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.
The whistleblower, a long-serving research interviewer at the company, alleged he had been instructed to attach false location coding to interviews he had conducted in Redfern, an inner Sydney suburb, to make them appear as though they were conducted in regional areas and in an Adelaide suburb with the state’s second-largest proportion of Indigenous Australians.
He alleged this was done to cut costs while still presenting field research conducted with Indigenous Australians across metropolitan and regional areas.
McNair, a Sydney-based company, was working as a subcontractor to Wallis Social Research on the AEC project. Wallis and the AEC were made aware of the alleged misconduct earlier this month and there is no suggestion they had any knowledge of it prior to that point.
The finance minister, Katy Gallagher, said the government took the allegations seriously and expected “high levels of integrity from all government contractors and subcontractors”.
The finance department has directed the advertising contractors it regularly uses to suspend McNair from any current work and be barred from new work until an investigation is complete. The finance department has also written to other departments about the situation, informing them of its actions, though it cannot suspend work McNair is doing directly with other departments.
“While this matter is being investigated, the Department of Finance has asked all whole-of-Australian government advertising campaign suppliers to suspend work being undertaken by McNair yellowSquares and to not enter into any new arrangements at this time,” Gallagher said.
McNair said it is conducting its own investigation into the allegations. The company said it is taking the complaint seriously and has warned of consequences for any staff found to have fabricated data or instructed others to fabricate data.
In response to Gallagher’s announcement, McNair said: “We acknowledge and respect the decision.”
The AEC said it is “extremely disappointed” about the allegations but stressed that McNair’s work related to a project measuring the effectiveness of its advertising, and the interviews in question were only a small component of a broader research project.
“That is not to downplay the concern but is important to note, nonetheless,” the spokesperson said. “The AEC is of course looking to ascertain as much information about this matter as possible and seek assurances from Wallis regarding future work.”
The minister for Indigenous Australians, senator Malarndirri McCarthy, said the case highlighted the importance of ensuring Indigenous community organisations were included in the collation of data involving First Nations peoples.
“These allegations are extremely disappointing and must be thoroughly investigated,” McCarthy said.
McNair has previously said it will take any fabrication of survey data seriously.
“We take pride in the robustness, quality and accuracy of our work, always seeking to act impartially, with integrity and in line with best practice frameworks and processes,” McNair said in a statement.
“If any employee is found to be misrepresenting survey data or requesting it, this is a major breach of our code of conduct, and further action will be taken. An investigation is ongoing.”
The whistleblower used lawyers from the Human Rights Law Centre to make a disclosure to McNair in November last year. He also made a disclosure to the corporate regulator, Asic, which declined to investigate.
“The disclosures mean that survey data is not being recorded or presented properly, meaning Australian government agencies are creating important policies and programs based on incorrect data,” they warned McNair and Asic of the whistleblower’s claims.
“Critically, significant cohorts and voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are not being recorded correctly or heard at all, including in regional and in South Australia.”
