***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...
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