BDO Canberra adds 2 partners amid board meeting preparation

BDO Australia has appointed advisory experts Hellen Thomas and Nabil Hossain as partners of its newest office in Canberra.

The firm revealed the appointments ahead of BDO Australia's board meeting in Canberra this week in a move to further strengthen its capabilities in the nation’s capital and enhance the services offered to public sector clients.

Paul McDougall, BDO Canberra’s lead partner, said the appointment of Thomas and Hossain would bring a great depth of experience and an enhanced skill base to the Canberra office.

“We really have the best of both worlds in local knowledge and presence in Canberra, the scale of a national office network, as well as the ability to draw on expertise from across BDO’s global network.”

“Nabil will focus on CFO Advisory services for the public sector. His areas of expertise include business case development, Government funding and charging models, budgeting and cost management, ERP implementations, agency funding model reviews and finance function improvement.”

McDougall added that Thomas would work closely with public sector clients, focusing on advisory services and would leverage her experience to enhance BDO’s capabilities in cyber security, governance, risk and assurance.

Thomas would bring experience working across various sectors such as government, higher education, energy, and utilities, as well as a deep understanding of the challenges facing both public and private sector organisations.

BDO noted its board would descend on Canberra for its June meeting this Friday, 26 June, and would be heavily focused on further growth opportunities for advisory services and a review of the talent pipeline and hiring opportunities for Canberra.

David Fagan, BDO chair and non-executive director, said the firm’s decision to expand into Canberra last year added to the public sector practice which equated to around 20 per cent of the firm’s revenue in Australia.

“We have demonstrable capability in the work we do for the public sector, and we’re excited to bring that expertise and further grow our team in Canberra. We’re committed to building a lasting presence in Canberra,” Fagan said.

“We are making significant investments in our people and premises; the team has been very successful to date since we opened our new office in Civic last year. Hellen and Nabil’s appointment is the first of more planned for our Canberra office in the coming months since Paul McDougall and Ridhish Arora joined the firm last year.”

“Our board is excited to convene in Canberra this week. We plan to meet a number of key clients and people across the Canberra community in addition to conducting our Board meeting on 26 June 2025.”