The mystery of the vanishing robodebt report and a 0.03% hit to PwC’s revenue

As if PwC didn’t have a bad enough year, the embattled firm has been drawn into the robodebt scandal. 

Fearful of any more bad press, PwC has acted swiftly after the robodebt royal commission highlighted that the firm was paid $853,859 for a report it never delivered. 

PwC has said it will repay the money in full — which would mean a roughly 0.03% hit to its annual revenue of $2.6 billion — and has also parted ways with a partner who gave evidence to the commission. 

To be fair to PwC, it appears the consultancy had been fully prepared to deliver the report, which had been pitched by the Department of Human Services (DHS) in January 2017 as an external process review of the robodebt scheme.