Two members of KPMG Australia’s senior leadership team, including its CEO, stepped down after the firm acknowledged it had mistreated a whistleblower.

On Friday, two members of KPMG Australia’s senior leadership team stepped down after the firm acknowledged it hadmistreated a whistleblower.

The whistleblower alleged the company misused confidential client information and misled a Senate inquiry. Their allegations were first aired in the Senate in March.

KPMG said it will “undertake an external review of our underlying speak-up culture”.

Here’s what you need to know.

Context

• KPMG is one of the ‘Big Four’ accounting firms, with offices across Australia and 137 other countries.
• A whistleblower is a person who reveals misconduct at an organisation, such as a company where they work.
• The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) monitors big businesses’ behaviour.
• ASIC answers to the federal Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services, chaired by Senator Deborah O’Neill.
• MPs and Senators have parliamentary privilege, which lets them say things in Parliament without fear of being sued.

Whistleblower

In March, O’Neill gave a speech in the Senate where she quoted from a letter from an anonymous whistleblower at KPMG, using her parliamentary privilege to air their allegations without risking a lawsuit.

The whistleblower’s letter said they had already tried to raise their concerns internally at KPMG, and then with ASIC, before finally coming to O’Neill.

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