Australian Standard Compliance management systems— Guidelines AS ISO 19600:2015 has been published and supersedes AS 3806—2006, Compliance programs. The objective of the Standard is to provide guidance for establishing, developing, implementing, evaluating, maintaining and improving an effective and responsive compliance management system within an organisation.

The Standard expressly links an organisation’s compliance system to good governance, risk management and leadership.

Significantly, the Standard states:

The organisation should establish, develop, implement, evaluate, maintain and continually improve a compliance management system, including the processes needed and their interactions, in accordance with this Australian Standard, taking into consideration the following governance principles:
— direct access of the compliance function to the governing body;
— independence of the compliance function;
— appropriate authority and adequate resources allocated to the compliance function.

The compliance management system should reflect the organisation’s values, objectives, strategy and compliance risks.

The Standard also recommends that an organisation integrate its compliance management with the organisation’s financial, risk, quality, environmental and health and safety management processes and its operational requirements and procedures.

As AS 3806—2006 is regarded by regulators as a critical compliance tool, it is expected that they will update their guidance to incorporate AS ISO 19600:2015.