PwC Australia announces transformational Action Plan to enhance governance, culture and accountability

27 September 2023

• PwC Australia publishes, in full, Dr Ziggy Switkowski AO’s Independent Review 

• Firm will apply ASX Corporate Governance Principles and Recommendations

• PwC Australia publishes Statement of Facts, based on its investigation, undertaken with the assistance of external counsel

PwC Australia has today published a comprehensive Action Plan, which incorporates the recommendations from Dr Ziggy Switkowski’s Independent Review, as part of a suite of documents that address the firm’s governance, culture and accountability. 

As part of its Action Plan, PwC Australia will apply Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) Corporate Governance Principles and Recommendations, to the extent it is feasible. This will include the appointment of at least three non-executives, including a non-executive Chair, to our Governance Board and we will publish comprehensive, audited financial statements by September 2025.

These actions form a critical part of our response to the revelations of unacceptable breaches of confidential information in parts of the firm’s Tax practice.

Over the past four months, PwC has installed a new CEO and leadership team, exited those who failed in their leadership duties, announced plans to appoint two non-executives to its Governance Board, divested its government business, and created a new role of Chief Risk and Ethics leader.

PwC Australia has accepted and will implement the recommendations of Dr. Ziggy Switkowski’s AO’s Independent Review of our firm’s governance, accountability and culture. The Review details shortcomings in the firm while highlighting a failure of leadership - both by individuals and as a firm. Over time, this failure of leadership contributed to an erosion of good governance and culture, weakening focus on our professional and ethical standards.

PwC Australia’s Commitments to Change

PwC Australia’s Management Response and Action Plan is built on five key Commitments to Change and supported by several key actions:

1. Put our purpose and values at the core of everything we do
   Key action: Conduct gap-analysis to identify a firm-wide target culture focused on restoring trust

2. Increase the independence and effectiveness of our governance board
   Key action: Adopt the ASX Corporate Governance Principles to the extent feasible; this will include the appointment of at least three non-executives, including a non-executive Chair, and we will publish comprehensive, audited financial statements by September 2025

3. Improve discipline and rigour of executive decision making
   Key actions: Formalise the Management Leadership Team as the enterprise level decision making and risk management forum

4. Strengthen risk and conflict management​ and accountabilities
   Key actions: Strengthen the voice and mandate of the central risk function, including appointment of an external Chief Risk Officer

5. Embed a culture and practice of constructive challenge
   Key actions: Further empower our people and partners to ask questions and challenge the decisions and behaviours of others within the firm

PwC Australia will publish our progress in meeting our commitments until these changes are fully embedded. Our Governance Board, to be led by an independent chair, will oversee our progress and reporting and ensure there is independent verification of our progress.  

“Our Action Plan will help us chart a course to achieve our vision of becoming the leading professional services firm, built on the highest ethical and professional standards with integrity at our core. From the top down, we will learn from these findings, rebuild and re-earn the trust of our stakeholders. That is our promise to our people, partners, clients and our communities,” said PwC Australia Chief Executive Kevin Burrowes. 

PwC Australia’s Statement of Facts

In addition to commissioning Dr. Switkowski to conduct an independent review, PwC Australia, with the assistance of external counsel, conducted an investigation into the misuse of confidential Treasury information and past failures in professional, leadership and governance responsibilities. That investigation is now complete. PwC Australia has prepared and published a Statement of Facts based on this investigation.

The Statement outlines instances between 2013-2017  where certain individuals in PwC Australia’s Tax practice misused confidential information or engaged in conduct that was at odds with PwC’s values and policies. The Statement also discusses the reasons why these issues took many years to come to light.

“In releasing Dr Switkowski’s Independent Review, our Management Response as well as a Statement of Facts, we can now provide a complete and holistic view of what happened. PwC Australia accepts full responsibility and is deeply sorry for the misconduct that occurred and notes that significant repairs have been made and will continue to be made,” Mr Burrowes said.