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Accenture contract with AEC reaches $71 million after six months of amendments

The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) has seen its contract with consulting firm Accenture for a political funding transparency system increase from an initial $30 million to $71 million within six months, according to data from AusTender. The contract variations, which include four amendments, have significantly escalated the project's cost, with the largest amendment adding $28 million in July 2026. The AEC defended the escalating costs by describing it as a 'modular contracting approach' that was part of the tender process in 2025, where the project was split into unspecified 'work packages' to be progressively released based on delivery performance. However, the AEC declined to disclose the total anticipated budget or hard ceiling for the FAD project, citing concerns about prejudicing commercial negotiations and misrepresenting uncommitted expenditure. Greens finance and public service spokesperson Barbara Pocock criticized the AEC's approach, calling it a 'land and expand' strategy where Accenture is earning more from contract amendments than the initial contract. Analysis of AusTender data revealed that Accenture secured over $667 million in contract variations during the 2025-26 financial year, surpassing the $233 million earned from new contracts in the same period. Across a five-year window, more than $1.6 billion (51.7%) of the $3.15 billion awarded to Accenture came through amendments rather than base contracts. Critics argue that contract variations, while often legitimate, are being exploited to extract additional government funds, sidestep competition, and avoid oversight. The AEC spokesperson noted that major elements of the FAD system, including a new compliance system and data capability, have not yet been commissioned, suggesting further multimillion-dollar amendments to Accenture's contract before project completion. This follows previous controversies, such as the Bureau of Meteorology's website redesign contract that escalated from $31 million to $96.5 million, and a subsequent $15.7 million contract for the Australian Climate Service. Senator Pocock emphasized the need for effective costing, control, milestone management, and active management of 'land-and-expand' strategies, calling for government regulation of consultancy firms to prevent further exploitation of such mechanisms.

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