Overview
- On Tuesday KPMG said national chairman Martin Sheppard and partners Paul Rogers and Eileen Hoggett will leave the firm as part of an immediate action plan to restore trust.
- The firm has admitted that staff improperly shared confidential Optus material with an internal team bidding for Telstra’s audit work, a disclosure made at a parliamentary hearing.
- The anonymous whistleblower told the parliamentary inquiry they faced retaliation, exposure of their identity and coordinated legal responses across jurisdictions after raising concerns in 2024.
- Regulators and clients have reacted: ASIC is investigating named partners, the government referred aspects of the case to the NACC, and Lendlease has ended its nearly 70-year audit relationship with KPMG.
- KPMG pledged an overhaul that includes appointing an independent chair, adding external board members, commissioning independent 'lessons‑learned' reviews and producing documents to the parliamentary committee while scrutiny continues.