Senior managers and staff at public sector consulting firm Scyne Advisory will be required to meet a code of conduct that mirrors that of the Australian Public Service, a submission from the new firm to a parliamentary committee says.
Scyne Advisory chair Adrian Loader has told the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services that the new firm starts with an expectation that people working for it will abide by high standards.
Scyne came into being as an idea when accounting behemoth PwC Australia found itself being frozen out of consideration for fresh government work as a result of the tax leaks scandal that has dominated the political and accounting landscape since January.
Government departments expressed concern about the tax leaks scandal and PwC Australia found itself on the outer with the bureaucracy with little prospect of seeing the same volume of government business in the short to medium term.
The firm then negotiated with Allegro Funds, a private equity play, to offload the government business for $1.
This has led to the creation of a new firm meaning government consulting partners and staff had the prospect of secure work.
Loader told the parliamentary committee that the PwC-Allegro Funds transaction was about to be finalised and contained an agreement from PwC to not play in the government consulting space.
The Scyne submission to the parliamentary committee chaired by senator Deborah O’Neill outlines various elements of the governance structure that include a powerful probity, conflicts and ethics subcommittee chaired by former Federal Court judge Andrew Greenwood. It has been given powers to review any engagement at any time to ensure rules are being followed.
“This [Scyne] committee will have the authority to undertake spontaneous or unannounced audits of any transaction in which the company is providing services to a client to ensure the highest standards of compliance,” the submission says.
The firm has also flagged speak-up and whistleblower policies that its submission says are designed to “give staff confidence to report probity, conflicts or ethical concerns”.
It has also flagged a policy of not donating to political parties to ensure that the firm’s behaviour is consistent with an apolitical public sector.
Scyne Advisory’s submission also notes that the firm will have a cooling-off period for former politicians of 18 months and 12 months for former public servants, should they join the firm to properly manage conflicts of interest that could arise given their former work.
The firm also tells the committee that it is aware it is on a journey to win the confidence of stakeholders.
“Scyne Advisory acknowledges that there is still a lot of work to do to establish the trust of our clients and the community,” it says.
“However, we are committed to working transparently with all governments, including committees like this, to demonstrate that Australians can trust and have confidence in the ethical standards of suppliers who provide professional services to the public sector.”
A submission from PwC Australia — the firm government consultants are leaving to form Scyne Advisory – has also been uploaded to the parliamentary website. New chief executive officer Kevin Burrowes has told the committee PwC is open to changes in regulation to underpin a rebuild of trust in the system and advance public interest.
Burrowes flagged the publication of the review being conducted by nuclear physicist and governance expert Ziggy Switkowski into the firm’s governance and culture later this month.
“We want the most effective framework encompassing all aspects of the professional services ecosystem. A strong framework with significant oversight powers brings benefit to the capital markets and the wider public interest,” Burrowes said.
“We are listening to our clients, stakeholders and the broader community and are committed to evolving PwC Australia to deliver against that public interest test.
“As a firm, we are already underway with significant change to overhaul our governance, culture and our approach to accountability — and we will continue to take the appropriate action to restore the trust of our stakeholders.”
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