A federal department has leaked commercially-sensitive data for the second time. 

The Department of Finance inadvertently emailed sensitive pricing information to 236 consulting firms, igniting a firestorm of criticism from affected firms and opposition members.

The accidental release included not just updated service rates but also highly confidential personnel rates from the country's leading consultancy firms, including KPMG, EY, Deloitte, and PwC's offshoot, Scyne Advisory. 

This comes as the Albanese government aims to slash consultancy and contractor spending by $3 billion annually, shifting focus from the big four to boutique firms.

The Department of Finance has been on damage control, demanding recipients of the leak sign statutory declarations asserting they had not misused or disseminated the sensitive data. 

Department Secretary Jenny Wilkinson has announced an independent review spearheaded by former ombudsman Michael Manthorpe, alongside assurances that the leaked rates were outdated.

Jane Hume, the Opposition finance spokesperson, has described the blunder as “staggering”, pointing to the chaos unleashed on hundreds of firms and undermining confidence in government procurement processes. 

It comes after confidential details about rates that 400 consulting firms were charging the federal government, including three of the big four, were accidentally leaked last November. 

Rate information is considered somewhat ‘open book’ in the industry, often shared through informal networks and employee transitions. Despite this, the leak's timing and content have ruffled feathers, highlighting concerns over the mishandling of third-party confidential information.

The federal government's annual expenditure on consulting services is about half a billion dollars. For many, the breach not only jeopardises the integrity of the tendering process but also exposes the precarious balance between governmental oversight and the confidentiality of commercial information.