Corporate communications in Australia perpetuates an unequal separation of stakeholders in the financial sector, with an elite group of professional investors privileged over citizen investors who through their regular superannuation and pension savings are, in effect, the real owners of the capital that supports the country’s economy. Employing a critical discourse analytic approach, we examine the websites and reports of Australian listed companies and superannuation funds. We find that the listed companies in whom superannuation funds invest, and the superannuation funds themselves provide no mechanism for citizen investors to influence investment decisions. This has major implications for the social and economic fabric of Australia. Corporate communications cannot begin to be ethical and socially responsible, and business cannot be fully effective, until the hierarchical separation of financial stakeholders is eradicated and account taken of all views and voices, especially those of Australian citizens as legitimate investor stakeholders
