PwC gets the green light to bid for new government work

A decision from the Department of Finance has determined that PwC will be able to compete for general government contracts from 9 November 2028, and 9 November 2025 for public financial and non-financial corporations.

“Finance has concluded that PwC Australia has implemented and/or revised its policies and process to meet the ethical standards of governance, culture, and accountability to support PwC Australia’s re-engagement with the Australian Government,” the Department of Finance said.

“As a result of this examination, the mutual agreement between Finance and PwC Australia – under which PwC Australia did not bid for new Commonwealth work – has ceased, effective from 15 July 2025.”

The Greens slammed the government’s decision to allow PwC to bid for new government work, arguing that adequate safeguards had not been put in place to prevent misconduct.

“PwC have proven themselves to be untrustworthy and have continuously refused to cooperate with government inquiries. They have given themselves a clean bill of health through an internal investigation and now want the people of Australia to forgive and forget when nothing has changed,” Greens finance spokesperson Barbara Pocock said.

“Very little has been done to put safeguards in place to ensure that the tax leak scandal does not happen again. This decision is exactly what PwC has been waiting for so they can return to business as usual with nothing being done to curtail the behaviour that has brought the entire consulting sector into disrepute.”

She added that PwC’s ongoing refusal to provide documents to parliamentary inquiries demonstrated a lack of accountability, which should preclude it from applying for new public work.

“Finance’s review didn’t take into account PwC's refusal to provide multiple parliamentary inquiries with crucial documents, including the Linklaters report,” Pocock said.

“I stand by my recommendations that PwC should not be permitted to contract for government work until it has provided the Linklaters report to the Senate, and until all ongoing investigations have concluded.”

The Department of Finance review concluded that PwC Australia had reformed its governance, culture and accountability following independent reviews, such as the Switkowski review, and PwC’s corresponding compliance actions.

“Finance notes that there has been significant change in the upper echelons of PwC Australia, with partners involved in the Collins matter having exited the organisation and others having consequences applied,” the Department of Finance’s report said.

It also noted that there were ongoing investigations into the tax leaks scandal involving the AFP and TPB, but argued that the investigation did not relate to existing PwC partners.

“Finance considers the existence of these ongoing investigations into past actions does not prevent this review of PwC Australia’s fitness to work with the Commonwealth in the future being concluded.”