Labor suspends government work being done by firm accused of fabricating Indigenous data

The finance minister, Katy Gallagher, said the government took seriously allegations about data collected on the voice referendum. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

The federal government has suspended research consultancy McNair yellowSquares from further advertising-related work until an investigation is conducted into allegations it fabricated data on Indigenous communities during last year’s failed referendum process.

Guardian Australia this week revealed an insider at McNair, a private contractor specialising in market research, had blown the whistle on alleged misconduct during a project to gauge awareness of the Indigenous voice referendum process and measure the effectiveness of Australian Electoral Commission advertising.