KPMG Australia fallout widens | Accounting Today

Australia’s central bank and one of the country’s biggest pension funds are scrutinizing and distancing themselves from KPMG Australia as whistleblower misconduct allegations trigger a widening crisis for the Big Four accounting firm.

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The Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Michelle Bullock told senators at a hearing Thursday it will likely not reappoint KPMG to run its whistleblower phone hotline. The central bank had previously outsourced the “Fair Call” hotline to KPMG, but will now be seeking new bids, Bullock said, adding that, “I don’t think we’ll be reappointing them to the whistleblower service.”  

Rest, a pension fund managing A$105 billion ($75 billion) for more than 2 million Australians, told Bloomberg it’s “concerned by the information in the public arena and we are seeking more information about what has transpired.” KPMG is listed as an internal auditor and one of two tax agents in its 2025 annual report. 

“All decisions related to our external suppliers are made according to the best financial interests of our members, and in line with our supplier code of conduct,” a Rest spokesperson said in the emailed statement. 

KPMG declined to comment. KPMG is used in Australia’s A$4.5 trillion pension system for a range of services, and produces annual analysis on the industry. 

The pullbacks come after KPMG Australia CEO Andrew Yates and the firm’s national managing partner for audit and assurance, Julian McPherson, on Friday said they were stepping down to take responsibility for mishandling claims brought by the whistleblower, a former KPMG partner. 

Among the various allegations, highlighted in Parliament by Labor Senator Deborah O’Neill, are claims that KPMG partners on the account of property developer LendLease Corp. used confidential Lendlease board documents in bids for other major audit tenders.

KPMG Australia initially rebutted the allegations, but it acknowledged Friday that its initial investigation was “not conducted with the necessary rigor required.” Allens, an international law firm, is conducting an external review

“It’s time to rip the bandaid off,” Greens Senator Barbara Pocock said in a statement Thursday. “It’s time the government made these opaque, largely unregulated mega-partnerships accountable under the same corporate law, regulatory, whistleblower and tax regime as other large businesses in Australia.”

Pocock is calling for KPMG Australia to be banned from government tendering, putting millions of dollars worth of contracts at risk.