The Federal Government has just published its response to parliamentary inquiries into the ethics of consultants, sparked by PwC’s breach of trust. Photo: David Murtagh.
The Greens have blasted the Federal Government over what they say is a “woefully inadequate” response to parliamentary inquiries into external consultants to the public service.
There have been two parliamentary inquiries into the consultancy sector, sparked by the PricewaterhouseCoopers breach-of-trust tax scandal.
Between them, the two inquiries made 52 recommendations that were agreed to by Labor, the Liberals and the Greens on the committees.
The recommendations included lowering partnership caps, separating audit from non-audit services, strengthening whistleblower protections, and prohibiting PwC from tendering for government work until all ongoing investigations have concluded.
The Greens say the inquiries and their recommendations gave the government an opening for reform across the accounting and consulting sector, but Labor has “failed to meet the moment”.
Greens finance and public sector spokesperson Barbara Pocock said it took too long for the government to respond to the inquiries, and that, now that it has, the response is a disappointing letdown.
“The government’s response to this consultancy crisis is woefully inadequate. We discovered a tidal wave of malpractice, poor governance and structural failures,” Senator Pocock said.
“The government’s response fobs off our report with baby steps that don’t meet the scale of this crisis.
“So much of the parliament’s time and resources have been spent uncovering unethical behaviour in the consultancy sector.
“The government was provided with clear recommendations for cleaning up the sector, but instead of agreeing to them, Labor continues to greenlight unethical contractors.”
Senator Pocock noted that political donations data released this week show that major consulting firms are still making large donations to the government.
Three of the Big Four consultancy firms continue to donate to the government.
Describing it as a “straightforward conflict of interest”, Senator Pocock said it was “no wonder” the government is failing to act.
“This is a government of gestures,” she said.
“Despite the extensive evidence and comprehensive recommendations, the government is once again choosing to tinker around the edges, instead of committing to actual reform … The government continues to distance itself from a myriad of consultancy scandals, which won’t go away.”
In its just-released response to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services’ report on ethics and professional accountability, the government says it has taken a number of steps.
“The government expects its suppliers to conduct themselves with high standards of ethics such that they consistently act with integrity and accountability,” part of its response says.
“The Australian Government has undertaken a range of actions to strengthen supplier integrity and contract transparency.
“The Australian Government has developed the Commonwealth Supplier Code of Conduct as a key measure to strengthen supplier behaviour.
“The code sets out the government’s expectation for suppliers to uphold similar values and behaviours to those expected of public officials in the APS Values.”
The code, which came into effect on 1 July 2024, places obligations on suppliers and their subcontractors to act ethically while under contract with the Commonwealth.
It states that external contractors must emulate Australian Public Service values.
“When a supplier is undertaking work on behalf of the Commonwealth, they must uphold similar values and behaviours to those expected of public officials in the APS Values,” the code says.
“This is always important, but particularly relevant where a supplier interacts with, or provides services to, the Australian public.”
The government’s response to the inquiry also stresses it has taken “decisive action” to strengthen the regulation of accounting, auditing and consulting firms in Australia. This includes legislative changes.
“Additionally, the Contract Management Guide, updated in August 2025, reinforces the importance of managing the ethical conduct of suppliers, and ensures officials responsible for managing Commonwealth contracts are aware of the obligations of all parties under the code,” it says.
The final report, Examination of the ethical soundness of PricewaterhouseCoopers Australia is available from Finance.
“In relation to PricewaterhouseCoopers Australia (PwC Australia), in mid-2025, Finance completed its review of the ethical soundness of PwC Australia. The final report is available on the Finance website.”
In 2012, a project initiated by the OECD and the G20 examined ways to reduce tax avoidance by multinational corporations, and the Australian Treasury was tasked with implementing the project’s findings in Australia.
The following year, Treasury engaged then-PwC partner Peter Collins to give advice on designing new tax laws in Australia aimed at closing any loopholes that could be exploited to prevent multinationals from paying their fair share of taxes in this country.
That work led to the Multinational Anti-Avoidance Law, which was enacted in 2015 and took effect in 2016.
Peter Collins signed three separate confidentiality agreements with Treasury to protect the sensitivity and secrecy of the work being developed.
Yet he violated those agreements by sharing that confidential information with at least 53 PwC partners, including the firm’s tax advisory arm so they could come up with strategies to help their international clients outsmart the new laws once they were introduced.
PwC helped its clients avoid paying the very taxes it was helping the Australian Government create.
