Tom Ravlic
Verified
Journalist. Author. Podcast host, Critical Line Item. Contributor, The Mandarin. News tips: onthegrapevine@pm.me
Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Tom Ravlic
Annual report nonsense in Canberra needs fixing
Photo by Swello on Unsplash Estimates has concluded for this calendar year and the past week was a shocker where annual report tabling is concerned. Let’s begin with a bit of personal history here because it explains why the past fortnight has triggered a level of disgust in me when it comes to government and departmental accountability.
Pocock reveals former TPB CEO complaints to Senate
The Australian Greens have revealed that the former secretary of the Tax Practitioners Board lodged a formal complaint against staff of the TPB and the Australian Taxation Office about conduct related to investigations into PwC Australia. Greens Senator Barbara Pocock referred to the complaints made by former TPB secretary Michael O’Neill during two sets of hearings in Senate estimates.
ASIC addresses power limitations in audit regulation
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has doubled down on its demand to be given the power for firm-wide regulation of accounting firms. ASIC chair Sarah Court told Senate estimates that the regulator cannot, at the present time, discipline a firm for audit misconduct, and broader powers are necessary to ensure that the commission can hold firms to account in the same way as it can individual auditors.
Leigh’s ‘Building Outside the Box’
Photo by Susan Holt Simpson on Unsplash Assistant Minister Andrew Leigh spoke to the Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council. He does prompt some thinking from time to time. I acknowledge the Ngunnawal people, the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we meet, and pay my respects to Elders past and present. Thank you to the Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council for bringing together so many people who are helping shape Australia’s built environment.
Workplace safety a key concern for public service witnesses, Kennedy says
Departmental secretaries are concerned that aggressive behaviour by parliamentarians towards public servants creates workplace safety issues, the secretary of the Prime Minister and Canberra Department has told estimates. PM&C secretary Dr Steven Kennedy told Senate estimates that the recent board of secretaries’ submission to the parliamentary committee on parliamentary standards intended to highlight what the public service sees as inappropriate behaviour by parliamentarians.
New committee required for holistic review of all parliamentary departments
The beauty of Senate estimates is that it sheds light on government administration, but it can also remind those questioning bureaucrats, and the rest of us, that even the estimates process has limits. One of them emerged yesterday like a periscope out of water when Senator Jane Hume asked the Department of Parliamentary Services why the Department of the House of Representatives was running seminars at a $350 fee on how the House works when the information was freely available online.
ASIC hits Visy-Pratt with a $4.2 million fine for late homework
The Visy and Pratt companies have been hit with $4.2 million in infringement notices for failing to submit their financial reporting to the corporate regulator on time. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said in a press release that 21 companies in the Visy and Pratt group missed deadlines for their financial statements.
Haines honoured by the Australian Parliament
The House of Representatives spent a large portion of the morning paying tribute to Dr Helen Haines, the member for Indi, following the horrendous incident in which she was seriously injured and subsequently lost both legs.
Swear on it: Public servants should be ‘compelled’ to tell truth at estimates
Departmental secretaries should be required to take an affirmation to tell the truth before appearing before Senate estimates, according to a public policy think tank. The Australia Institute proposes requiring public servants to promise to tell the truth before all parliamentary inquiries so they are less likely to fear looking silly in social media clips posted by politicians and social media influencers.
Pye farewelled by senators at final estimates hearing
Senate president Sue Lines and other senators have paid tribute to retiring Senate clerk Richard Pye during the first day of estimates. Pye was appointed as clerk a decade ago. His usual inquisitors took time to pay tribute to his contributions, but not before the departing clerk himself had a few things to say.
KPMG Australia to cop the spotlight at estimates
KPMG Australia is set to dominate the spotlight across various committees during Senate estimates this week. The first and most prominent clashes between senators and bureaucrats will occur during the hearings conducted by the finance and public administration committee, given that the finance committee has just released the Watt Review.
Outrage harvesting is not helping turn the heat down
Photo by Darla Hueske on Unsplash The past week has seen any number of irresponsible online influencers brand what happened to Dr Helen Haines outside her office in Wangaratta as a terrorist incident. Any individual that came to an opinion based solely on the online presence of the alleged perpetrator is – at best – foolish.
DPS says all hands on deck needed for cybersecurity fix
In the same week governments and corporations worldwide scrambled after a critical programming flaw affected thousands of websites, the Department of Parliamentary Services released its annual report on what it needs to improve cybersecurity measures in parliament. As well as remaining vigilant, DPS said cybersecurity measures will only improve with better cooperation between parliamentary departments.
