What happened with CA ANZ and KPMG Australia?

Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ) has launched an immediate regulatory review into KPMG Australia and other tier-one accounting firms.

Why is this regulatory review happening now?

The intervention is a direct response to recent whistleblower allegations involving KPMG and growing political scrutiny over misconduct within Australia's multi-billion-dollar consulting sector.

What makes this move by CA ANZ unusual?

CA ANZ CEO Ainslie van Onselen has used rare oversight powers to trigger immediate, targeted reviews. This directly bypasses the standard, regular cycle of Quality Practice Reviews that firms normally undergo.

Who from CA ANZ is fronting the parliamentary inquiry?

Four top executives will represent CA ANZ at the Parliamentary Joint Committee hearing on June 19. The lineup includes CEO Ainslie van Onselen, General Counsel Vanessa Chapman, Board Chair Sarah Petersen, and Disciplinary Tribunal Chair Grace Kelly.

What legal loophole is CA ANZ trying to close?

CA ANZ is aggressively pushing for systemic regulatory reform to extend corporate whistleblower protections to partnership models under Australian law. Currently, structural gaps mean individuals in partnerships do not have the same statutory protections as those in standard corporate structures.

Why should retail investors and traders care about consulting firm scandals?

While major accounting firms are partnerships and not publicly traded, their audit and consulting divisions oversee the financial integrity of ASX-listed companies.

Image for illustrative purposes only. Not a real photo.

CA ANZ launches urgent ethics review into KPMG

Written by Mahathir BayenaPublished Jun 11, 2026, 6:40 AM

Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand launched a review into KPMG Australia and other major tier-one firms, targeting their handling of confidential information and ethical cultures.

The professional body has bypassed its standard regulatory timetable to intervene directly.

CA ANZ CEO Ainslie van Onselen has exercised rare oversight powers to trigger these immediate reviews, bypassing the regular cycle of quality practice reviews.

The decision signals a regulatory response to growing public and political scrutiny over misconduct within the nation’s multi-billion-dollar consulting sector.

The announcement comes ahead of a high-stakes Parliamentary joint committee hearing on June 19, where CA ANZ’s top leadership will face intense questioning regarding KPMG’s whistleblower allegations.

Alongside Van Onselen, General Counsel Vanessa Chapman, Board Chair Sarah Petersen, and Disciplinary Tribunal Chair Grace Kelly are scheduled to appear.

Central to CA ANZ’s parliamentary submission is a push for systemic regulatory reform, specifically addressing systemic gaps in how partnership structures operate under Australian law. The accounting body is advocating for a major legislative overhaul to shield corporate whistleblowers.

“We have recommended that enhanced whistleblower protections be introduced for the partnership model,” van Onselen said ahead of the enquiry.

“There is a gap there, we believe, and we are very much proponents of that regulatory reform to enable those whistleblower protections.”