Scandal-hit consultancy firm KPMG has faced a fresh setback to its federal procurement ambitions with the Department of Finance extending the firm's Commonwealth work freeze to the end of October.
The decision followed a mutual agreement between Finance and the firm, pushing the original procurement pause back by an extra month.
Finance also delayed the deadline for its independent review of KPMG's governance, culture, ethics and integrity frameworks to October 9, 2026.
Departmental officials confirmed the two-week extension was necessary to allow for the consideration of findings from separate inquiries concerning the firm, which were scheduled to report by September 30, 2026.
Greens senator Barbara Pocock said the federal government's response to the scandal has been "woefully inadequate".
"The Government's temporary month-to-month freeze on KPMG is nothing but a pathetic, tokenistic gesture ... this is government of gestures", Senator Pocock said.
"Labor needs to stop feeding the beast and get on with the job of reforming a sector gone rogue. These firms play by their own rule book where ethics fall at the prospect of a bucket of money, and the government does nothing about it."
A Finance spokesperson said the department will determine its future approach to KPMG following the completion of the review.
The department also remains open to granting lead reviewer Dr Ian Watt AC a further extension should he request one, the spokesperson said.
Under the updated procurement policy note, Commonwealth officials were instructed not to enter into any contracts with KPMG Australia for approaches to market closing beginning June 16, 2026.
Finance has maintained the three specific operational exemptions to the ban.
Contracts executed before the initial June directive remained fully valid and operational, and proposals or tenders submitted before June 16, 2026, were permitted to proceed through the evaluation pipeline.
The continued licensing, maintenance or sale of existing KPMG proprietary software products was exempt from the freeze.
Finance said it would provide further operational advice to agencies in October after the conclusion of the review.
