Dozens of partners and staff at Australia’s biggest consulting firms have been fired in the past two years for conduct breaches including integrity failures, dishonesty, bullying and sexual harassment.
KPMG, Deloitte and EY have disclosed the sackings to a Senate inquiry into the behaviour of government consultancy firms, which was triggered by PwC’s misuse of confidential tax policy information.
In answer to questions from the Greens senator Barbara Pocock, KPMG confirmed it had received 88 internal complaints about staff conduct last financial year, with 38 substantiated. The majority of these were classed as “code of conduct breaches” or bullying. Eleven people were sacked and others were issued written warnings or had their pay cut.
KPMG did not state whether the 11 people fired were partners or staff but confirmed that the number of misconduct cases had increased from 27 a year earlier.
“We will continue to empower our people to speak up about any unethical or inappropriate behaviour in the workplace, especially to their leaders,” KPMG’s Senate submission said. “For that reason, we view any increase in reporting in the immediate term as a sign of progress.”
Eight partners at EY Australia have been sacked in the past two years for failing to meet the company’s values. The reasons for termination include sexual harassment, bullying, dishonesty and “not acting with integrity in relation to a workplace investigation”, the Senate was told.
The firm confirmed there had been 17 formal workplace investigations launched last financial year in response to accusations of sexual harassment, bullying and other misconduct. Thirteen were substantiated with one investigation ongoing.
EY has engaged the former sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick to investigate its workplace culture with recommendations for change to be made public once completed.
Deloitte confirmed 121 instances of misconduct in the last financial year, with 13 involving partners, four of whom were sacked. The number of breaches increased from 78 recorded a year earlier when two partners were sacked.
Boston Consulting Group did not disclose the number and nature of misconduct complaints, which is likely to lead to further questions from senators.
“While we are unable to disclose details for privacy and confidentiality reasons, and in the interests of employee safety and wellbeing, what we can say is that any misconduct that has been raised has been thoroughly and appropriately dealt with,” the company’s Senate submission said.
The consultancy firms also used their submissions to defend their political donations. Last week PwC announced it would ban donations to ensure “the highest standards of governance”.
KPMG and Deloitte have confirmed they will continue to donate to political parties while EY is yet to respond to questions about the practice.
“EY does not make any direct monetary political contributions,” the company’s submission said.
“EY purchases tickets, pays for membership for forums, provides sponsorship or hosts events, and discloses these to the relevant federal and state electoral bodies as donations, as required by law. These donations are typically evenly spread between the two major parties.”
Twelve partners have exited PwC as a result of the scandal involving the misuse of confidential tax information. Many are accused of failing to properly exercise their expected leadership or governance responsibilities.