Five things we have learned since Monday
Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash There are a series of issues that have had my mind whirring since Monday afternoon as I watched the media coverage that followed the tragic and deliberate attack directed at Dr Helen Haines. You will already know that the injuries she sustained were significant and both her legs have been amputated. The perpetrator has been in court and five charges have been laid against him. He will be back in court early next year.
Growing crossbench puts pressure on Senate resources
The Department of the Senate has had to increase the number of staff involved in legislative drafting to cope with demands from a growing crossbench over the past decade, its latest annual report shows. Senate clerk Richard Pye said in his final annual report — his 10-year term ends next year — that one trend is the increasing resource demands from independents and minor parties.
Finance extends KPMG tender ban to February
The Department of Finance has extended the ban on KPMG Australia tendering for new government work to February 28, following its review of a report into the firm’s ethical soundness. Finance received the long-awaited report from Dr Ian Watt on the Big Four firms over the past fortnight. It announced the extended ban after Watt recommended strengthening requirements to exclude firms from participating in tenders when misconduct is uncovered.
Governor General excels in a moment of despair
Photo by Dawid Zawiła on Unsplash What appears below is the Governor General’s address to the assembled press and the nation after Helen Haines’ husband, Phil, told everyone she had lost both legs following the incident on Monday in which she was rammed several times by a driver in a four wheel drive. This speech is worth your time. It sets a tone and provides more light and guidance to the nation than many of our political leaders have been able to for a very long time. No more needs to be said.
Brief update on Helen Haines, and the alleged perpetrator
You will all know that Indi MP Helen Haines has been in a critical condition in hospital following being hit multiple times by a four wheel drive on Monday afternoon. Media outlets are reporting that she remains in a critical but stable condition in a Melbourne hospital, and that she has lost both legs as a result of the incident on Monday.
Auditor-general says not all ad campaigns ‘apolitical’
Victorian government advertising campaigns have breached rules requiring them to be objective, the state’s auditor-general’s office reports. An audit team from VAGO took a deep dive into nine advertising campaigns run by the government. The resulting performance audit report says that not all campaigns comply with the public sector requirement to be apolitical.
Did you understand the answer from the minister?
Here is a transcript from Insiders yesterday. Read the transcript and consider for yourself whether the answers given by the Assistant Treasurer Dan Mulino to David Speers are clear - or clear as mud. DAVID SPEERS: Dan Mulino, welcome to the program. DANIEL MULINO: Well, thanks very much for having me on, David. DAVID SPEERS: So when did you first become aware the Tax Office was considering banning the acceptance of credit card payments?
KPMG has internal audit contract with PM&C, documents reveal
The Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet has embattled accounting firm KPMG handling internal audit under a contract that runs to February, a fresh tranche of documents released under FOI reveals. KPMG Australia is one of two firms handling internal audit for the Prime Minister’s Department — the identity of the other firm is redacted. It was selected from an audit services panel provided by the Australian National Audit Office, and the two contracts contain two optional 12-month extensions.
Superannuation auditing still sloppy, ASIC says
Superannuation funds continue to be subjected to sloppy auditing that fails to get appropriate evidence of valuations of unlisted investments, a report released by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission says. A second report into the quality of financial reporting and auditing of superannuation funds reveals that auditors continue to fail to ask better questions about the carrying amounts of values in the financial statements of superannuation funds.
KPMG has pulled its pants down — and it could mean serious change for the Big Four
Accounting firms like KPMG Australia are at their most uncomfortable when they have to drop their pants all the way to their ankles in public. Sometimes avoiding transparency is difficult. The Big Four firm has been mired in controversy since its treatment of a whistleblower who revealed multiple breaches of ethical standards, auditing standards and other legal rules by sharing confidential audit client information with colleagues who were chasing large audits.
Top KPMG partners set a non-compliant tone
A new report into KPMG Australia’s organisational has found that various senior partners developed a practice of doing the exact opposite of what their ethical and professional guidance demanded. The report was prepared for KPMG Australia by governance consultancy Principia, and it provides further confirmation of the cultural malaise that will form a centrepiece of concerns for the Department of Finance as it contemplates whether the firm is fit to tender for government contracts.
Auditor tips bucket on department’s fire truck management
Poor planning and maintenance mean Victorian fire authorities might not have enough fire trucks to deal with fires and natural disasters, according to the Victorian Auditor-General’s Office. VAGO reviewed fleets operated by the Country Fire Authority (CFA), Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV), and the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA). FRV has 184 fire trucks, the CFA has 2,208, and DEECA has 676.
ASIC backs tougher accounting regulation and expanded powers over Big Four firms
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has revealed it broadly supports the government’s suggestions to reform accounting regulation, including boosting enforcement and disciplinary rules. In a lunchtime address to chief financial officers and accountants, ASIC chair Sarah Court highlighted the need for the regulator to have a wider range of powers to deal with the Big Four accounting firms.
