Ethical Frameworks for the Financial Adviser Exam: Applying the Six Lenses

7 min read · facts checked 25 Oct 2026

As at 25 October 2026, ASIC's Exam preparation guidance (v6.0, September 2026) lists applying "different/multiple ethical frameworks to dilemmas and issues in scenarios" as a learning outcome, and its reading list names the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics' framework for ethical decision making. That framework weighs options through six ethical lenses: rights, justice, utilitarian, common good, virtue and care ethics.

Why frameworks are tested

The Code of Ethics is principles-based: it tells you to act with integrity and in the client's best interests, not what to do in each case. A framework gives you a structured way to test options when the right answer is not a rule. The same skill appears in the professional year, where you must identify and resolve at least two ethical dilemmas in each of quarters 3 and 4 (see the professional year guide).

The six lenses

Other names for the same ideas

See how much has stuck: sit the free timed mock: try 5 questions with no sign-up. Or see the passes for the full question bank.

A five-stage decision process

• Recognise the ethical issue: could the decision harm someone, or benefit some people at others' expense? Is it about more than what is legal or efficient?
• Get the facts: what is known and unknown, who has a stake, and what the options are.
• Evaluate the options through each lens.
• Choose and test: pick the option that holds up best, then ask how it would look to someone whose judgement you respect.
• Act and reflect: carry it out with care, then review how it turned out and what to do differently.

Worked dilemma

Rosa, 81, a long-standing client, has A$260,000 in term deposits. Her nephew Paul, who drives her to appointments, sits in on the review meeting and says Rosa wants to give him A$120,000 now for a house deposit, "rather than me waiting for the inheritance". Rosa nods but says little. When Paul steps out, she tells the adviser she "doesn't want any trouble".

• Rights: the money is Rosa's to give, but the right is to choose freely. The issue is whether this instruction is really hers.
• Justice: is the gift fair to Rosa, given what she may need for her own care later?
• Utilitarian: set the benefit to Paul against the harm to Rosa if she runs short in her late eighties.
• Common good: advisers who act on a third party's word weaken the public's trust in advice.
• Virtue: an honest, diligent adviser speaks to Rosa alone and tells her plainly what they see.
• Care ethics: the relationship with Paul matters to Rosa, so raise concerns without accusing him.

The lenses point the same way: meet Rosa on her own, make sure she understands the effect on her own future, confirm the instruction is free and informed (Code Standard 4), consider her long-term interests (Standard 6), follow the licensee's procedures for vulnerable clients and suspected financial abuse, and consider suggesting independent legal advice before any gift. The weakest answer is to process the transfer because Rosa nodded.

How framework questions are set

• Name the lens: a line of reasoning is described and you choose the framework it reflects. Outcomes for the most people point to utilitarian; respecting a person's choice to rights; fairness and what is due to justice; character to virtue; relationships to care ethics; the whole community to common good.
• Apply the lens: you are told to use one approach and choose the action it supports.
• Combine with the Code: the best answer usually satisfies a lens and a Code standard together. Check it against the Code of Ethics guide.

Our professional commitment and ethical frameworks note covers the lenses side by side. To practise them on client scenarios, start with the free sample questions, each with a worked answer.