a crisis scenario, the end of which is determined by the decisions you make along the way.

For more information on Recovery contact Tracy at Creative Territory on 8941 9169.

Tracy Jones honored with President's Award

Creative Territory Managing Director Tracy Jones was honoured with the President's Award at the annual Public Relations Institute of Australia Golden Target awards last night.

The awards were announced in conjunction with the National Public Relations Institute of Australia (PRIA) annual conference, which is being held in Darwin for the first time this week.

The President's Award recognises outstanding service to the PRIA and its President.

Tracy has been a member of the National Board of the PRIA since 2004 and is the current National Treasurer. She served for two years as National President until 2009.

For more information about the Golden Target Awards winners, see
http://www.pria.com.au/blog/id/996

Creative Territory's Jeannette Button honoured by PRIA

Creative Territory’s Jeannette Button will be inducted as a fellow of the Public Relations Institute of Australia tonight.


Fellowship is one of the highest honours bestowed on a member of the institute.

The induction ceremony comes just days after Jeannette was elected President of the NT Division of the PRIA.

Creative Territory’s managing director Tracy Jones said the team was proud of Jeannette’s achievements and wish her well as she now carries out duties at a national level.

“Jeannette is one of the Territory’s most senior and experienced public relations professionals and a role model for others,” Tracy said.

“She has chaired the National Conference Committee that arranged this week’s PRIA national conference, which is being held in Darwin for the first time."

Taking Crisis Communication training to a new level with iPad

For some time Creative Territory has been offering workshops about communicating in a crisis. With our extensive experience in handling crises in the Northern Territory in particular, we’ve developed a good understanding of how communication can make or break your reputation when things go wrong.

But in delivering our training, something has always been missing – the consequences. Most crisis training includes some type of scenario exercise, but they are virtually all linear. The scenario plays out the same regardless of what people decide in the workshop itself. While they promote discussion, there are no consequences for choosing the right or the wrong path.

For six months we’ve been working on a way to get some real interactivity into the mix, so people could make choices along the way and see the consequences of those choices.

Thanks to the iPad, and a lot of work scenario planning, we’ve developed a way. And the feedback has been amazing. See Recovery in action with a free demo at this link.

Here are some comments from our first workshop, held in Alice Springs last week:

“We’ve only been going for two minutes and I’m already more engaged in this than I have ever been in a workshop before.”

“The iPad delivery is cool. We were all sitting there waiting for our turn to play.”

“At first I wanted a whiteboard to write everything down on, but then I realised we didn’t need one.”

“It’s great that there are consequences for what you decide. It makes it more real.”

We’ve called our new workshops Recovery, because we teach our clients that this is where your decisions need to be leading whenever you are faced with a real or potential crisis. The decisions you make and the things you say in the heat of the moment can have a lasting impact on your reputation and bottom line.

Recovery is presently undergoing trials in the Northern Territory and Queensland, with plans to launch it in Darwin in October.

Leadership and Mentoring

By Tracy Jones

When we think of great leaders and mentors, we often look at CEOs and presidents, prime ministers and chairmen. The people we regard as mentors tend to be our bosses – people in a position of power who we admire.

There's no doubt that these people often make great role models, but you’ll often find even more valuable mentors in unexpected places. Have a good look around at the people who have made an impact on you and how you work. There’s a good chance that while some will be employers, others will be colleagues, friends, employees and acquaintances.

Great leaders are not necessarily those who have reached the position of manager or CEO. Great leaders are those who demonstrate the qualities of leadership in their everyday work.

Leaders and mentors have many qualities – vision, empathy, confidence, passion and the ability to motivate and inspire others. You may see other qualities in leaders around you.

I hear a lot about the need for public relations professionals to have a seat at the "top table". My own view is that need to make our own seat at that table.

You don't have to be the CEO to be a leader. And you don’t need an invitation to provide great advice to those who need it.

As members of the Public Relations Institute of Australia, we have already demonstrated our commitment to our profession. The next step is to show leadership to our colleagues both within and outside of the PRIA.

And don't only look up for inspiration. Once you open your eyes you can find great mentors all around you.

As published in the PRIA National Newsletter September 2009.
Tracy is national president of the PRIA

High ethical standards critcal for financial PR

By Tracy Jones

Never is the need for high professional and ethical standards brought into sharper focus than in the field of financial and investor public relations.

We've all heard spectacular stories of losses from unscrupulous operators - or even just incompetent ones - who were responsible for individuals losing their life savings or worse.

The role of public relations professionals in avoiding such disasters should not be underestimated - we have a unique role as strategic counsel to convince executives to operate in an open, transparent and honest way. I'm not suggesting for a minute that we can somehow stop people losing money. What we can do, though, is contribute to an environment of transparency.

I've never met a public relations professional who advocates the "cover up" as the best way to deal with a scandal. Ethical professionals are strong advocates for honesty over deception, for transparency over misrepresentation and for facts over spin.

Those of us working in the financial and investor relations sector need to keep ethics top of mind as we go about advising our executives and clients. It may not always be the easiest route - but it is the one that will ensure that reputations, credibility and respect stay intact.

As published in the Public Relations Instsitute of Australia (PRIA) National Newsletter September 2009.
Tracy is national president of the PRIA.

Ethical behaviour based on truth, trust and honesty

As members of a profession, we sign up to a Code of Ethics that helps shape our behaviour.

The Public Relations Institute of Australia (PRIA) Code of Ethics was first developed at the birth of the PRIA 60 years ago and, despite updating over the years, remains largely unchanged. We have modernised, clarified, added, subtracted and added again, but the essentials have remained intact.

This reason for this is simple - ethical behaviour is based on a basic set of beliefs centred on truth, trust and honesty.

Each profession, association or occupation may add its own set of values around specifics. For example, we have clauses that relate to remuneration and journalists have clauses relating to revealing sources. At the heart, though, are the basics - truth, trust and honesty.

I use these three values as the key to my own ethical behaviour, then overlay them with the PRIA’s Code of Ethics along with the guidance provided by the Practice Notes put together by the College of Fellows.

In the end, find a simple test to judge yourself by. Here is mine:

• Is it true?
• Is it fair?
• Is it honest?
• Is it misleading?
• Will it do unnecessary harm?
• Is it aligned to my own moral values?
• Would I be happy for my mother to know I did it?
• Would my children be proud of me for doing it?
  

Ethical behaviour is not a mantra to be framed and forgotten but a set of values that can help guide your practice and development.

As published in the PRIA National Newsletter September 2009.
Tracy is national president of the PRIA.