Former department head’s firm lands major work in consulting cash splash

2 months ago 17

A new consulting firm with deep ties to Queensland’s state health system has won significant work from its largest public hospital service, raising potential conflict of interest concerns from the opposition.

This masthead can reveal that Create Health Advisory, which counts former Queensland Health director-general Shaun Drummond as one of its managing principals, has won contracts with two state health services totalling more than $2 million since November 2024.

It came as the Crisafulli government made slow progress on its election pledge to cap outsourced spending on consultants, with its departments paying $25 million to the big four firms of Deloitte, KPMG, EY and PwC since taking office.

111 Eagle Street and the Riverside Centre in Brisbane’s CBD host two of the so-called big four consulting firms – Deloitte and EY.

Established in 2023 and also providing government services across the other east-coast states, Create Advisory appointed a Queensland managing director, Diana Lollato, in August 2024.

A health-specific offshoot, Create Health Advisory, then emerged in October 2024 and landed a $1.1 million contract for “professional services” with Metro North Hospital and Health Service.

Metro North Health contract logs state the April 2024 work was ordered under a limited tender in “absence of competition for technical reasons which can only be supplied by a particular supplier and no reasonable alternative”.

Shaun Drummond, then acting Queensland Health director general while on leave from Deloitte, pictured leaving the state’s Commission of Inquiry into Forensic DNA Testing in Queensland in 2022.

Other contracts have netted the firm an extra $662,000 from Metro North Health since November 2024, totalling $1.7 million.

Across the same timeframe, Deloitte was awarded $1 million by the health service, and KPMG $296,000.

The total figure awarded to Create Advisory, and Create Health, was more than any other to a single big-four firm by another public health service with published contract logs.

This masthead’s analysis of contract disclosures found Gold Coast Health, too, had awarded Create Health $427,900 in contracts.

This included more than $250,000 for a “specialist health sector advisory retainer” worth more than all the work awarded to Deloitte, the only big-four firm which featured on that service’s log.

Create Health has gained ground in the sector since launch. The firm landed another key contract this year when it was commissioned by the country’s treasurers to provide a report on public hospital costs.

One of its two managing principals, Luke Baxby, was a 16-year Deloitte partner who most recently led its health services.

The second, Drummond, was a Deloitte partner between 2021 and last January, during which time he took almost 18 months’ leave for a new Queensland Health role and ultimately led the department until his resignation in 2023.

Before that, Drummond held senior roles at Metro North for more than six years, with almost four as chief executive. While there, Drummond was also seconded for nine months to run Metro South.

Drummond is not accused of any wrongdoing.

All but two of the other seven Create Health principals and directors formerly worked at Deloitte or its big-four rival KPMG. Four worked with Drummond at Queensland Health, Metro North, or both – two of which only left public employment since the firm emerged.

Another, Adrian Carson, has been a director on the Metro North board since 2017.

Confidentiality requirements applying to public sector work follow those workers when they leave, particularly when it comes to furthering personal interests and private commercial benefit.

Senior public servants are also banned from holding business meetings with government representatives within 18 months of leaving, on matters they dealt with in their last 18 months.

In a written response to questions from this masthead, a spokesperson for Create Health Advisory said the firm followed policies to comply with staff post-separation obligations.

“Create Health Advisory values the confidentiality of our clients and does not discuss specific client engagements,” the spokesperson said.

A Metro North Health spokesperson said its director Carson had upheld conflict of interest rules, noting relevant contracts were approved by the chief executive through standard processes.

The spokesperson said it paid Create Health to “provide specialist services to review and strengthen organisational strategy, governance, performance, accountability and financial sustainability”.

“This work required specialist expertise not available within Metro North,” they said.

Further questions to the health service seeking additional detail around the limited tender process were not addressed. Health Minister Tim Nicholls was also contacted for comment.

There is no accusation of wrongdoing by Create Health, Drummond, Metro North Health or Nicholls.

Shadow treasurer Shannon Fentiman said the lack of detailed responses to “potential serious conflicts of interest” from Nicholls and the health service was concerning.

“Queenslanders deserve truth and transparency, especially when millions of dollars are involved,” Fentiman said.

This masthead has also catalogued the public money handed to Deloitte, KPMG, PwC and EY through state department contract disclosure logs since November 2024.

A total of $25.4 million has been disclosed in reportable contracts, worth more than $10,000, to the four firms alone across the time period, with Deloitte landing more than half at $13.3 million.

KPMG received $9 million of the work, with EY netting $2.8 million and sidelined PwC only seeing about $130,000.

Transport and Main Roads accounted for the largest outlay, at $9.5 million. The departments of State Development, Trade, Primary Industries, Treasury and Police also disclosed six-figure sums.

Patchwork reporting previously called out by the Queensland Audit Office means it is often hard to differentiate between contract and consultant work, and their contribution to the total figures.

Audit office analysis published in 2025 found construction accounted for about one-third of such spending, with professional, scientific and technical services second at about one-quarter.

“There may be benefits in performing this analysis to inform procurement and contracting practices, as well as improving strategic workforce planning and identifying skills and capabilities,” it said.

Statutory bodies, government-owned corporations and public health services are also required to publicly disclose contracts.

Despite earlier plans for a specific probe into outsourcing after a critical report, the audit office recently dumped its scheduled audit of the spending.

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