ABSTRACT
This chapter explores, from Australian socially responsible investment (SRI) perspective, the problems of and putative solutions to a movement towards engagement. After surveying SRI strategies and canvassing the engagement approach, it proposes four main justifications for an engagement focus by SRI funds in Australia: rejection of the bystander' approach; avoiding the taint of hypocrisy; effectiveness as a reform strategy; and fitness for ethical complexity and contextuality. The chapter examines barriers to SRI engagement that may hinder its uptake in the Australian context. These barriers include inadequate conceptions of ethics; the perceived externality' of SRI principles; concerns about limited size and effectiveness of Australian SRI funds; lack of collaboration; perceived clashes between SRI and fiduciary duty; internal cultural barriers; and overarching ethical objections to engagement. Finally, the chapter concludes by proposing a basic ethical framework which may help to expand Australian SRI engagement.