Swearing is not the way to win a vote
Australian politics is lacking statesmanlike figures. It has people who hold roles and some can be regarded as competent, but that does not mean, frankly, that the class of statesmanlike behaviour is anything like that approaching the eras of Howard or Hawke. The current crop are a pale imitation of that and it bemuses me that people want to further erode respect for the political institutions by suggesting their members of parliament get all sweary to sound authentic to beat One Nation.
Report into KPMG’s ills must lead to action, Greens say
The Greens have called on the federal government to move urgently to tighten the regulation of the Big Four accounting firms following the public release of the latest report into KPMG. Senator Barbara Pocock said the report prepared for the firm by governance consultancy Principia provided further evidence that the firm has a culture of turning on whistleblowers who raise genuine concerns about behaviour within the firm.
US regulator gets another KPMG procurement update
KPMG Australia has told its American regulator that its ability to tender for government work in Australia is constrained until at least the end of the month. The Big Four firm is obliged to file updates with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board in the United States, where major investigations or inquiries are conducted into the firm’s conduct, if it audits companies registered to trade equity in the US.
Senator Frydenberg? Not as silly as it sounds ...
There is a pathway the former Treasurer should consider if he wishes to get back in the bear pit, but its not the one most people think. Photo by Gerda on Unsplash Everyone has heard a lot about the Josh Frydenberg biography and all sorts of things that appear in there. There has also been the obligatory dip into the topic of whether he is match fit to take on national politics again, and whether he would want to contest a seat.
New Zealand regulator terminates an Aussie auditor’s licence
A New Zealand regulator has stripped an Australian accountant of auditor registration in that country after it was found that the Sydney-based auditor had breached audit rules. Sydney-based auditor Scott Bennison, a chartered accountant, had his audit licence cancelled by New Zealand’s Financial Markets Authority in the past week.
NSW audit office, CSIRO team up on AI
The Audit Office of New South Wales is partnering with the CSIRO to help the government watchdog sharpen its use of artificial intelligence and machine learning to hold government agencies to account. Auditor-General Bola Oyetunji used his foreword in the 2025-26 annual report to outline how the accountability agency is ensuring it capitalises on new technologies in its audit work. The audit office and CSIRO are exploring ways to use AI to enhance existing audit processes.
Eight-year crusade to reverse an audit disciplinary board evisceration ends
An accountant who lost his audit registration in 2018 has had a further attempt to appeal the decision to strike him off thrown out by the Federal Court. The Company Auditors Disciplinary Board disciplined former registered auditor Reg Williams in 2018 because of issues the Australian Securities and Investments Commission found in Williams’ audit of LM Performance Managed Fund for the 2011-2012 financial year.
Taylor’s cut through problems have just got worse
The coalition is polling dismally. Taylor and Hume are trying their best, but it is not being helped by the reemergence of the former treasurer Josh Frydenberg publicising his life story.
Artificial intelligence does not remove the need for human judgement
Any professional that subcontracts their thinking to Chat GPT or some software package is an idiot. Period. There is a lot of focus on the use of artificial intelligence to make people more productive, and for them to have more time to grapple with growing their business. Photo by Joshua Sortino on Unsplash It is true that it can speed up mechanical or review or grunt work to enable people to focus more deeply on what the data they have before them means.
Editorial - credit card ban delayed by Chalmers & Co
1× 0:00 Current time: 0:00 / Total time: -5:11 -5:11 Audio playback is not supported on your browser. Please upgrade. Editorial - credit card ban delayed by Chalmers & Co Treasurer Jim Chalmers has dealt with the ATO problem by delaying the ATO credit card ban. Discussion about this episode Canberra Sentinel - the podcast The podcast aims to bring you insights with political figures, journalists, and subject matter experts from here and across the world.
Editorial - Albanese government and ATO fail litmus test
1× 0:00 Current time: 0:00 / Total time: -5:44 -5:44 Audio playback is not supported on your browser. Please upgrade. Editorial - Albanese government and ATO fail litmus test The ATO credit card surcharge debate tells us everything about how institutes treat taxpayers as if they are mugs. Discussion about this episode Canberra Sentinel - the podcast The podcast aims to bring you insights with political figures, journalists, and subject matter experts from here and across the world.
Coffee Break Briefing on sustainability reporting
1× 0:00 Current time: 0:00 / Total time: -21:11 -21:11 Audio playback is not supported on your browser. Please upgrade. Coffee Break Briefing on sustainability reporting Avarni is a firm that provides services to companies needing to report on emissions for compliance under law, Its co-founder, Misha Cajic, tells Tom Ravlic about the reporting trends.
