Cate Sayers quits charity run with husband

EXCLUSIVE

ANTHONY KLAN

Cate Sayers has quit as director from the charity she founded and ran with her husband, former long-time PwC Australia CEO Luke Sayers.

Luke Sayers, who is embroiled in a “penis photo scandal”, remains as a director of the charity, Inclusion Foundation searches show.

Yesterday, in response to the scandal, Luke Sayers announced his resignation as president of Carlton Football Club and “stood down” as CEO of Sayers Group, the multi-million-dollar consultancy he founded in 2020 after leaving PwC.

He said he would “prioritise time with his family”.

Cate Sayers’ LinkedIn profile has not been updated,  but the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits (ACNC) register shows she has resigned as director of Inclusion Foundation, which she founded in 2009.

Only current directors are listed on the ACNC register, so it is unclear when Cate Sayers departed.

She and Inclusion Foundation did not respond to questions from The Klaxon.

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Luke Sayers embroiled in a “penis photo scandal”. Source: The Klaxon

Inclusion Foundation undertakes dancing lessons and other activities for people with Down syndrome.

Earlier this month a photo of a penis was posted by Sayers’ Twitter/X account, tagging a female executive at health insurance giant Bupa, one of Carlton’s sponsors.

Sayers has repeatedly claimed he was “hacked”, but has provided no evidence to support the claim.

In a statement yesterday, Carlton said Sayers’ social media account had been “compromised”, yet similarly provided no evidence to back that claim.

The AFL’s Integrity Commission said the image was the work of “a person not being Mr Sayers”.

“The AFL has determined that Mr Sayers did not breach AFL rules in connection with the posting of the image,” it said.

Carlton, Sayers and the AFL are refusing to say who posted the image.

“This decision draws a line in the sand,” Luke Sayers said yesterday.

Bupa had reportedly been “increasing pressure” on the Carlton Football Club over the incident, with “senior figures” demanding a “full accounting of the incident or an apology”.

Inclusion Foundation was embroiled in controversy ahead of the May 2022 federal election when Cate Sayers appeared in political advertisements spruiking then Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg for re-election.

It is illegal for charities to endorse politicians or political parties.

In the advertisements, Cate Sayers said “Josh” had “recently” made a “significant investment” into the charity.

As previously revealed, in the 2022 financial year, the last year of the Coalition Government, Inclusion Foundation received $933,986 in government grants.

That was 6.3 times higher than its average over the preceding decade ($148,762) and almost three-times higher than its previous highest grants, $313,216 received in 2018-19.

How The Klaxon broke the story, Source: The Klaxon

Also appearing in Frydenberg’s 2022 electoral advertisements was Karen Hayes, the then CEO of Guide Dogs Victoria.

Hayes “resigned” from the charity shortly afterwards, however she, Guide Dogs Victoria and Frydenberg have all refused to say whether any wrongdoing occurred.

As revealed by The Klaxon this month, the charity has been hit by a slump in donations, with donations falling by over $1 million annually.

In an exclusive interview with The Klaxon late last month,, Guide Dogs Victoria’s now CEO Nicky Long said the impact of the Frydenberg scandal had been “huge”.

Sayers was PwC Australia CEO for all relevant times of the tax leaks scandal, which has seen PwC’s reputation savaged.

PwC took secret Australian Government tax policy data — gleaned while providing advice on preventing multinationals avoiding Australian tax —and spruiked it to multinationals seeking to avoid Australian tax.

Despite the Senate inquiry into consultancies receiving evidence that Sayers received multiple warnings about the tax leaks issue, he has said he had no knowledge of it.

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Anthony Klan

Editor, The Klaxon