PwC Australia can bid for federal government work once more
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The news: PwC Australia’s restriction on bidding for federal government work, mutually agreed to after a confidential tax policy leak scandal came to light in 2023, has lifted because the consultancy has improved its ethical standards, according to the Department of Finance.
The context: In January 2023, the Tax Practitioners Board deregistered former head of PwC Australia’s international tax Peter-John Collins for leaking confidential information, obtained while advising the federal government on the multinational tax anti-avoidance law, for commercial advantage.
PwC Australia entered an agreement with the federal Finance department not to bid for any new Commonwealth government work in April 2024. This ban expired on 15 July following a Finance review, although the department will continue to monitor PwC until 30 June 2027.
The consultancy will also provide six-monthly updates to Finance on its progress on implementing actions from 'PwC Australia’s Commitments to Change' and regarding any breaches of its code of conduct.
Finance concluded that “PwC Australia has implemented and/or revised its policies and process to meet the ethical standards of governance, culture, and accountability to support PwC Australia’s re-engagement with the Australian Government”.
PwC Australia however divested its federal government business to Scyne Advisory in 2023.
As part of the divestment, PwC Australia agreed to not compete for contracts in the general government sector over the five years to 9 November 2028 and with public financial corporations and public non-financial corporations in the two years to 9 November 2025, with some exceptions.
In May, legal and regulatory advisory firm Webb Henderson concluded its independent review of PwC’s reform progress after it found the consultancy had completed the design of 46 of 47 actions in its Commitment to Change Action Plan with “implementation complete or well in progress”.
What they said: “We are proud of the progress we’ve made across the past two years and look forward to continuing to embed these important changes,” PwC Australia CEO Kevin Burrowes said.
“There is more work to do as we strive to become the pre-eminent professional services firm, with a focus on delivering exceptional outcomes for our clients, using our deep-industry sector expertise."
The sources: Department of Finance website, PwC media release
