CONSULTING FIRMS – AUSTRALIA

Consultancy firms win nearly $1bn in Australian contracts in past year despite new outsourcing rules, research shows

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Original article by Henry Belot
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 26-Aug-25

Analysis undertaken by the Parliamentary Library on behalf of the Greens shows that the value of federal government contracts with consulting firms rose to $968m in 2024-25; this is 48 per cent higher than the previous financial year. However, the value of public contracts with the four major consulting firms – PwC, KPMG, EY and Deloitte – fell from $138m in 2023-24 to $114m. Greens senator Barbara Pocock says the analysis shows that while the government claims that it is spending less on consultants, it is merely shifting these contracts from the "big four" to other firms.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. PARLIAMENTARY LIBRARY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS AUSTRALIA (INTERNATIONAL) PTY LTD, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, ERNST AND YOUNG, DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU LIMITED

Ex-PwC chief wants tax leak report released

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Original article by Edmund Tadros
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 6-Mar-24

Law firm Linklaters’ report on the tax leaks scandal at PwC Australia was released in 2023, but the professional services firm’s global parent has refused to provide a copy of the report to Australian authorities. PwC International has to date only published a one-page statement which summarises the findings of the report. Kristin Stubbins, who became acting CEO of PwC Australia in the wake of the scandal, appeared before a parliamentary inquiry on Tuesday. Stubbins said she had expected a "more comprehensive release" of the report.

CORPORATES
PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS AUSTRALIA (INTERNATIONAL) PTY LTD, PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS

Calls to ban political donations from Australia’s big four consultancies after PwC scandal

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Original article by Henry Belot
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 5-Jul-23

Analysis by the Centre for Public Integrity shows that the four consultancy firms have donated $4.3m to Labor and the Coalition over the last decade. The value of government contracts held by these firms has increased by 400 per cent over the same period. James Guthrie of Macquarie University says major political parties should not accept donations from the "big four" firms in the wake of PwC’s tax leaks scandal, particularly if they have previously received large payments for public contracts. Greens senator Barbara Pocock has also called for large consultancy firms to be banned from making political donations.

CORPORATES
CENTRE FOR PUBLIC INTEGRITY, MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY, PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS AUSTRALIA (INTERNATIONAL) PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

PwC spin-off counting on census role

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Original article by Tom Burton
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 28-Jun-23

PwC’s contract to run the 2021 digital census was worth nearly $40m; the firm and its technology partner Amazon Web Services had been regarded as the leading contenders to run the 2026 census prior to the tax leaks scandal. The census work would be undertaken by PwC’s public sector consulting arm, which will be sold to private equity firm Allegro Funds for just $1. Codenamed Bell, the new entity is likely to be subjected to intense scrutiny by the government authorities responsible for awarding the census contract.

CORPORATES
PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS AUSTRALIA (INTERNATIONAL) PTY LTD, AMAZON WEB SERVICES LLC, ALLEGRO FUNDS PTY LTD

Deloitte reveals extent of workplace complaints

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Original article by Edmund Tadros, Hannah Wootton
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 22-Apr-21

Professional services firm Deloitte has disclosed that it has investigated about 15 workplace complaints annually over the last three years. The firm’s voluntary disclosure follows recent media reports which revealed that rival firm KPMG received nearly 100 workplace complaints between 2014 and March 2019, an average of about 17 per year. The majority of these complaints were allegations of bullying or sexual harassment. Workplace experts agree that the number of complaints lodged at KPMG does not reflect the true extent of the problem.

CORPORATES
DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU LIMITED, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Andrews delivers for his union movement mates

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Original article by Robert Gottliebsen
The Australian – Page: 29 : 27-Feb-18

Victorian Government legislation could give unions unprecedented power to decide the future of many businesses. The Victorian Labour Hire Licensing Bill 2017 will require all labour hire firms in the state to renew their registration every three years. However, a range of interested parties will be able to oppose re-registration – including unions and rival labour hire firms. The legislation would enable a union to demand that a firm agrees to become fully unionised in return for supporting the renewal of their registration; unions could potentially target each firm in turn until they are all unionised. Significantly, the bill – which has been passed by the lower house – also covers large consulting firms.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, SHOP, DISTRIBUTIVE AND ALLIED EMPLOYEES’ ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, HAYS PERSONNEL SERVICES (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, ADECCO AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, CHANDLER MACLEOD GROUP LIMITED, MANPOWER AUSTRALIA, PAXUS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, PROGRAMMED MAINTENANCE SERVICES LIMITED, DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU LIMITED, PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS AUSTRALIA (INTERNATIONAL) PTY LTD, ACCENTURE AUSTRALIA LIMITED, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

Accenture paid $63m for The Monkeys

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Original article by Edmund Tadros
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 30 : 12-Jul-17

It has been revealed that a May 2017 deal for consulting firm Accenture to acquire Sydney-based creative agency The Monkeys was worth $A63m. The Monkeys posted a net profit of $A2.45m in 2015-16 and revenue of $A21.6m. The deal is part of a growing trend for consulting firms to diversify into the advertising and marketing sector. However, WPP Group’s Sir Martin Sorrell is among those to have questioned the merits of the deal given the different corporate cultures at Accenture and The Monkeys.

CORPORATES
ACCENTURE AUSTRALIA LIMITED, THE MONKEYS PTY LTD, WPP GROUP PLC, DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU LIMITED, PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS, ERNST AND YOUNG, KPMG, MAUD, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, McKINSEY AND COMPANY, ENVISION