Senator calls for contract review as KPMG bidding pause begins
The Australian Public Service Commission has kept a $1.27 million leadership and ethics training contract with KPMG, despite a federal moratorium barring the firm from new government work and a corruption commission referral.
Greens senator Barbara Pocock said KPMG misused confidential client information to secure more work, misled the parliament and mistreated whistleblowers, and called for the training contract to be cancelled.
Confidentiality findings triggered action
A tabled letter from Lendlease chief executive Tony Lombardo revealed that KPMG personnel on the developer’s audit team in 2023 retained and used material from Lendlease board papers to inform a tender for Westpac’s audit.
KPMG Australia chief executive Andrew Yates resigned along with audit head Julian McPherson after the firm acknowledged shortcomings in its handling of a whistleblower complaint and its investigations into the allegations. National chairman Martin Sheppard and audit partners Paul Rogers and Eileen Hoggett also later stepped down following the parliamentary scrutiny and the firm’s governance overhaul.
The Department of Finance has barred Commonwealth officials from entering new contracts with KPMG for procurement processes closing between 16 June and 30 September 2026. Dr. Ian Watt, a former secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, has been appointed to conduct an independent review of KPMG’s culture, ethics, integrity and governance.
Pocock separately referred KPMG to the National Anti-Corruption Commission over allegations of misconduct, ABC News reported. Finance minister Katy Gallagher said the government was “very concerned” about the allegations that had been raised and was responding firmly through the contract pause and independent review.
Existing contracts remain unaffected
KPMG’s nearly 300 existing Commonwealth contracts remain in place because the procurement pause applies only to new work and does not affect legally binding agreements. The firm holds 297 active federal contracts worth about $653 million in total, including an ethics and leadership training agreement covering about 300 senior public servants that runs through December 2026 with an option to extend to December 2028.
KPMG interim chief executive Stan Stavros said the firm welcomes the independent review and is finalising a remediation plan to address where it fell short of expected standards. The firm said it would fully cooperate with the Department of Finance’s review and keep state and territory clients informed of its progress.
Greens push for broader contract review
Pocock is demanding Labor review all 297 active KPMG contracts and ban the firm from government work until an investigation is complete. She said senior public sector leaders should not be undertaking ethics and leadership training from a firm that has, by its own admission, breached the most basic ethical values.
“Just when we thought it couldn’t get any worse, it does. $1.3 million dollars in ethics and leadership training from morally-bankrupt KPMG - you can’t make this stuff up!” said Pocock. “KPMG could run a great class in unethical leadership, how to monetise confidential information, coverups and how to undermine whistleblowers. What exactly has the Government paid for? This is a firm that misused confidential client information to secure more work, misled the parliament and seriously mistreated whistleblowers - among other things.”
The independent review is due to report by the end of September.
