Deloitte, EY criticised by Senate inquiry into consulting for failing to provide information

Senators on the committee probing the culture and practices of consulting firms harshly criticised Deloitte and Ernst & Young executives on Monday and Tuesday for failing to produce information and documents.

Both firms declined a request from the committee to provide a copy of their partnership agreement, calling it commercial in confidence, despite embattled PwC producing the document.

"I think the variance in what information has been provided to the committee depends on how much pressure each individual business thinks it's under," Liberal senator Richard Colbeck told reporters on Tuesday.

"And I say to all of the businesses: you are all under extreme pressure."

Senator Colbeck said PwC "obviously has significant issues to answer", but added the committee was interested in all the practices and regulations of each firm it called as a witness.

The Senate committee was set up in March, to examine the behaviour of consultants contracted by the federal government. It followed the Tax Practitioners Board's move to ban PwC Australia's former head of international tax Peter-John Collins from practicing as a tax agent for two years from January.

Mr Collins allegedly shared confidential information on Australia's multinational tax avoidance strategy with partners and staff at the firm, after a confidential Treasury consultation. The matter has been referred to the Australian Federal Police.

Greens senator Barbara Pocock was dismayed on Tuesday that EY executives had not provided detailed information requested by the committee, including access to its partnership deed, earnings data for partners and information on breaches of confidentiality.

EY Oceania chief executive officer and regional managing partner David Larocca told senators the firm's partnership agreement included information he was not prepared for competitors to see, such as restraint arrangements for partners leaving the firm.

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But Senator Pocock dismissed this, outlining EY could have redacted the document or provided the partnership deed in confidence, which Mr Larocca did not rule out.

"I think some of the very big consulting firms who have come before our committee have not taken us seriously as a parliament," Senator Pocock told reporters later.

"They have not taken the perspectives of the Australian community seriously.

"If you are giving a firm $700 million of public funds to do public work then the public is entitled to know through its parliament, how much the leadership of those firms is paid."

Reflecting on the PwC matter in his opening statement on Tuesday, Mr Larocca told the committee the "industry must accept the critical importance of integrity, confidentiality and ethics in our actions and behaviours".

"While there'll no doubt be insights that emerge from this inquiry that will apply to the whole industry, I want to start by saying that EY is a firm that takes its ethical obligations extremely seriously, and seeks at every turn to embed that into the fabric of the organisation."

"Our objective is to not fall short, but where we do, to correct for that, to learn from it, and to make the necessary changes."

Labor senator Deborah O'Neill also slammed Deloitte executives for failing to produce their partnership agreement on Monday.

"Despite my grave concerns about behavior that is now a matter of public record with regard to PwC, PwC have in fact provided more information to this committee, in response to questions on notice, than others who are known to be part of the big four and indeed part of the big seven," Senator O'Neill said.

Asked whether she would support a royal commission into the practices of big four consulting firms, as firms declined to produce information, Senator O'Neill said "there's a job of work for [the committee] to do yet".

"If we get to a point, however, where it becomes apparent that there needs to be further powers and further investigation that is unable to be met by the powers of the Senate then I would be one of the first to call for a royal commission."

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