Powerful firms that put the ’con’ into consulting

Jane Andrew Conflicts of interest, poor culture, and lack of transparency in the consulting industry cost the public billions and hollowed out public institutions, writes Professor Jane Andrew for 360info. Daily revelations in the media surrounding the performance and bad behaviour of the consulting industry highlights a growing scandal that threatens more than just the firms involved. Attention so far has focused chiefly on PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), which is not only embroiled in an  ugly tax scandal , revealing serious conflicts of interest, but has been linked to the notorious  Robodebt scheme. PwC failed to provide a 70-page report to the government on a scheme that was later ruled to be illegal,  despite being paid nearly AUD$1 million. Instead, it compiled an eight-page PowerPoint presentation. Emerging evidence suggests   these transparency failures and issues of conflict of interest at PwC are just the tip of the iceberg for the consulting industry. KPMG has been accused  of submitting inflated invoices and billing the Australia's Department of Defence for hours never worked and  Ernst & Young (EY)  was working for gas giant Santos while advising the New South Wales state government on new gas developments.