Trust is foundational to our business – and this can only be earned by acting in ways aligned to our Purpose and Values. We are committed to always acting with a clear purpose, with our Values guiding our culture, the decisions we make, the work that we do and the way we behave.
Our ambition is to drive sustainable growth across our business and to be the most trusted and trustworthy professional services organisation that successfully delivers to all our stakeholders – including our clients, our people, and the communities we operate in. It’s an ongoing process that we are fully dedicated to.
Our Purpose – Inspire Confidence. Empower Change.
Governance and accountability
Our governance creates the framework to drive purposeful activity. We remain vigilant in regularly reviewing our operations so they are aligned with the standards expected by our stakeholders and the Australian community.
Some key advances include:
- Enhancing our public accountability through the annual publication of Our Impact Plan, where we report on 21 public commitments around governance, people, planet and prosperity. We are preparing our report in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards.
- Increasing the number of independent directors appointed to our Board from two to three.
- Increasing transparency, such as being the first Australian partnership to commit to publishing executive remuneration on an annual basis and publicly releasing our Partnership Agreement.
We continue to reflect on our own operations and challenge ourselves to do more to strengthen trust through a forward-looking action plan. Further information on our continuous improvement journey can be read here.
KPMG Australia is part of a global organisation of independent professional services firms, with more than 270,000 partners and employees working in member firms spanning over 140 countries and territories around the world.
KPMG International has set out strong governance for overseeing member firm activities around the world, setting policies and aligning our strategy with our Purpose. The Global Board is the principal governance and oversight body for KPMG International and currently consists of 24 members from across KPMG’s global network. KPMG Australia is represented on the KPMG Global Board by our National Chairman.
Detailed information on KPMG International’s structure, leadership and governance can be found on Governance – KPMG Global.
KPMG Australia is led by Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Yates. The CEO leads the firm’s principal management body, the National Executive Committee. The management of the firm is overseen by our National Board.
Individual Office Chairs provide leadership at a local level.
| Justin Jamieson – South Australia | Carmel Mortell – Victoria |
| Michael Hiller – Queensland | Trevor Hart – Western Australia |
| Andrew Spong – Australian Capital Territory | Doug Ferguson – New South Wales |
| Paul Green – Tasmania |
KPMG Australia’s governance arrangements are set in part by our membership of KPMG International and the associated rights, responsibilities and obligations of our network arrangements.
In addition, we are bound by all relevant regulations applicable to a professional services firm in Australia, and the KPMG Fiji and Papua New Guinea (PNG) member firms which operate in the South Pacific Practice are likewise bound by relevant regulations in their jurisdictions. KPMG offers a range of services subject to specific regulatory requirements, including audit, tax, advisory, engineering, property, insolvency and restructuring, sustainability reporting, data security, forensic services, and our client-facing legal practice KPMG Law to name a few.
The National Board
The National Board is the principal governance body for KPMG Australia. It is responsible for oversight and monitoring of the firm’s management to drive growth and long-term prosperity of the firm while engendering trust from the firm’s partners, people, clients, and the wider community.
The Board approves and oversees execution of the firm’s strategy and ensures there are rigorous processes in place for identifying and managing risk and reputational matters, including the firm’s impacts on people, planet, and prosperity. The National Board Charter sets out the terms of reference for the National Board of the KPMG Australia Partnership.
The Board reviews the firm’s commitments, strategies and goals on sustainable development and receives regular updates on progress against Our Impact Plan commitments and associated action plans and targets, such as our Climate Action Plan, our Climate Risk report and approving Our Impact Plan Scorecard annually.
Importantly, there is separation of the Board and management. We believe this is fundamental for the appropriate oversight and holding to account of the CEO and the firm’s key management body, the National Executive Committee (NEC), on all aspects of performance. As such, the National Chairman is not part of the firm’s executive.
The National Board comprises of our Chairman, the CEO, seven elected members and up to three independent members. The Chairman is responsible for leading the National Board, ensuring it meets its responsibilities of upholding the highest professional standards of governance, quality and integrity, and the overall strategic positioning of the firm. The National Chairman represents the firm both locally and internationally. Market-facing responsibilities include regular engagement with external stakeholders such as regulators, governments and clients.
The role of National Chairman is elected, voted on by the firm’s partners. Each term of office is three years, for a maximum of two terms. Martin Sheppard is our National Chairman, effective from 1 September 2023.
The principal governance document of the firm is our Partnership Agreement, which is overseen by the Board. In July 2023 we publicly released our Partnership Agreement, which can be read in full here.
The Partnership Agreement provides guidance on the nomination, selection processes and composition of the Board, including that is has representation from across the firm in terms of gender and diversity, the geographical location and size of the offices, and the various service lines of the firm. It also requires the Board has the range of skills ordinarily expected of the governing body of a large commercial business.
Independents
Over the past six years, our experience has been that independent Board members play an important role in strengthening our governance by imparting contemporary external perspectives and challenging existing approaches. Our Partnership Agreement allows the appointment of up to three Board members who are not Partners of the firm.
