Strengthening integrity in audit, accounting and consulting firms

The Albanese Government will continue to strengthen accountability and improve the conduct of accounting, auditing and consulting firms in Australia. Integrity in our markets matters, because when people trust the system, they are more willing to invest, innovate and plan for their future. That confidence underpins a strong economy for everyone.

In recent years, we have seen behaviour from some large accounting, auditing and consulting firms in Australia that is not fair and honest. This has undermined trust in the firms themselves and raised broader questions about the resilience of the frameworks meant to uphold market integrity. Today we are releasing a paper that sets out a range of options to strengthen accountability and lift standards right across these sectors.

These include: Dealing with conflicts of interest in multidisciplinary firms with audit and non‑audit functions, including firms advising government on the design of programs and legislation while also advising companies on how best to benefit from them Partnership reforms, including governance requirements for large audit firms and partnership limits for large accounting firms Requiring audit firms to meet quality management and ethical standards to be eligible for engagement by audited entities Improving audit surveillance.

The behaviour of large firms should have consequences. It is time to return trust and integrity so that the government, taxpayers and other businesses can rely on the services of large accounting, auditing and consulting firms. This options paper builds on actions taken by the Government to strengthen promoter penalty laws, enhance the powers of our regulators, and improve government procurement and contracting frameworks to reinforce ethical conduct, and review laws for tax and corporate whistleblowing.

Consultation is open until 12 August 2026