A Question of Character

Susan Harris Rimmer, The Australia Institute

Abstract

IN 500BC, Heraclitus of Ephesus wrote that "a man's character is his destiny". Philosophers have been puzzling over the role that character plays in a person's life ever since, and wondering how to define the inherent complex of attributes that may determine a person's moral and ethical actions and reactions. Nevertheless, like many complex human phenomena, character has long been codified and defined by law. A character test is traditionally applied to decide whether a person should be granted some kind of privilege - for example, a visa, citizenship, or an important job. When trying to judge character, the evidence examined usually includes a person's past statements, activities and conduct, including any police record, criminal charges or jail terms. The decision-maker considers on the basis of this evidence the likelihood that a person will act in the same way again. Character testing under Commonwealth laws is on the rise and the fundamentals are changing. Over the past 10 years, the use of character testing has increased in traditional areas such as migration and citizenship, and has moved into new areas of law, such as the employment of persons in critical industries and criminal law. The problem is, the new form of character tests is often framed in subjective terms and can be made under ministerial discretion, raising issues of transparency and accountability.