Deloitte refunds Australian government after AI ‘made up citations’ in report
Big Four firm Deloitte is set to issue a partial refund to the Australian federal government after a report it issued contained several errors caused by the use of AI.
Deloitte was commissioned by the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) to review a targeted compliance framework and its IT system in December 2024.
The ‘independent assurance review’ by the Big Four firm was intended to help the department assess problems with a welfare system that automatically penalises jobseekers.
Its report on the framework, published on 4 July, found widespread issues. However, after it was pointed out in August that the report contained multiple errors, including nonexistent references and citations, the report was re-uploaded last Friday.
Despite the updates made, the firm stated that AI-generated errors did not impact or affect the substantive content, findings, and recommendations in the original report.
‘Human intelligence problem’
“Deloitte conducted the independent assurance review and has confirmed some footnotes and references were incorrect,” a spokesperson for the department said. In the updated version of the report, Deloitte added a reference to the use of generative AI in its appendix.
Senator Deborah O’Neill from the Australian Labor Party accused the consultancy firm of having a “human intelligence problem”. “Perhaps instead of a big consulting firm, procurers would be better off signing up for a ChatGPT subscription,” she added.
As a result, the DEWR confirmed on Monday that Deloitte would repay the final installment of its AU$440,000 (£216,000) bill under the contract, which will be made public after the transaction is finalised.
In August, Deloitte Australia announced its recorded revenue of $2.55bn for the 2025 financial year.
Commenting on the issue, a Deloitte Australia spokesperson said: “The matter has been resolved directly with the client.”
This news arrives as the sector is in the midst of its technology transformation, with Deloitte, like the other Big Four firms, actively investing in AI tools globally.