{"id":805978,"date":"2026-07-17T11:29:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T11:29:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/805978\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T11:29:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T11:29:12","slug":"australia-plans-tougher-measures-for-big-four-accounting-firms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/805978\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia plans tougher measures for Big Four accounting firms"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>                        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/TA-2-ASIC-Australia.jpg\"\/><br \/>\n                        ASIC also plans to review whistleblower reports. Credit: Poetra.RH\/Shutterstock.com.<\/p>\n<p class=\"drop-cap\">Australia\u2019s Federal Government has outlined plans to tighten supervision of the \u2018Big Four\u2019 accounting companies following a series of governance controversies across the sector.<\/p>\n<p>The move follows allegations that KPMG staff improperly used confidential information in an effort to secure contracts.<\/p>\n<p>            <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GD-brand.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>            Access deeper industry intelligence<\/p>\n<p>\n            Experience unmatched clarity with a single platform that combines unique data, AI, and human expertise.\n        <\/p>\n<p>\n            <a href=\"https:\/\/verdict.co.uk\/globaldata-intelligence-center?utm_source=Media-sites&amp;utm_medium=Website&amp;utm_campaign=Verdict-Curve-Media-Media-Landing-Page-Banner-IC-Demo&amp;CampaignValue=701Ti00000blv0kIAA&amp;utm_content=RHS\" class=\"gms-find-out-more\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><br \/>\n                Find out more<\/p>\n<p>            <\/a>\n        <\/p>\n<p>According to a Reuters <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/legal\/government\/australia-boost-scrutiny-big-four-accounting-firms-after-wave-scandals-2026-07-16\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">report<\/a>, the government has directed the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) to bolster its regulatory approach to accounting and audit practices.<\/p>\n<p>The step is aimed at improving the accountability, transparency and oversight of \u2060the audit sector.<\/p>\n<p>However, the government did not reveal the measures that it will employ.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier in the month, the government floated proposals to place the major companies more directly under <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theaccountant-online.com\/news\/asic-probes-big-four-audit-companies-amid-misconduct-claims\/?cf-view\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">ASIC<\/a>\u2019s authority, as well as to expand the regulator\u2019s powers and increase penalties for breaches.<\/p>\n<p>ASIC separately announced this month that it will review whistleblower reports related to audit practices across the industry, while continuing an existing probe into particular claims involving KPMG.<\/p>\n<p>The government has also indicated that forcing a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theaccountant-online.com\/news\/australia-considers-break-up-of-big-four-firms\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">structural split<\/a> of the Big Four companies remains among the options it is weighing.<\/p>\n<p>Each of the Big Four operators has faced reputational setbacks in Australia in recent years.<\/p>\n<p>In the KPMG case, the company has come under scrutiny over the alleged misuse of sensitive data. At EY, two employees were dismissed in June after allegedly obtaining the prime minister\u2019s personal banking details, according to a news agency report.<\/p>\n<p>Deloitte issued an apology last year after researchers found that a report it produced for a government department included AI-generated material that was fabricated. PwC was severely impacted in 2023 by disclosures that it leaked confidential tax policies to secure client contracts.<\/p>\n<p>                    <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theaccountant-online.com\/wp-content\/themes\/goodlife-wp-B2B\/assets\/images\/newsletter-new.svg\" alt=\"Email newsletter icon\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\n                    Sign up for our daily news round-up!<br \/>\n                    Give your business an edge with our leading industry insights.\n                <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ASIC also plans to review whistleblower reports. Credit: Poetra.RH\/Shutterstock.com. Australia\u2019s Federal Government has outlined plans to tighten supervision&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":805979,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-805978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=805978"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805978\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/805979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=805978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=805978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=805978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}