Independent appointed Board members are appointed by the Board on the recommendation of the National Chairman. Key considerations include any identified gaps in the Board’s collective skills, along with the individual’s standing in the community and breadth of experience. Potential independent appointed Board members are assessed by the firm’s Ethics & Independence team for the purposes of auditor independence requirements and resolution of any issues identified, including any actual or perceived conflicts of interest. Independent appointed Board members have ongoing independence compliance obligations and are required to submit an annual Declaration of Independence.
Elected
The balance of Board members is drawn from and elected by the firm’s partners. Annual renewal of National Board membership is an important feature of our governance model and contributes to a balanced Board composition, matching fresh ideas and diverse perspectives with continuity and stability.
A Conflicts of Interest register is maintained for Board members, and conflicts of interest are an agenda item for consideration at the commencement of every Board meeting.
The KPMG Australia Board comprises the National Chairman, CEO and 10 other members – including the three independent Board directors:
The performance of the National Board and its Committees is reviewed biennially. The method of review and extent of each review is a matter determined by the Board, including whether the review is conducted by internal or external governance experts.
The Board maintains a National Board Skills Matrix setting out the collective skills, expertise and experience considered necessary to effectively govern the firm. The National Board Skills Matrix includes skills and competencies relevant to the firm’s people, planet and prosperity impacts. The Board completes a skills assessment to ensure a balanced and expert Board. Board elections for internal Partner candidates seek to close any skills gaps.
Our Partnership Agreement permits the Board to delegate its duties and powers and to appoint supporting Committees as appropriate. Board Committees support the Board in discharging its responsibilities, inform its decision-making and enhance Board effectiveness with detailed consideration of complex matters undertaken by each Committee and recommendations made to the Board. Committees draw on the expertise of our elected and appointed Board members with membership reviewed annually.
Our Board Committees and their remit reflect the governance of issues and critical concerns that are escalated to them. In 2023, we completed a refresh of our Board Committees and Committee Charters, including the establishment of a new Governance, Regulation & Compliance Committee.
Committee membership is reviewed annually following the Board member election, and membership is determined giving consideration to the skills and capacity of individual Board members.
| Audit, Finance & Risk Committee |
The Audit, Finance & Risk Committee assists the Board in its oversight of the firm’s financial reporting systems, the integrity of all externally reported financial information and all significant commercial arrangements. This Committee further supports the Board with its oversight of the effectiveness of the firm’s Enterprise-wide Risk Management Framework, the Firm’s Risk Appetite Statement and Risk Profile. The Committee has a role in the oversight of Partner remuneration, ensuring the process for allocation of the Profit Pool is administered fairly and equitably. The Audit, Finance & Risk Committee comprises five members – four elected Board members and one independent appointed Board member. |
| Audit Quality Committee |
The Audit Quality Committee supports the National Board with its oversight of the firm’s audit quality strategy, culture, investment plan and compliance with our system of quality management. This Committee oversees, monitors, and provides independent challenge to the firm’s External Audit functions to ensure that the firm discharges its public interest obligations in relation to financial statement audit quality to key stakeholders such as regulators, as well as to those entities which it audits, and employees in our External Audit function. |
| Governance, Regulation & Compliance Committee |
The Governance, Regulation & Compliance Committee assists the Board in fulfilling its responsibilities to the partnership on matters relating to the firm’s governance practices, its regulatory, professional and contractual compliance obligations, conflicts of interest, ethics and independence, culture and conduct, stakeholder engagement and the firm’s social licence to operate and sustainability performance. The Governance, Regulation & Compliance Committee comprises three elected Board members. |
| The Board Nomination Committee |
The Board Nomination Committee assists the Board in fulfilling its responsibilities to the Partnership on: matters relating to the composition and effective operation of the Board; the process for appointment or election of individuals to the Board (including the National Chair election process); remuneration frameworks for key leadership roles (including Board and CEO); oversight of the firm’s succession planning process for senior leadership roles and composition of the partnership. |
National Chairman
The National Chairman is responsible to the National Board and Partners for promoting and representing the firm nationally and internationally and maintaining the high public profile of the firm. The National Chairman has a strategic program of engagement through a range of forums, including our Board Leadership Centre, with clients, media, regulators, government, industry and business associations and community organisations.
The National Chairman shares insights and reflections from stakeholder and marketplace engagement with the Board at each Board meeting, with Partners in Quarterly Partner Meetings and 1:1 meetings. The National Chairman has regular engagement with staff through town halls and smaller group interactions, such as through in-person Director Connect sessions held twice a year.
Board members
All elected members of the National Board are Partners of the firm and have client responsibilities that mean they connect regularly with clients, industry bodies and associations and have their own community involvement. Appointed independent Board members serve on other boards and have connections into various stakeholder groups.
A practice of the current Board is for individual Board members to share insights and reflections from their stakeholder engagement. This is not a formalised process, rather a practice that the current National Chairman instigated on his appointment to the role of National Chairman.
National Executive Committee
Acting lawfully, ethically and in the public interest
We are committed to the highest standards of personal and professional
behaviour in everything we do.
