Consultancy giants load up on $3.7b Defence contracts

Australia’s biggest consultancy firms were awarded contracts worth $3.7 billion from the Australian Defence Force during the past decade, analysis shows.

The Greens on Tuesday released an analysis of data from the AusTender website showing the amount the big four firms - PwC, KPMG, EY and Deloitte - have raked in since 2011.

It found KPMG mainly benefited from the spending by the ADF on consultants, taking in contracts worth more than $440 million in 2022.

Greens Defence spokesman David Shoebridge said the consultancy firms had targeted the department as a source of “almost unlimited growth”.

“What is really remarkable is how the big four consultants’ feasting on defence contracts has surged in the last six years, almost doubling year-on-year,” he said.

“With almost daily scandals now breaking where consultants have breached secrecy requirements when it suits them, there is a major national security risk with this.”

Senator Shoebridge said Defence had “no credible answers” to how it was managing risks, apart from asking for more self-reporting from consultants.

It follows allegations KPMG billed the Defence department for hours never worked.

KPMG reportedly charged the department $1.8 billion over the past decade.

The firm told the ABC in a statement it could not find evidence to support claims of improper billing of Defence.

PwC has been embroiled in a scandal over its use of confidential government information to help clients avoid tax.