BDO strengthens Canberra presence with two new partners ahead of June Board meeting
BDO strengthens Canberra presence with two new partners ahead of June Board meeting
Ahead of the BDO Australia board meeting in Canberra this week, BDO announces two additional Partners in its newest office in Canberra, with the recent appointment of two advisory experts Hellen Thomas and Nabil Hossain.
These appointments further strengthen BDO’s capabilities in Canberra and enhance the services offered to public sector clients.
BDO in Canberra’s lead partner, Paul McDougall, commented on the latest partner appointments.
“The appointment of Hellen and Nabil brings a great depth of experience and enhanced skill base to our local presence in Canberra,” said Mr McDougall.
“We really have the best of both worlds in local knowledge and presence in Canberra, the scale of a national office network, as well as the ability to draw on expertise from across BDO’s global network.
“Nabil will focus on CFO advisory services for public sector. His areas of expertise include business case development, Government funding and charging models, budgeting and cost management, ERP implementations, agency funding model reviews and finance function improvement.
“Working closely with our public sector clients, Hellen will focus on risk advisory services, leveraging her extensive experience to enhance BDO’s capabilities in cyber security, governance, risk and assurance. She has worked across various sectors, including government, higher education, energy, and utilities and has a deep understanding of the challenges facing both public and private sector organisations.
“We also have another significant Defence partner and staff hires to bolster our Defence advisory capabilities. More details will follow soon on that appointment,” explained Mr McDougall.
The expanded partner team is preparing for an important visit this week as the BDO Board descends on Canberra for its June meeting.
The Board, chaired by non-executive director Mr David Fagan, comprises members from across the firm as well as independent non-executive director Ms Connie Carnabuci. High on the agenda will be a discussion on further growth opportunities for advisory services and a review of the talent pipeline and hiring opportunities for Canberra.
According to independent non-executive board member and BDO Chair David Fagan, BDO’s decision to expand into Canberra last year builds on an established public sector practice that currently equates to around 20 per cent of the firm’s revenue in Australia. Continued demand for quality independent perspectives and specialist knowledge from clients and the Canberra market has led to these latest appointments and plans for further appointments.
“We have demonstrable capability in the work we do for the public sector, and we’re excited to bring that expertise and further grow our team in Canberra,” said Mr Fagan.
“We’re committed to building a lasting presence in Canberra. We are making significant investments in our people and premises; the team has been very successful to date since we opened our new office in Civic last year.
“Hellen and Nabil’s appointment is the first of more planned for our Canberra office in the coming months since Paul McDougall and Ridhish Arora, joined the firm last year.
“Our board is excited to convene in Canberra this week, we plan to meet a number of key clients and people across the Canberra community in addition to conducting our Board meeting on 26 June 2025.”
For more information or interview requests:
Jane Ward
Senior Manager, Media
E: Jane.Ward@bdo.com.au
Ph: 0404 791 606