Since late 2023, KPMG has been conducting ethics and leadership training for federal public servants. The government’s $1.3 million contract with KPMG for the ethics training is set to continue until 2028.
At the same time, the government has initiated an inquiry into KPMG’s ethics, led by Dr Ian Watts.
The following quotes are attributable to Josh Bornstein, Director of Corporate Regulation at The Australia Institute:
“It is time to bring KPMG’s ethics training to an end – the situation is high farce.
“Retaining KPMG to provide ethics training to public servants was a bizarre decision in the first place. Maintaining the firm’s involvement in ethics training in light of the extraordinary revelations of its misconduct is indefensible.
“If the government is unable to immediately cancel the contract, it should pause it until the outcome of the inquiry.
“This is not just a case of needing to clean up the big four but a test of how important institutions respond at a time of growing distrust in those institutions.
“There are other service providers who are far better qualified to provide ethics training, including academics within the university sector.”