Editorial - ATO needs an estimates dressing down
1× 0:00 Current time: 0:00 / Total time: -6:38 -6:38 Audio playback is not supported on your browser. Please upgrade. Editorial - ATO needs an estimates dressing down Canberra Sentinel founder Tom Ravlc gives the ATO a reminder it needs to talk to people a bit more about its decisions. Discussion about this episode Canberra Sentinel - the podcast The podcast aims to bring you insights with political figures, journalists, and subject matter experts from here and across the world.
The ATO has forgotten the art of having a conversation
Any government department or agency that does a Rob Heferen and just announces a decision should expect all sectors to go thermonuclear. The Australian Taxation Office has gravely mishandled the announcement of its withdrawal of the credit card facility for individuals and businesses for the payment of tax debt. Set aside the issue of whether there are workaround and other options, and whether the ATO is warm and fuzzy enough to give somebody access to a payment plan.
AGD warned KPMG was ‘inappropriate’ auditor of modern slavery software suppliers
The Attorney-General’s Department has been told that KPMG Australia was an inappropriate entity to audit suppliers providing software tools to report compliance with modern slavery rules because it was auditing its own competitors. The department published a 45-page document containing emails and letters that reveal concerns about KPMG Australia’s conducting an audit of suppliers of tools that enable the assessment of entity compliance with modern slavery laws.
Deleted features not spotted by website testers, Senate president says
Testing of a revamped Senate estimates questions on notice database failed to pick up deleted functions, a response to questions about website alterations put by Senator Fatima Payman says. Payman asked Senate President Sue Lines to explain why various features of the estimates questions database were missing when changes were made to fix a bulk download function that was causing problems across the Parliament House website.
CAANZ’s KPMG report is a review of systems- not a CSI episode
Photo by Sven Piper on Unsplash Any number of people are going to be making cynical remarks about the CAANZ quality review process that was recently done into KPMG Australia, but that would be a most unfortunate take on a report that was never designed to be an accountant’s equivalent of crime scene investigation.
Finance met with state counterparts on KPMG contract issues
The Department of Finance liaised with its state and territory counterparts on the issue of what to do with KPMG Australia following the revelations of ethical breaches in its audit division, a new batch of Freedom of Information documents reveals. Finance uploaded a 60-page tranche of documents in response to an FOI request late last month, including a full ministerial brief prepared for Finance Minister Katy Gallagher.
Queensland audit costs exceed targets
The Queensland Audit Office issued 414 audit opinions on financial statements and tabled 17 reports in parliament, according to its 2025-26 annual report. Those 414 financial statement audits averaged $241,159 each, above the $190,000 target the QAO set for audit costs. A QAO target of $500,000 per performance audit was also not met, with the average cost exceeding budget by $34,736.
Statutory regulators trump professional associations every time
One of the more extraordinary elements of the KPMG Australia ethical and audit standard scandal is how quickly professional accounting body Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand has moved to save face and preserve some semblance of self-regulation.
Strengthen financial literacy to avoid government BS on finance issues
The media spin on the removal of the visibility of the credit card surcharge highlights the need to educate people better about finance so they become immune to government bulldust. Management accounting lecturers will be salivating with the latest example they can throw at their students on the costs of running any business – never you mind a business that is classified as small.
Lying about the surcharge for Insta sugar hits is criminal
Politicians need to refrain from lying about the economic reality of banning a surcharge. Everything will cost more, and this vaudevillian garbage on Insta must stop. Not surcharge free - just less transparent Look at the social media feeds of government ministers and others who are seeing the removal of the credit card surcharge from the total bill from a supermarket or café as some kind of victory. It is not a victory.
ATO attracts controversy over credit card change
The tax office could have done a more professional, and thorough job of communicating this decision. It would have avoided a multitude of headaches - bring on Senate estimates! Photo by Nathana Rebouças on Unsplash The Australian Taxation Office has announced that it will stop accepting credit card payments following the Reserve Bank’s edict that surcharges should not be charged to consumers.
Taskforce helped increase tax take during the 2024-25 financial year, ATO says
The Australian Taxation Office has said that its Tax Avoidance Taskforce has played a part in ensuring that 4,299 entities paid an aggregate of $87.5 billion in taxes during the 2024-25 financial year. ATO acting deputy commissioner Michelle Sams said that the tax take reported in this year’s corporate tax transparency report reflects “strong levels of voluntary compliance” with tax obligations.
Show More
loading
Actions
Get in touch with Tom
Contact Tom, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack