PwC Australia did not disclose any real or perceived conflicts of interest to the federal government before it was awarded a $2.3m aged care contract that has been suspended since June amid a continuing investigation.
The firm was contracted by the Department of Health and Aged Care to audit the Morrison government’s workforce bonus program, which provided two pre-election payments in 2022 worth up to $800 to attract and retain staff in the struggling aged care sector.
The payments were available to more than 230,000 aged care workers in government-subsidised home care and to residential aged care staff providing “direct care, food or cleaning services”.
A department spokesperson has confirmed PwC Australia’s multimillion-dollar contract remains suspended, with an official contract notice stating that officials were probing “potential conflicts of interest and related matters”, which have not been publicly revealed.
“Given the recent well publicised issues regarding PwC, it was considered prudent to pause the contract and obtain additional information and assurances,” the spokesperson said. “This information has been received and is being assessed.
“The grant involved payments to aged care workers to retain and attract them to the sector. The audit was to determine that correct amounts had been paid. The grant program itself did not involve PwC and was already complete.”
The firm’s other work with the department has not been suspended.
The spokesperson confirmed PwC Australia did not disclose any real or perceived conflicts.
PwC says on its website that it offers a broad range of consulting services to aged care providers, including strategy, operations, analytics, digital transformation, workforce planning, assurance work and financial advice.
The firm also audits one of the country’s biggest aged care providers, Bupa Australia, which has more than 50 homes that support more than 5,000 residents. PwC replaced KPMG as Bupa’s Australian auditor in early 2022.
PwC Australia has separate government contracts in the aged care sector, including an $8.7m project to collect sensitive commercial data from aged care providers while helping the Australian government set new service prices. While the firm has not commented on that contract, it has stressed it maintains “strict conflict and risk management processes” that are “always followed rigorously before an engagement is commenced”
PwC Australia did not respond to questions about why no real or perceived conflicts of interest were disclosed given its paid work in the sector. It referred to an earlier statement that said the firm was “unable to comment on client engagements”.
“PwC Australia has strict conflict and risk management processes to ensure adherence with our conflict of interest rules – and these processes are always followed rigorously before an engagement is commenced,” a spokesperson said in June.
The Greens senator Barbara Pocock, who is part of a Senate committee investigating the conduct of consultancy firms, criticised PwC Australia’s lack of disclosure.
“It beggars belief that PwC Australia did not disclose potential conflicts of interest in relation to this contract,” Pocock said.
“The perception of a conflict of interest could easily arise from the multiple roles that PwC Australia was performing in relation to the government’s provision of aged care services. It’s simple: if you are working both sides of the street you have a duty to declare it.”
PwC Australia’s audit of the workforce grants program was initially worth $2,194,500 but costs increased by $138,344 in late June, when the contract was extended amid the investigation.
Polling by the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation found more than 70% of aged care workers did not receive a single payment through the bonus scheme four months after it was announced, although this was disputed by the former government.
