Category Archives: Consulting (Australia)

NSW inquiry urges government to ditch big four firms for ‘in-house’ consultancy by public service

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Banning bureaucrats from taking related consulting jobs for six months post-public service among inquiry’s 28 recommendations

The New South Wales government has been urged to set up an “in-house” consulting service and ban bureaucrats from taking on relevant consulting jobs for six months after they leave the public service.

A NSW parliamentary inquiry into the use of private consulting services by government made the recommendations after it found the former Coalition government was too reliant on consultants and paid for work normally designed for the public service when it was in power.

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Liberal senator demands PwC executives ‘bare their necks’ at inquiry into consultancies

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Richard Colbeck says PwC International must clarify reports it took control of Australian firm after tax leaks scandal

The head of a second parliamentary inquiry has demanded answers from PwC International after reports it took control of the Australian firm to contain the tax leaks scandal, warning senior managers need to “come clean” and “bare their necks”.

The rebuke by Liberal senator Richard Colbeck, who chairs the senate inquiry into the consulting industry, comes a day after the head of a separate inquiry, Labor senator Deborah O’Neill, called for PwC International bosses to face questions.

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Public servants must do more to manage conflicts of interest, APS commissioner tells top bureaucrats

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Exclusive: Letter to department heads does not cite specific incidents but comes after scandals involving government grants and consulting firms

The public service must do more to eliminate conflicts of interest and ensure personal relationships in the workforce are not leading to power imbalances, the sector’s chief has told senior bureaucrats.

The Australian Public Service commissioner, Gordon de Brouwer, outlined his concerns in a letter to the leaders of all government departments, and sought their assistance to identify, disclose and manage all conflicts.

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Consultants reported more than 520 conflicts of interest during audit of Australian aged care

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Commissioner says high number of real, potential or perceived declarations reflects a ‘robust conflict management processes’ but union says figure is ‘staggering’

Four consultancy firms reported more than 520 real, potential or perceived conflicts of interest while being paid more than $40m to audit the safety and quality of aged care homes over two years.

The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQSC) last year revealed some of the audits were rejected as they did not meet standards set by the federal government, which needed to launch a specialist unit to support the consultants and improve their work.

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Report critical of big four consultancies was censored by Australian government agency, academic claims

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Peter Carey tells inquiry he was asked by Accounting Standards Board to omit details because partners from PwC, KPMG, Deloitte and EY sat on the board

A government agency allegedly censored a major study that was critical of the big four consultancy firms because their partners sat on its board, according to the academic who wrote the report.

The allegation, which has been disputed by the agency, was made during a parliamentary inquiry into the ethics and professional standards of the consulting industry. It has led to questions about potential “regulatory capture” and possible undue influence.

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Firms that donate to political parties twice as likely to win government contracts, analysis finds

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Transparency group says donating companies should be banned from government contracts but constitutional expert disagrees

Companies that make political donations are more than twice as likely to win government contracts and should be banned from working with departments for an entire electoral cycle, according to a key transparency group.

But a constitutional expert has warned a ban could be an overreaction that confuses coincidence with corruption, given public servants who award contracts may have no idea of recent donations to political parties.

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Big four consultancy firm partners could be banned from being on board of regulator after PwC scandal

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Greens say Labor has agreed to stop senior executives or partners at firms from becoming board members of Tax Practitioners Board

Partners at big four consultancy firms could soon be banned from being board members of a regulator that investigates the conduct of their colleagues due to conflict of interest concerns.

The Tax Practitioners Board (TPB), which proved instrumental in uncovering the scale of a scandal involving the misuse of confidential Treasury information by a partner at PwC Australia, has the power to deregister accountants after serious misconduct.

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Consultancy firms paid $40m to review safety of aged care homes did not meet government standards

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KPMG was among the four firms to have had reports rejected, a Senate inquiry heard, putting pressure on abandoning future outsourcing altogether

Four consultancy firms that were paid more than $40m to audit quality and safety in aged care homes have had reports rejected because they did not meet the standard required by the federal government.

The aged care quality and safety commissioner, Janet Anderson, has told a Senate inquiry the firms were “held to account” for their work and that there is an ongoing review about whether to rely on them as heavily in the future.

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Powerful US and UK committees lobbied to pressure PwC to release report sought in Australia

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Exclusive: Richard Colbeck urged counterparts to seek document used to clear firm’s partners of wrongdoing

Powerful parliamentary oversight committees in the US and the UK have been urged to pressure consultancy firm PwC to publish a report used to clear its international partners of wrongdoing.

In response to a scandal involving the misuse of confidential Australian Treasury information about proposed multinational tax avoidance laws, PwC global commissioned the law firm Linklaters to investigate the conduct of its international partners.

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PwC partner at centre of tax advice scandal banned by Asic for eight years

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Financial regulator finds Peter John Collins is ‘not a fit and proper person to provide financial services’

Australia’s financial watchdog has issued an eight-year ban to a former PwC partner at the heart of a confidentiality scandal that triggered a reputation crisis at the firm and a costly sell-off.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has been investigating the conduct of Peter John Collins, of Sandringham in Victoria, who has been accused of sharing confidential government information about multinational tax avoidance with colleagues.

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Victorian government hired KPMG to consult on tobacco changes despite firm’s links to industry

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Exclusive: transparency advocates condemn arrangement as ‘appalling’ while health department refuses to say how much consultancy was paid

The Victorian government paid a consultancy firm that has spent decades working for big tobacco to lead the state’s consultation on changes to tobacco and vaping laws, before the process was abandoned.

The state’s health department has repeatedly declined to say how much KPMG was paid for the work this year and did not answer questions about whether the international firm’s long association with big tobacco and its ongoing work for the industry were declared.

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Consultancy firm used ‘power maps’ of Australian officials to help win government contracts

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Accenture’s Peter Burns tells Senate the documents identifying key decision-makers and influence leaders have been used to tender for work

A consultancy firm that secured $528m of taxpayer money last year has admitted to maintaining hundreds of “power maps” that categorise federal officials based on influence, personality type and relationships with competitors.

Accenture has told the Senate the maps are restricted and only supplied to staff on a “need to know” basis, but acknowledged they were used in the process of bidding for government work.

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Two-thirds of Australia’s aged care safety inspections outsourced to consultants

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Exclusive: Watchdog contracted third-party providers to conduct audits despite a review warning it was a ‘significant risk’

More than two-thirds of safety and quality inspections at aged care homes have been outsourced to consultancy firms, despite warnings this presented a “significant risk” and that some contractors underestimated the standards of work required.

The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQSA) audits residential facilities to ensure they are meeting mandated standards. Since 2021, four firms have been paid more than $40m for this work, which includes conducting interviews and searches.

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PwC charged health department to provide ‘risk management’ workshop in weeks before scandal

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Exclusive: Consultancy firm ran event at Department of Health and Aged Care in December, days before former PwC partner was banned by tax advice regulator

PwC Australia billed taxpayers to deliver a “risk management workshop” to a department that was subsequently forced to suspend the firm’s $2.3m contract in the aged care sector, pending an investigation into potential conflicts of interest.

The $36,000 engagement has been described as “frankly absurd” by the public sector union and criticised by legal academics given a Senate committee report released in June 2023 that confirmed the consultancy firm had been engaging in a “calculated” breach of trust.

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