Ethics survey
Executive salaries
Our Executive Salaries ethics survey was conducted on this site in February 2003.
Note that the primary aim of the survey was to generate thinking and debate. It was not conducted formally and may not truly indicate general public opinion.
Simon Longstaff, Executive Director of St James Ethics Centre, has written an article examining the ethical dimensions of executive salaries.
If you would like to contribute your thoughts or participate in further debate, why not visit our ethics forum?
About this survey
This text accompanied the original survey questions.
Recently the issue of 'truth in government' has become a major topic for debate around the world in relation to such matters as: the war in Iraq, the war on terror, the claims of the Sudanese Government in Darfur, etc..
In Australia this issue has also become a focus for public debate, particularly within the last few weeks with various former senior public servants raising truth in government as a major issue confronting the nation.
Survey results
1. Are you concerned at the present level or structure of CEO salaries?
yes (89%)
no (11%)
2. Should the salaries of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) be capped?
life?yes (55%)
no (45%)
3. If you answered 'yes' should the cap be:
a fixed upper limit (25%)
a multiple of the lowest salary paid to an employee (26%)
a combination of both (49%)
4. What, if any, should be the upper limit of total executive remuneration in any one year?
$500,000 - $1,000,000 (22%)
$1,000,000 - $1,500,000 (8%)
$1,500,000 - $2,000,000 (7%)
$2,000,000 - $2,500,000 (6%)
$3,000,000 - $5,000,000 (4%)
less than $10,000,000 (4%)
no limit (36%)
other amount (13%)
5. What, if any, should be the maximum multiple of the organisation's lowest paid employee when calculating a CEO's total remuneration in any one year?
5 x lowest salary (5%)
10 x lowest salary (2%)
20 x lowest salary (15%)
50 x lowest salary (11%)
100 x lowest salary (15%)
500 x lowest salary (1%)
1000 x lowest salary (1%)
no limit (35%)
other multiple (15%)
