Deloitte refunds Australia for a report with fake citations

In December 2024, Australia's Department of Employment and Workplace Relations hired Deloitte for about A$440,000. The job was to review the IT system that automates welfare penalties. The 237-page report, posted in July 2025, cited academic papers that do not exist. It credited a law professor with a book that does not exist. It also included an invented quote from a federal court judgment. A university researcher found up to 20 errors, and the Australian Financial Review reported them in late August. A corrected version, dated September 26, disclosed that Azure OpenAI was used in writing it. Deloitte agreed to repay the contract's final instalment. It did not say whether AI caused the errors.