Exclusive: KPMG takes $1.3m to teach public servants ethics
Disgraced consultancy firm KPMG continues to operate a government contract teaching ethics to senior public servants, despite mass resignations over serious ethical failures.
As KPMG’s most senior leadership resigns over governance failures, it can be revealed that the consultancy is still being paid by the government to offer ethics training to top-level public servants.
The contract for the ethics training has been twice extended and is now drafted in such a way that will allow it to run until 2028 without tender.
Since the KPMG scandal broke on March 24, with myriad accusations of misuse of confidential client information, the firm has signed 31 new Commonwealth contracts worth nearly $24 million…
These contracts include work for the Australian Securities and Investments Commission – which is conducting multiple investigations into KPMG – the Department of Finance, the Attorney-General’s Department, the Bureau of Meteorology and the Department of Defence.
Documents obtained by Greens Senator Barbara Pocock – a member of the Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services – show the Australian Public Service Academy is persevering with a $1.3 million contract for KPMG to run a course on ethics for the country’s 300 top public servants.
The flagship induction for newly minted Band 1 members of the Senior Executive Service – the SES is divided into three levels, known as bands one, two and three – was developed by KPMG and is aimed at instilling ethical leadership values in the officials who will shape government policy.
The current contract, first executed in December 2023, puts KPMG at the heart of a program intended to build a culture of integrity, accountability and public trust in the Australian Public Service, the very qualities the firm now stands accused of systematically betraying in one of the most serious corporate ethics failures in Australian history.
Issues with KPMG’s ethics training contract were first raised in June 2024, when Pocock pressed the Australian Public Service Commission on why it had awarded the consultancy a contract that allowed it to identify and duchess senior decision-makers in the public service. At the time she told The Saturday Paper this was “a ‘land and expand’ contract that you dream about – and they got it”.
According to the federal parliamentary library, KPMG currently holds 297 active contracts with the Commonwealth, worth a combined $653 million, including the 31 new contracts awarded since the scandal broke in March.
The Albanese government has since imposed a three-month ban on new KPMG work, but the contracts already in place, including the one paying the firm to teach ethics to the public service’s most senior leaders, remain unaffected.
“Is this a joke?” Pocock asks The Saturday Paper. “Just when we thought it couldn’t get any worse, it does – $1.3 million in ethics and leadership training from morally bankrupt KPMG. You can’t make this stuff up.”
The ethics training, says Pocock, has an obvious alternative. “KPMG could run a great class in unethical leadership: how to monetise confidential information, cover-ups, and how to undermine whistleblowers.”
Pocock has written to the federal minister for the public service, Senator Katy Gallagher, demanding the Albanese government force the immediate cancellation of KPMG’s ethics training contract.
Under-fire firm still has ethics, leadership contracts
By Alex Mitchell of Birriga Rd BH fame
A major consulting firm still has a million-dollar contract to train public servants on ethics, despite senior figures being accused of accessing confidential information.
Still reeling from a parliamentary bashing, after which its chairman and two partners quit the firm, KPMG is again in the firing line as questions are raised about its suitability to hold government contracts.
Greens senator Barbara Pocock has pointed out KPMG still holds a $1.27 million contract to train 300 top public servants in ethics and leadership.
The contract runs until December 2026, with a possible two-year extension.
“This is a firm that misused confidential client information to secure more work, misled the parliament and seriously mistreated whistleblowers – among other things,” Senator Pocock said.
“Our most senior public sector leaders should not be undertaking any form of training – let alone on ethics and leadership – from a firm that has, by its own admission, breached the most basic ethical values and whose leadership has failed.”
KPMG’s national chairman Martin Sheppard will step down, along with audit partners Paul Rogers and Eileen Hoggett.
Mr Rogers and Ms Hoggett were named in parliament for allegedly accessing confidential information from long-term audit client Lendlease, with other KPMG staff, to help them win additional contracts.
A whistleblower revealed the purported misconduct and alleged documents from Macquarie Group, Westpac, Dexus and Optus were also mishandled.
Mr Sheppard also received a roasting at the parliamentary hearing.
He was pressed on KPMG’s initial refusal to hand over internal documents, citing confidentiality, professional privilege and the risk of prejudicing the administration of justice.
It was flagged the firm could be investigated for contempt before it later relented.
“The leadership and ethics of KPMG, exemplified by the recent scandals and evidenced by multiple resignations, is precisely the kind of leadership training we do not need in the public sector,” Senator Pocock said.
“Not only did KPMG fail to learn from the awful lessons of the PwC debacle, it sought to present itself as the ethical alternative to secure lucrative contracts – including this one.”
In 2023, PwC was found to have shared confidential federal government tax information with prospective clients.
It was banned from new contracts for more than a year and ended up selling its government advisory business for $1.
KPMG, which has 297 active federal contracts worth $653 million, allegedly misused confidential board papers to win new audit contracts and mistreated a whistleblower who raised concerns.
KPMG has yet to face any major penalty but is under a three-month moratorium on new finance department work.
The Greens want the leadership and ethics training contract cancelled and all of KPMG’s federal contracts reviewed.
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2026-06-27
The Labor Government continues to hire morally-bankrupt KPMG to run ethics and leadership training for senior public servants despite the ongoing fallout over multiple scandals.
KPMG currently holds a $1.27 million contract to provide training on ethics and leadership for 300 top public servants through the Australian Public Service Commission (APSC). The contract runs until Dec 2026 with the possibility of extension until Dec 2028.
The Greens are demanding Labor cease the contract immediately and end all ethics and leadership training by KPMG.
Further, Labor must review all of its 297 active contracts with KPMG worth $653 million to root out and terminate any similar contracts that touch on ethics or leadership, and ban KPMG from all government work until they have been investigated.
Lines attributable to Greens finance and public service spokesperson Senator Barbara Pocock:
“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!
“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.
“Our most senior public sector leaders should not be undertaking any form of training – let alone on ethics and leadership - from a firm that has, by its own admission, breached the most basic ethical values and whose leadership has failed.
“The Government is paying disgraced KPMG for their so-called ‘ethics expertise’ at the same time it is conducting an ‘independent review’ into KPMG’s governance, culture, ethics and integrity frameworks. Is this a joke?
“Labor needs to wake up and listen to the outrage of ordinary Australians.
“The leadership and ethics of KPMG, exemplified by the recent scandals and evidenced by multiple resignations, is precisely the kind of leadership training that we do not need in the public sector.
“Not only did KPMG fail to learn from the awful lessons of the PwC debacle, it sought to present itself as the ethical alternative to secure lucrative contracts – including this one.
“Labor has rose-coloured glasses for KPMG even when they behave unethically. The Government is completely addicted to KPMG.
“The Government needs to review all contracts with KPMG and ban dodgy firms from government work. It needs to establish a consultant regulator and increase penalties for egregious behaviour and ethical failures.”
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