KPMG Australia said chairman Martin Sheppard will depart soon and retire from his regional board duties. Audit partners Paul Rogers and Eileen Hoggett will also leave the firm, the company confirmed on June 23, 2026 [1, 2, 3, 4].
The resignations follow whistleblower allegations that KPMG misused confidential client information from Lendlease to win audit work. Rogers and Hoggett were named by the whistleblower as lead partners involved in the misconduct. Australia’s corporate regulator is currently investigating both [1, 2, 4].
The scandal emerged publicly in March 2026 when allegations were made under parliamentary privilege. On June 19, Australian lawmakers grilled current and former KPMG personnel, including Sheppard, during a parliamentary hearing about the audit misconduct [1, 3, 4].
Former CEO Andrew Yates and national managing partner Julian McPherson resigned earlier in response to the controversy [4]. KPMG Australia said interim CEO Stan Stavros described the latest resignations as "necessary and immediate" and acknowledged the firm had failed to meet expected standards, impacting the whistleblower, staff, clients and the community [2].
KPMG Australia, which employs about 9,000 people with close to 700 partners, will pursue a governance restructure as part of its response. Changes include appointing the firm’s first independent chair, adding independent board members and conducting a lessons-learned review [1, 2, 3, 4].
The company is also working to appoint a new CEO to refresh its executive team and strengthen ethical leadership [1, 2, 3, 4]. It has voluntarily agreed not to bid for new federal government audit work for three months [4].
Australian Greens Senator Barbara Pocock criticized KPMG’s governance as "a train wreck" and said chairman Sheppard must share responsibility with former CEO Yates and resign [4].
KPMG’s next steps include appointing new leadership and completing its governance changes amid ongoing investigations into audit misconduct.
