KPMG partner admits to inappropriate access to documents in procurement of major Westpac contract

***ARTICLE UPDATED*** A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that CA ANZ was investigating the actions of KPMG in relation to the improper access of confidential Lendlease documents

Correspondence made publicly available by the Parliamentary Committee on Corporations and Financial Services, sent by KPMG’s client Lendlease to Labor Senator Deborah O’Neill, details allegations that the Lendlease documents were accessed unauthoritatively by a KPMG partner. In the letter, Lendlease said that the actions of responsible KPMG employees were unacceptable.

“Confidential Lendlease board papers were taken and circulated internally within KPMG and used to support the pursuit of major audit tenders, including Westpac and Dexus,” a whistleblower previously alleged.

As previously reported by Accounting Times, on 24 March 2026, Labor Senator Deborah O’Neill informed the Senate of five key allegations against KPMG made by the whistleblower, including audit independence, misuse of confidential information from its client Lendlease, and tender integrity failures to win external audit work for Westpac, all allegedly occurring in 2024.

“Throughout the [Westpac] tender, KPMG received feedback and position intelligence not available to competitors. This included that the tender was KPMG's to lose, commentary undermining EY's proposed lead partner, guidance to reduce KPMG's fee by approximately 25 percent, and advice on managing perception optics,” said O’Neill, who sighted the allegations.

In a statement provided to Accounting Times, KPMG said: “We can confirm individuals involved were sanctioned and the sub-committee of the Board endorsed those sanctions …. As this matter has continued to evolve, we have escalated our oversight and response accordingly.”

A letter from KPMG’s client Lendlease, to O’Neill on 30 April 2026, confirmed that at least one allegation was substantiated. Landlease said that KPMG allegedly informed it that a KPMG audit partner accessed and displayed Landlease board papers, as alleged. The firm conceded to Landlease that it should have first advised Lendlease that it had access to these documents and that it should not have viewed any of these Lendlease documents.

“KPMG has advised that KPMGʼs audit partner accessed via a folder in Diligent two documents from the Lendlease Board papers. KPMG advised that these documents were put on a screen in the presence of the KPMG audit team, then tendering for the Westpac audit,” the letter read.

Despite this, in the conversation, KPMG allegedly deemed the documents to be of “low sensitivityˮ, giving it “zero competitive advantageˮ.

Following O’Neill’s mention of the allegations before the Senate in March, KPMG’s chair Martin Sheppard, and chief executive Andrew Yates said that although they were aware of the serious allegations made by the former employee in 2024, their investigations had failed to substantiate the whistleblower’s claims.

“We commissioned two separate law firms: one to review our firm’s investigation into the claims and one to conduct its own external investigation. On the basis of what we have been provided, we have been unable to substantiate any claims of wrongdoing raised with us,” the chair and chief executive said in the statement.

This development comes after KPMG asked O’Neill to share evidence of the allegations and invited the former employee to provide evidence through the firm’s whistleblowing channels.

Accounting Times has reached out to IPA for further comment.