A new audit shows how much the government spent on outsourced consultants from the Big Four consulting firms. 

The Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) has released a report covering government procurement contracts for the period of 1 July 2012 to 30 June 2022.

It shows that the Federal Government spent $888 million on consultant-related contracts for the 2021-22 financial year, an increase from $352 million in 2012-13.

The reporting period includes a few months with the start of the new Labor government sworn in on 23 May 2022, which brought with it a pledge to cut back on consultancy spending.

Year by year, the value of the contracts has increased, but the number of contracts has fluctuated.

Many of the consultants come from the Big Four consulting firms: KPMG, Deloitte, EY, and PwC.

PwC received $423.7 million from 1,205 contracts, but KPMG topped the list with $329.4 million from 1,360 contracts.

EY followed with $320.2 million from 1,017 contracts, while Deloitte received $190.5 million from 860 contracts.

In rounded terms, an average PwC contract was worth $352,000, an EY contract was worth $315,000, a KPMG contract was worth $242,000, and a Deloitte contract was worth $222,000.

The top three departments by the number of consultancy contracts were Defence (4,465, worth $1,137.1 million), Health and Aged Care (3,086, $543.0 million), and Finance (2,491, $214.2 million).

The most commonly stated reason for hiring a consultancy was the “need for specialised or professional skills”.

Australia’s Labor government has been very vocal about cutting spending on consultants.

Public service minister Katy Gallagher says that an in-house consulting model will be established to build APS capacity.