Senate committee questions McKinsey, Deloitte, KPMG over nondisclosure

KPMG, Deloitte and KPMG have faced a Labor blowtorch in the Senate over their behaviour towards staff and allegations of nondisclosure requirements.

Senator Deborah O'Neill. Picture: Martin Ollman

McKinsey, Deloitte, and KPMG have all faced a barrage questions fired off by Labor Senator Deb O’Neill as two days of hearings into the use of consultants by the government wrapped up on Tuesday.

The questions to the professional services giants comes as a Senate committee seeks to establish how the firms handle their staff.

McKinsey, which refused to appear before the parliamentary hearing and provided a curt response to an earlier round of questions from the Senate committee, is facing a demand to explain how it handled the culling of almost 20 staff from its Australian and New Zealand operation in March this year.

Senator O’Neill asked McKinsey whether it had contacted Services Australia to notify it of the cuts, as well as asked it explain to the parliament how it handled the redundancy round.

McKinsey was also asked whether it required staff to sign nondisclosure or non-disparagement agreements and if they were offered “incentives” for signing the deals.

McKinsey has been contacted for comment.

KPMG faced similar questioning by Senator O’Neill, who asked the firm to explain its handling of about 200 job cuts in February.

Senator O’Neill questioned whether KPMG had notified Services Australia if its management “appropriately report any/all dismissals of over 15 staff which have occurred in 2023”.

It’s understood KPMG contacted Services Australia about the 200 or so staff that were cut under the obligation to provide notice.

Deloitte was asked about its use of nondisclosure agreements and whether it was offering staff incentives to sign the deeds.

“Are any current staff of Deloitte subject to nondisclosure agreements relating to workplace misconduct, including but not limited to the bullying and sexual harassment of another current or former Deloitte employee?” Senator O’Neill asked.

Deloitte was asked by Senator O’Neill about its human resources department, and the “timeline of its creation and staffing level”.

Senator O’Neill also questioned Deloitte raising of matters internally to external regulators, including the Australian Securities and Investments Commission as well as the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand.

A Deloitte spokeswoman said the use of nondisclosure agreements was “appropriate and commercially accepted” and used when “confidentiality of all parties needs to be protected.”

“We only use NDAs in exceptional circumstances,” she said.

“As a matter of principle we do not offer incentives to staff to sign NDAs.”

Originally published as Senate committee questions McKinsey, Deloitte, KPMG over nondisclosure