117 A nice thing to do but is it critical for business? Corporate responsibility and Australian business Jeni Warburton, Margaret Shapiro, Amma Buckley and Yolanda van Gellecum Abstract There is said to be a “new paradigm in business” proposing that business has far broader social and environmental responsibilities than simply making profits for shareholders. This paper examines the concept of corporate responsibility to see how far Australian business has moved towards the new paradigm. Fifty-four different stakeholders from one large business were interviewed about the meaning of corporate responsibility. Most acknowledged that business has a responsibility beyond simply making profits, however, profit remained the primary motivation in moves towards corporate citizenship, community involvement and social responsibility. Dr. Jeni Warburton, Assoc. Prof. Margaret Shapiro, Dr. Amma Buckley and Ms. Yolanda van Gellecum At the time of writing, the authors were all staff members in The School of Social Work and Applied Human Sciences at The University of Queensland. J.Warburton@social.uq.edu.au