Australia’s enterprise pages in 2025 had been on the spicier facet, as controversies throughout retail, tech, consulting and coverage definitely introduced out the belief points within the sector.
Throughout the yr, there have been main knowledge breaches, courtroom actions over wage underpayments, startup failures, shopper security interventions and the closure of long-running enterprise assist packages.
Right here’s an inventory of some incidents that raised main eyebrows.
Qantas hack and AI-written apology
Again in July, Qantas disclosed a “important cyber incident” during which a cybercriminal accessed a third-party buyer servicing platform utilized by one among its airline contact centres, compromising the info of roughly six million prospects.
Coles and Woolworths underpayments
Court docket selections and ongoing reporting in 2025 strengthened the dimensions of historic wage underpayments throughout Woolworths and Coles, notably involving salaried retailer and division managers, in addition to the way in which additional time and penalty entitlements had been accounted for.
The mixed price of backpay, remediation and related bills throughout the grocery store sector is anticipated to exceed $1 billion, preserving wage theft and compliance failures on the centre of the commercial relations debate.
PwC’s lingering tax-leaks shadow
The PwC’s continued tax confidentiality scandal remained a defining function of the consulting sector in 2025, with ongoing scrutiny of tradition, conflicts and authorities procurement requirements dominating headlines all year long.
Governments and businesses have taken steps to restrict PwC’s entry to authorities work linked to the scandal, and the episode continued to be cited as justification for tighter safeguards in public-sector advisory preparations.
Deloitte’s AI-written authorities report
Deloitte Australia confronted intense scrutiny after a $440,000 taxpayer-funded report for the Division of Employment and Office Relations was discovered to include obvious AI-generated “hallucinations”, together with fabricated citations and errors.
Deloitte agreed to a partial refund and reissued a corrected model of the report. The case grew to become a high-profile instance of why consulting corporations and authorities shoppers are beneath elevated strain to set clearer disclosure and assurance guidelines round AI use in official work.
Sunscreen-gate
In June 2025, Selection reported that 16 of 20 SPF 50/50+ sunscreens it examined didn’t meet their labelled SPF claims, and known as for investigation by the TGA and ACCC.
Manufacturers, together with Extremely Violette, pushed again on the time, however the controversy escalated because the TGA confirmed it was investigating the Selection report, and subsequent market actions included merchandise being paused or recalled amid scrutiny of SPF testing and compliance.
Since then, the ATO additionally clarified its method to foundations, pores and skin tints, and blemish lotions that boast SPF safety, confirming multi-use merchandise might entice GST.
Panda Mart shutdown
Low cost megastore Panda Mart was hit with an pressing courtroom injunction obtained by Client Affairs Victoria, forcing the closure of its Preston and Cranbourne shops for 72 hours whereas inspectors performed a full compliance inspection.
Client Affairs Victoria mentioned inspections recognized a number of product security considerations, together with toys with unsecured button batteries and choking hazards. Whereas the chain later reopened, the case grew to become a high-profile warning concerning the dangers of ultra-cheap retail inventory and the enforcement problem dealing with regulators.
Brooki Bakehouse x RecipeTin Eats
In late April 2025, RecipeTin Eats founder Nagi Maehashi publicly accused Brooke Bellamy of the viral Brooki Bakehouse of copying recipes in her cookbook Bake with Brooki, citing shut similarities in wording and ingredient lists. US baking star Sally’s Baking Dependancy additionally made comparable public claims in opposition to Bellamy.
Bellamy rejected the claims, whereas her writer Penguin Random Home Australia denied wrongdoing. The dispute grew to become a wider dialogue over what copyright can realistically defend in recipes.
StrongRoom AI collapse
Pharmacy software program startup StrongRoom AI entered administration in March, with investor EVP even getting the police and forensic accounting consultants concerned in an try and recuperate its funding.
The startup later grew to become the topic of liquidation and courtroom scrutiny.
Court docket proceedings raised questions on unpaid tax liabilities and the corporate’s place round a significant acquisition, with the Pharmacy Guild later saying it had acquired Member Advantages Australia from StrongRoom AI.
CBA’s AI backflip on job cuts
Commonwealth Financial institution introduced 45 job cuts linked to the rollout of an AI “voice bot”, then reversed the choice and apologised to affected employees, describing it as an “error”.
Only a week earlier than that, SmartCompany broke the story of a CBA worker utilizing ChatGPT to offer out a mistaken telephone quantity, prompting misdirected calls and elevating AI governance considerations.
Kiki startup crackdown
New Zealand-founded rental startup Kiki has drawn controversy over the previous couple of years as a consequence of its pivot to a “girls-only” membership membership branding. Then, earlier this yr, it was hit by New York Metropolis enforcement motion referring to alleged unlawful short-term leases.
This finally compelled the startup to shut up store and transfer its operations to London, the place it solely made $18,700 in income in its first 4 months. It was additionally revealed by SmartCompany that Kiki paid a US$152,319.93 ($234,638) settlement to the Metropolis of New York following the alleged short-term rental regulation violations.
Search vs Employment Hero
Employment Hero launched Federal Court docket motion after Search moved to terminate an API integration that lets its prospects submit roles on to Search, with the dispute centred on allegations of anti-competitive conduct and knowledge use.
Search has denied the allegations, and courtroom orders by consent have required the combination to stay in place whereas the matter proceeds.
Richard White and WiseTech International
An unbiased evaluate into WiseTech International founder Richard White’s concluded that disclosures to the board about private relationships had been “inaccurate” and “incomplete”, prompting renewed governance scrutiny and board-level fallout.
The evaluate discovered White didn’t adequately disclose private relationships with an worker and an exterior get together, leading to undisclosed conflicts of curiosity.
Following the findings, WiseTech introduced governance modifications, White stepped down as CEO in late 2024, earlier than returning in early 2025 as government chair, amid main board modifications, with 4 administrators departing in February and two extra in June.
Extra claims of inappropriate behaviour emerged in early 2025, however once more
He then confronted scrutiny over share trades final Christmas with the company regulator, ASIC, and Australian Federal Police raiding WiseTech’s HQ in October over share gross sales throughout what’s generally known as the “blackout interval”, the place an organization’s key executives are banned from buying and selling earlier than monetary outcomes are launched.
Enterprise Join axed
The NSW authorities confirmed it could finish its Enterprise Join program on September 30, a transfer that triggered backlash from advisers and enterprise teams involved concerning the lack of free, specialist assist for small companies.
Criticism intensified after NSW Minister for Small Enterprise Janelle Saffin defended this system’s closure and advised that enterprise house owners merely use Google as a alternative for this system.
LaunchVic dismantled
The Victorian authorities accepted suggestions from Helen Silver’s evaluate to wind down LaunchVic as a standalone entity and shift capabilities throughout Make investments Victoria and Breakthrough Victoria, as a part of broader public-sector reforms.
The transfer sparked widespread ire within the Australian startup group, notably amongst beneficiaries of LaunchVic’s Alice Anderson Fund, which supplies capital to women-founded startups. In a market that’s already powerful for girls founders to get funding, there may be concern that much more companies will now miss out.