KPMG Australia secretly accessed a whistleblower's work laptop over roughly two years, extracting documents about alleged data misuse and sharing them with senior partners and the CEO — all while the whistleblower was negotiating legal protections. The underlying scandal involves allegations that KPMG partners shared clients' confidential board papers to win new audit contracts. The fallout includes CEO and audit head resignations, an ASIC investigation, loss of the Lendlease audit, and a parliamentary inquiry. The case highlights a broader issue: employers have broad legal rights to monitor work devices, but those rights can be weaponised against employees trying to expose wrongdoing. Australia's government is now considering stronger whistleblower protections.
