Education paid KPMG $115k while former partner sat on risk committee

Education staff handed KPMG $115,000 after the firm's integrity scandal erupted, raising questions about the department's audit and risk committee.

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One of the committee members is a former KPMG partner, who led its federal government account for 15 years.

Education secretary Tony Cook. Pictures: Shutterstock, Karleen Minney

Education staff signed two contract variations with KPMG in May: $26,000 on May 5 for "project assurance services" and $89,000 on May 18 for a CCTV in childcare evaluation.

These contracts and others meant Education spent more with KPMG ($2.23 million) than any other consultancy in 2025-26, according to its annual report published on Wednesday, October 21.

Federal agencies have faced scrutiny for their dealings with the firm since March, when allegations emerged that staff in its audit division misused client information to win new work.

KPMG leaders denied the allegations throughout April, saying they had not been substantiated through investigations.

Then on May 14 - days before Education signed the second contract variation - KPMG staff admitted that a senior partner improperly accessed and displayed a client's board documents.

The government banned agencies from starting new contracts with KPMG in June because of uncertainty about its controls on staff ethics and integrity, and that ban was extended in October.

Questions have now been raised about the department's response to the KPMG scandal, and the role of its audit and risk committee.

The committee met five times in 2025-26 to discuss financial and performance reporting, internal controls and systems of risk in areas such as fraud and corruption, cyber security and privacy.

Former KPMG partner Cath Ingram joined the committee in 2022, after leading the firm's federal government account for 15 years.

Ms Ingram has advised Attorney-General's, Canberra Airport and the Australian National University Foundation in committee and board roles since moving on from KPMG.

She attended all Education audit and risk committee meetings in 2025-26, but it is unclear whether there were any discussions regarding the department's external contracts at these meetings.

The Canberra Times does not suggest that Ms Ingram had any influence on decisions by Department of Education staff in relation to contracts with KPMG, or any other contracts.

A Department of Education spokesperson said it assessed value for money for all procurement activities in accordance with the Commonwealth procurement rules.

"The audit and risk committee is not involved in procurement decisions," the spokesperson said.

"The KPMG consultancy expenditure reported in 2025-26 relates to contracts awarded between October 2023 and December 2025.

"These contracts were established through open tender processes in which multiple suppliers were invited to respond.

"The audit and risk committee provides advice on the appropriateness of financial and performance reporting, systems of risk and systems of internal control.

"All audit and risk committee members are required to declare conflicts of interest annually and as they arise.

"Ms Ingram declared her previous roles at KPMG when she commenced as a member on the department's audit and risk committee."

When pressed on the audit and risk committee's role, the spokesperson said the committee had been updated on the department's actions in relation to KPMG contracts.

"The department follows whole of government guidance issued by the Department of Finance in relation to procurement," they said.

"Upon receipt of the procurement policy note the department sought assurances from KPMG in relation to active contracts.

"The audit and risk committee is not involved in the selection, procurement, or contract management of vendors; this work is undertaken by department delegates."

Liberal senator Richard Colbeck, who has advocated for more careful scrutiny of consulting spend, said the bar for transparency had become much higher since both the PwC tax leaks scandal and allegations involving KPMG.

"The department should proactively publish as much information as possible about the procurement process," Senator Colbeck said.

"That includes demonstrating that proper procurement rules were followed, that value-for-money assessments were undertaken, that any conflicts of interest were declared and managed appropriately, and that contract decisions were made independently of any advisory or committee roles.

"Where public money is being spent, the evidence should be available to support the decisions that were made.

"The lesson from recent consulting controversies is that transparency is not an optional extra; it is essential to maintaining public trust."

Regarding Ms Ingram's role on the audit and risk committee, Senator Colbeck said public confidence depended not only on actual integrity, but on the appearance of integrity.

"It is impossible to exclude away all conflicts of interest," he said.

"The most important thing is to ensure that there is a robust conflict of interest management system in place and that it is followed and reported upon.

"Transparency is the best safeguard against any doubt."

'Can't be trusted'

Greens senator Barbara Pocock, who has advocated for more transparency and integrity in government contracting, said the government had enacted a temporary freeze on KPMG contracts for good reason.

"KPMG has broken the community's confidence through its misuse of confidential information and its mistreatment of whistleblowers - it has proven it can't be trusted," Senator Pocock said.

"No department or agency should be contracting with KPMG, including variations and extensions on existing contracts, until they have been properly investigated and regulated.

"If we want to see the consulting and audit sectors cleaned up the government must subject these massive partnerships to the same rules of tax, transparency and whistleblowing as other large entities through corporations law, separate the functions of consultancy from audit and regulate them properly, and ban unethical contractors like KPMG from government work."

Ms Ingram and KPMG declined to comment.

Education Minister Jason Clare has been contacted for comment.

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