Throughout its existence APRA has always sought to provide intellectual leadership for the public relations profession.
A key part of this has been the development of a number of Codes and Charters seeking to provide an ethical framework for the activities of the profession. Upon joining APRA all members undertake to uphold these Codes and in doing so benefit from the ethical climate that they create.
In 2011 these Codes were consolidated into a single document updated to reflect the age in which we now live.
The “APRA Code of Conduct”
Adopted in 2017 the APRA Code of Conduct is an affirmation of professional and ethical conduct by members of the International Public Relations Association and recommended to public relations practitioners worldwide.
The Code consolidates the 1961 Code of Venice, the 1965 Code of Athens, the 2007 Code of Brussels and the Code of IPRA.
In the conduct of public relations practitioners shall:
1. Observance
Observe the principles of the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
2. Integrity
Act with honesty and integrity at all times so as to secure and retain the confidence of those with whom the practitioner comes into contact;
3. Dialogue
Seek to establish the moral, cultural and intellectual conditions for dialogue, and recognise the rights of all parties involved to state their case and express their views;
4. Transparency
Be open and transparent in declaring their name, organisation and the interest they represent;
5. Conflict
Avoid any professional conflicts of interest and to disclose such conflicts to affected parties when they occur;
6. Confidentiality
Honour confidential information provided to them;
7. Accuracy
Take all reasonable steps to ensure the truth and accuracy of all information provided;
8. Falsehood
Make every effort to not intentionally disseminate false or misleading information, exercise proper care to avoid doing so unintentionally and correct any such act promptly;
9. Deception
Not obtain information by deceptive or dishonest means;
10. Disclosure
Not create or use any organisation to serve an announced cause but which actually serves an undisclosed interest;
11. Profit
Not sell for profit to third parties copies of documents obtained from public authorities;
12. Remuneration
Whilst providing professional services, not accept any form of payment in connection with those services from anyone other than the principal;
13. Inducement
Neither directly nor indirectly offer nor give any financial or other inducement to public representatives or the media, or other stakeholders;
14. Influence
Neither propose nor undertake any action which would constitute an improper influence on public representatives, the media, or other stakeholders;
15. Competitors
Not intentionally injure the professional reputation of another practitioner;
16. Poaching
Not seek to secure another practitioner’s client by deceptive means;
17. Employment
When employing personnel from public authorities or competitors take care to follow the rules and confidentiality requirements of those organisations;
18. Colleagues
Observe this Code with respect to fellow APRA members and public relations practitioners worldwide.
APRA members shall, in upholding this Code, agree to abide by and help enforce the disciplinary procedures of the International Public Relations Association in regard to any breach of this Code.