Nearly half of Australians say they would change banks if they knew their bank was behaving unethically, new research shows.
The Oxfam Australia survey also found 75% of Australians believe banks shouldn't lend to companies that behave unethically.
The findings come on the heels of an Oxfam report that claims
ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and
Westpac were connected to companies in Cambodia, Brazil and Indonesia that had been involved in illegal logging, forced evictions, inadequate compensation, food shortages and child labour.
“What is clear from our investigations is that, despite the big four banks claiming they’ve addressed the issue, no bank has done enough - the land grabs that we exposed two years ago continue to have devastating impacts on the lives of vulnerable people," Oxfam Australia chief executive Dr Helen Szoke said.
Szoke said since the survey was first conducted in 2014, more than 18,000 people had written to their bank and 20,000 had signed the petition to call for a "zero tolerance for land grabs" approach.
